GeoGuessr has withdrawn from the Esports World Cup following a strong backlash from its community over the event's controversial hosting in Saudi Arabia this summer. The popular geography game, which has attracted 85 million users, challenges players to identify their location from random spots around the globe. Its appeal is enhanced by a wide range of customization options, allowing players to choose their opponents, maps, settings such as urban or rural environments, and whether to enable movement, panning, or zooming. The game's vibrant community has created numerous custom maps, making it a staple in the esports scene.
On May 22, Zemmip, representing a significant portion of GeoGuessr's top map creators, initiated a "blackout" by making their maps unplayable. This was a direct protest against GeoGuessr's decision to participate in the Esports World Cup in Riyadh. Zemmip highlighted the severe human rights abuses in Saudi Arabia, targeting groups like women, the LGBTQ community, apostates, atheists, political dissenters, migrant workers, and religious minorities. These abuses include discrimination, imprisonment, torture, and public executions.
"The subjugation of these groups is extensive and pervasive," Zemmip stated on the GeoGuessr subreddit. "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."
The blackout involved numerous creators and their maps, including many of the most popular competitive world maps. The organizers vowed to continue the blackout until GeoGuessr canceled its wildcard event in Saudi Arabia and pledged not to host any future events there while 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 confusion among fans about the map blackouts, GeoGuessr issued a statement on May 22, announcing its withdrawal from the event.
"We will not participate in the EWC," said CEO and co-founder Daniel Antell. "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 stance, 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 top reply on the GeoGuessr subreddit praised the move: "Now that's a 5K" — referring to the highest possible score in the game, symbolizing a perfect outcome.
"The community came together, they fought for what they wanted, and they got it done," added another.
IGN has requested a 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, are still set to participate in the event in July.
GeoGuessr recently launched on Steam, initially receiving the second-worst rating on the platform due to missing features in its free-to-play version. Players were frustrated by the inability to play solo, the presence of bots in the amateur mode, and the fact that paid features from the browser version do not transfer to Steam. The game has since improved its rating, now standing as the seventh-worst-rated game on Steam.
Latest Downloads
Downlaod
Top News
