GeoGuessr Withdraws from Saudi Esports Event Amid Backlash

GeoGuessr has withdrawn from the Esports World Cup following a significant backlash from players and map creators over the event's controversial hosting in Saudi Arabia this summer.

GeoGuessr, a highly successful geography game with 85 million users, challenges players to identify their location from random spots around the world. The game offers extensive customization options, allowing players to choose their opponents, select specific maps, decide on urban or rural settings, and set geographical restrictions. Players can also toggle movement, panning, or zooming capabilities, including the popular No Move Pan Zoom (NMPZ) mode. The community has contributed numerous custom maps, making GeoGuessr a staple in the esports community.

On May 22, a group of map creators, led by Zemmip, initiated a "blackout" by making their maps unplayable. This protest was in response to GeoGuessr's decision to host a World Championship wildcard tournament at the Esports World Cup in Riyadh. Zemmip, representing creators of some of GeoGuessr's most popular maps, condemned the company's participation, highlighting Saudi Arabia's human rights violations against women, the LGBTQ community, apostates, atheists, political dissenters, migrant workers, and religious minorities. These violations include discrimination, imprisonment, torture, and public executions.

"By participating in the EWC, GeoGuessr is contributing to that sportswashing agenda, which is designed to take attention away from Saudi Arabia's human rights violations," Zemmip stated on the GeoGuessr subreddit. The blackout involved dozens of creators and a supermajority of the most popular competitively relevant world maps, and was set to continue until GeoGuessr canceled its wildcard event in Saudi Arabia and committed to not hosting any events there as long as oppressive policies remain in place.

"You don't play games with human rights," the statement concluded.

GeoGuessr has pulled out of the Esports World Cup after a backlash.

Following the blackout and numerous inquiries from confused fans on the subreddit and social media, GeoGuessr responded with a statement on May 22. CEO and co-founder Daniel Antell announced the company's withdrawal from the Esports World Cup, acknowledging the community's concerns.

"We will not participate in the EWC," Antell stated. "I’ve seen your reactions over the past few days regarding our decision to participate in the Esports World Cup in Riyadh. When we made that decision, it was with positive intentions. To engage with our community in the Middle East and to spread GeoGuessr’s core mission of let everyone Explore the World. Since Erland, Anton, and I founded GeoGuessr in 2013, we’ve always strived to be a community-first game. Everyone here at the Stockholm office is a passionate GeoGuessr fan, doing our best to build something meaningful, with you and for you.

"That said, you — our community — have made it clear that this decision does not align with what GeoGuessr stands for," the statement continued. "So, when you tell us we’ve got it wrong, we take it seriously. That’s why we’ve made the decision to withdraw from participating in the Esports World Cup in Riyadh. We will come back with information on how the wildcards will be distributed as soon as possible. Thank you for speaking up and sharing your thoughts."

The top reply on the GeoGuessr subreddit celebrated the decision, likening it to achieving a "5K" — the highest score possible in the game. Another comment praised the community's unity and determination in achieving their goal.

IGN has reached out to the Esports World Cup for a comment on the matter.

Despite GeoGuessr's withdrawal, numerous other games and publishers, including Dota 2, Valorant, Apex Legends, League of Legends, Call of Duty: Black Ops 6, and Rainbow Six Siege, among others, are still set to participate in the event in July.

GeoGuessr recently released on Steam, initially debuting as the second-worst-rated game of all time, though it has since improved to the seventh-worst-rated. Fans expressed dissatisfaction with missing features in the free-to-play version, such as the inability to play solo for practice. The free amateur mode appears to be filled with bots instead of real players, and even paid features from the browser version do not transfer to the Steam version.