Riyadh, Saudi Arabia –  Gamers8: The Land of Heroes today welcomed PepsiCo as a Main Sponsor to the world’s biggest gaming and esports festival, which will see the global leader in convenient foods and drinks exclusively supply water, beverages, and snacks.

PepsiCo brands Aquafina, Pepsi Zero Sugar, Rockstar, and Doritos will all be on offer at Gamers8: The Land of Heroes, which runs from July 6 for eight weeks at Boulevard Riyadh City.

PepsiCo is providing an incredible 1.5 million bottles of Aquafina water for Gamers8: The Land of Heroes – all of which are available complimentary to festival goers from the special, cooled fridges dotted around the venue.

Ahmed Albishri, Deputy CEO at the Saudi Esports Federation, said: “We are delighted to unveil PepsiCo as a Main Partner for Gamers8: The Land of Heroes this summer, building on the tremendous work achieved between our organizations at Gamers8 last year. The work that goes into putting on live events – particularly ones such as Gamers8 that last an entire summer – should never be underestimated. Food and beverages are a crucial part of that and having a renowned, trusted partner like PepsiCo is essential.”

Aamer Sheikh, PepsiCo Middle East CEO said: “We are thrilled to be to once again involved with the world’s biggest gaming and e-sports festival, which takes place right here in the heart of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Building on the tremendous success that the festival witnessed last year, we are looking forward to having festival visitors enjoy their time alongside our snacks and beverages, which go side-by-side with the exhilarating events taking place at Gamers8.”

Gamers8: The Land of Heroes has a prize pool of $45 million – triple that of Gamers8 last year. The festival concludes with the Next World Forum, a gaming and esports forum held at the Four Seasons Hotel Riyadh at Kingdom Center on August 30-31, that brings together sector leaders and experts from around the world.

For further Gamers8 details, including ticket sales, please see all the information available on the event website. 

About Gamers8 – The Land Of Heroes:

Gamers8 is the world’s largest gaming and esports festival and the destination for elite esports champions and gaming universe lovers. It’s the ultimate place to compete for glory and become a hero walking among the worlds of your chosen story. Located in Riyadh at the heart of Saudi Arabia, Gamers8 spans a period of eight weeks from July to September 2023, with new challenges and experiences unlocked every week. You can watch the world’s top esports teams compete for the highest prize pools, attend performances by global music artists, experience your favorite gaming platforms come to life, and learn the mysteries behind the creation of video games. Gamers8 is your world and it’s your adventure to choose.

Gamers8: The Land of Heroes follows the success of last year’s Gamers8 at Boulevard Riyadh City. Gamers8 2022 saw the world’s best teams and players battle it out across five top titles – Rocket League, Dota 2 Riyadh Masters, Fortnite, Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege and PUBG Mobile – for a prize pool of $15million. The 2022 festival was visited by more than 1.4 million visitors and watched by more than 132 million people around the globe. A total of 391 professional players – representing more than 61 nationalities – and 113 international teams took part in the world-class esports competitions. 

Gamers8: The Land of Heroes has a total prize pool of over $45million – triple last year’s grand prize total – and will host the elite of esports in a state of the art, purpose-built venue at Boulevard Riyadh City. The festival will conclude with a gaming and esports forum, known as the ‘Next World Forum’, that brings together sector leaders and experts from around the world.

About SEF:

The Saudi Esports Federation is the regulating body in charge of nurturing elite gaming athletes and developing the gaming community and industry in Saudi Arabia.

The Federation’s activities are categorized into two complementary streams. The first stream works to develop all levels of competitive gamers, starting with the grassroots community level and moving up to professional esports athletes that can achieve global excellence. The second stream works to develop the entire gaming/esports value chain by catalyzing the industry and enabling talent. 

Since its establishment in late 2017, the federation has organized multiple world-class national and international tournaments and events, attracted investment from local private sector actors and worked with international developers on opportunities in the Saudi market. 

About PepsiCo

PepsiCo products are enjoyed by consumers more than one billion times a day in more than 200 countries and territories around the world. PepsiCo generated more than $79 billion in net revenue in 2021, driven by a complementary food and beverage portfolio that includes Lay’s, Doritos, Cheetos, Gatorade, Pepsi-Cola, Mountain Dew, Quaker and SodaStream. PepsiCo's product portfolio includes a wide range of enjoyable foods and beverages, including brands that generate more than $1 billion each in estimated annual retail sales.

Guiding PepsiCo is our vision to Be the Global Leader in Convenient Foods and Beverages by Winning with its “PepsiCo Positive's pep+” for the comprehensive transformation strategy, which puts sustainability and human capital at the heart of the company's business to create shared value and drive growth by operating in a safe way towards our planet its people. For more information, visit www.pepsico.com.