Chess & Crossfire Esports World Cup – New Titles Incoming
As more and more titles are confirmed for the next iteration of the Esports World Cup, two new titles are making a debut. Indeed, beyond the usual esports, Chess and CrossFire are making headlines for Esports World Cup 2025 – let’s dive right in.
CrossFire EWC – Recognizing the Potential
As an esport, CrossFire hasn’t earned too much respect in the Western side of the esports industry, where it loses out to shooters like CoD, Halo, Overwatch and CS2.
However, in the East, CrossFire has continued to grow year after year. Specifically, this past month saw the conclusion of the 2024 iteration of CrossFire Stars, with $1,430,000 on the line for 16 teams seeded from all across the world.
Regarding the Esports World Cup, CrossFire hasn’t just been confirmed for 2025, but for two subsequent years. Indeed, thanks to a three-year partnership with Smilegate, the action is continuing until 2027.
While it’s thrilling to see more titles be featured, a three-year partnership for an esports scene which is on the smaller side seems a little adventurous.
Chess EWC – Bring in the Fans
Arguably, the Chess EWC announcement is more exciting esports news. Considering that as a sport, Chess is sometimes disrespected by the sports industry, esports fans are welcoming the inclusion of the discipline with open arms.
Featuring a $1.5 million prize pool, the Chess EWC 2025 tournament looks to make history thanks to a major partnership between Chess.com and EWCF. Headed by the iconic Magnus Carlsen, the tournament looks to form part of the 2025 Champions Chess Tour with the following sentiment from the icon:
I’m thrilled to see Chess join some of the biggest games in the world at the Esports World Cup. This partnership is an incredible opportunity to grow the game, by introducing chess to new audiences and inspiring the next generation of players. Being part of the esports family is an amazing opportunity for chess to broaden its reach to a massive group of esports fans.
We’re curious to see whether the Esports World CUp has any further surprises for next year.
