GeoGuessr Withdraws from Esports World Cup in Saudi Arabia Amid Backlash

GeoGuessr has decided to withdraw from the Esports World Cup following a significant backlash from its community, particularly over the event's location in Saudi Arabia. GeoGuessr, a popular geography game with 85 million users, allows players to be dropped into random global locations and challenge themselves to pinpoint their whereabouts. The game offers extensive customization, including player matchups, map selection, urban or rural settings, geographic restrictions, and the ability to move, pan, or zoom—or not (NMPZ). It also boasts a vibrant community of developers creating custom maps, making it a beloved fixture in the esports world.

On May 22, Zemmip, representing creators of many of GeoGuessr's most popular maps, initiated a "blackout," making their maps unplayable as a protest against GeoGuessr's decision to host a World Championship wildcard tournament at the Esports World Cup in Riyadh. The protest highlighted Saudi Arabia's human rights issues, including the oppression of women, the LGBTQ community, apostates, atheists, political dissenters, migrant workers, and religious minorities, who face 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 their maps, with the organizers vowing to continue until GeoGuessr canceled its event in Saudi Arabia and pledged not to host future events there as long as oppressive policies persist. "You don't play games with human rights," the statement concluded.

Following the blackout and numerous inquiries from confused fans, GeoGuessr issued a statement on May 22 announcing its withdrawal from the Esports World Cup. CEO and co-founder Daniel Antell acknowledged the community's concerns, 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."

Antell emphasized that the initial decision was made with positive intentions to engage with the Middle Eastern community and spread GeoGuessr’s mission of exploration. However, he noted, "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."

Community response on the GeoGuessr subreddit was overwhelmingly positive, with one top reply humorously stating, "Now that's a 5K," referring to the highest possible score in the game. 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 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 scheduled for July.

Separately, GeoGuessr's recent release on Steam has faced criticism, initially debuting as the second-worst-rated game of all time on the platform. It has since improved to the seventh-worst-rated. Fans have expressed frustration over missing features, such as the inability to play solo, even for practice, the presence of bots in the free amateur mode, and the lack of feature carryover from the browser version to Steam despite payment.