The Saudi Arabian tournament, Gamers8, will give out a $45 million USD prize pool across more than 10 title tournaments, and Rainbow Six Siege is part of it. For Ubisoft’s FPS, the prize pool received an increase of $800,000 USD compared to the 2022’s edition, establishing the prize pool of the current edition at $2 million USD.
Taking place in Riyadh, eight teams will fight for the title, which last year had Team BDS as champions beating the home team, Team Falcons, in the grand-final for 3-0. The tournament starts Thursday 13 and finishes Sunday 16
The format will be the same as the last year ‘ 2 groups with four teams, each with two invited teams.
Group A
Teams:
- G2 Esports
- Team Falcons
- Ninjas in Pyjamas
- M80
The first group has a lot of quality, with the Six Invitational Champions G2 headlining it. The European squad led by Karl ‘Alem4o’ Zarth comes to Gamers8 debuting a new player. Luigi ‘Gemini’ Ferrigno, the first Italian player to ever play for G2, signed to replace Byron ‘Blurr’ Murray.
Now Falcons have another opportunity to show their level against international teams. Following their domestic dominance, the team’s performance in 2022’s edition of Gamers8 surprised everyone. With the changes in the global circuit, the MENA region got a spot in the Major and at 2023’s Copenhagen Major too; where Falcons surpassed the Play-in rounds, but in the Playoffs, the team went 0-3. Back at home, the Saudi Arabians are looking to replicate last year’s performance.
After a time of struggling domestically, Ninjas in Pyjamas are back on the international stage. In Major Copenhagen, the team reached the Finals, and to qualify for Gamers8, the team won tough matches against LOS and Team Liquid. With three names on the roster still from their championship run at the Six Invitational 2021, NIP still shows potential to have good runs.
M80 closes out Group A, qualifying through North America after winning against DarkZero in the decisive match. The team raised the bar for the season, bringing David ‘Iconic’ Ifidon and William ‘Spoit’ Löfstedt. However, at their first international tournament together in Copenhagen, M80 wasn’t able to reach the finals. Now at Gamers8, they have the opportunity to reach the potential everyone talks about.
Group B
Teams:
- w7m Esports
- Oxygen Esports
- Team BDS
- CYCLOPS
w7m joins Gamers8 as favorites to lift the trophy in Saudi Arabia, following their first place at the last international event, Major Copenhagen. With no changes since then, w7m wants to keep the winning streak.
Oxygen was the team invited from North America. The team is set to debut their new signing, ‘Phish’. The ex-Parabellum player replaced Jacob ‘Sweater’ Bravico in Oxygen’s active roster. The team led by David ‘FoxA’ Bucci comes to Gamers8 hoping to return to better performances. Especially following their third place in the Six Invitational, where Oxygen failed to get one of the four spots to the Copenhagen Major.
BDS wants to get their second Gamers8 trophy and make a turnaround after a bad phase. The disappointing run at the Six Invitational and failure to qualify for the Copenhagen Major were two failures for the French team. However, with weeks of work since then, you can never underestimate BDS.
Representing Korea & Japan, CYCLOPS is looking for an upset at Gamers8. The Japanese team failed to qualify for the Copenhagen Major but won the qualifier to compete in the tournament in Saudi Arabia, beating teams like TALON and SANDBOX. With few expectations surrounding them, CYCLOPS could surprise us thanks to that lack of pressure.
