GeoGuessr Withdraws from Esports World Cup in Saudi Arabia 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GeoGuessr has withdrawn from the Esports World Cup following a significant backlash from players and map creators over the event's controversial hosting in Saudi Arabia this summer. The popular geography game, which boasts 85 million users, immerses players in random locations worldwide, challenging them to identify their whereabouts. The game's appeal is heightened by extensive developer and community-made customization options, allowing players to tailor their gaming experience. These include selecting opponents, choosing specific maps, deciding between urban or rural settings, restricting spawns to certain geographical regions, and toggling movement, panning, or zooming capabilities—including the popular no-movement, no-panning, no-zooming (NMPZ) mode. The game's rich ecosystem of community-made custom maps has long cemented its status as an esports staple.

However, on May 22, Zemmip, representing creators of many of GeoGuessr's most popular maps, initiated a "blackout," rendering their maps unplayable in protest of GeoGuessr's decision to host a World Championship wildcard tournament at the Esports World Cup in Riyadh. Zemmip highlighted Saudi Arabia's human rights abuses on the GeoGuessr subreddit, stating, "Groups targeted by the government include women, LGBTQ people, apostates and atheists, political dissenters, migrant workers in the Kafala system, religious minorities, and many others. The subjugation of these groups is extensive and pervasive. Members of these groups are routinely subjected to discrimination, imprisonment, torture, and even public executions. These severe human rights violations are well-documented and indisputable."

The statement further criticized GeoGuessr for participating in the EWC, accusing the company of contributing to Saudi Arabia's sportswashing agenda, which aims to distract from its human rights record. The blackout involved dozens of creators and their maps, including the majority of the most popular competitively relevant world maps. The protest was set to continue until GeoGuessr canceled its wildcard event in Saudi Arabia and pledged not to host any events there as long as the oppressive regime persists. "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 queries from confused fans on the subreddit and social media, GeoGuessr issued a statement on May 22. CEO and co-founder Daniel Antell announced the company's withdrawal from the event, stating, "We will not participate in the EWC. 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."

Antell acknowledged the community's feedback, saying, "That said, you — our community — have made it clear that this decision does not align with what GeoGuessr stands for. 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 GeoGuessr subreddit's top reply praised the decision, with one user commenting, "Now that's a 5K"—referring to the highest possible score in GeoGuessr for pinpointing an exact location. Another user added, "The community came together, they fought for what they wanted, and they got it done."

IGN has sought comment from the Esports World Cup organizers. Despite GeoGuessr's withdrawal, numerous games and publishers, including Dota 2, Valorant, Apex Legends, League of Legends, Call of Duty: Black Ops 6, and Rainbow Six Siege, among others, remain scheduled to participate in the event in July.

GeoGuessr's recent release on Steam faced criticism, debuting as the second-worst-rated game of all time on the platform, though it has since moved to the seventh-worst-rated. Players were frustrated with missing features in the supposedly free-to-play version, such as the inability to play solo for practice, the presence of bots in the free amateur mode, and the lack of feature carryover from the browser version to Steam even after payment.