The International Esports Federation (IESF) concluded the 14th World Esports Championships Finals, after ten days of thrilling competition, social programs, and a spectacular medal ceremony in Bali, Indonesia.
Over 600 players representing a historic 105 countries competed at the 14th WE Championships across six games: CS:GO, Dota 2, Mobile Legends: Bang Bang, eFootball ™ 2023, Tekken 7, and PUBG Mobile. After the national and regional qualifiers, play-in stages, finals, and Grand Finals, 7 teams emerged triumphant, winning the $500,000 prize pool. Indonesia shocked the world by winning three of the seven titles and as a result becoming the 2022 WE Champion Nation.
The 492 hours of fierce competition currently has surpassed 10 million views from a record-breaking 497 matches, also reaching more than 3 million views on TikTok and 185.4 M impressions across other social media platforms. The final detailed media report has been commissioned to Nielsen to understand the full reach of the 53 clean feeds provided for localized broadcasting.
During the Closing Ceremony, the winners were crowned and all of the athletes were celebrated for their endurance and sportsmanship. The re-elected president of IESF Vlad Marinescu presented the champions with the WE Championships trophy and delivered closing remarks to conclude the historic event.
IESF President Vlad Marinescu said in his speech: “Congratulations to Indonesia for hosting the Esports Family and becoming the 2022 WE Champion Nation, and our gold medalists; Indonesia, Kazakhstan, North Macedonia, Pakistan, and Poland. We are grateful to experience the Bali hospitality and grateful to the nation for making History! IESF’s values of respect, friendship, and courage were on full display throughout these ten days of competition. We thank the athletes for their passion and human values displayed at the World Esports Championships Finals – you have broken barriers and borders displaying the union and unity between 105 competing nations, Bali we have made History!”
Indonesia’s passion for esports energized every competition, with emotional and enthusiastic athletes, families, and fans gathering together to cheer on all of the action, particularly the first-ever women’s CS:GO tournament, which proved to be a significant step towards creating more opportunities for women in esports and building a more inclusive World Esports Family.
At the conclusion of the Closing Ceremony, Bali officially handed over hosting rights to Iași, Romania, who will host the 15th WE Championships Finals in 2023. The next edition of IESF’s flagship event is set to feature over 130 nations and 800 athletes. This marks the second time Romania will host IESF’s flagship event. Iași is the historical capital of Romania and is well-known as home to multiple prestigious universities. The city offers an exciting opportunity for IESF to engage with a new generation of esports fans and grow the World Esports Family.
IESF General Secretary Boban Totovski said: “Esports has the power to empower and unite people. The Flag Handover Ceremony from Bali to Iasi is a beautiful representation of this and IESF’s vision of a united World Esports. The culturally rich and youth-centric city is ready to welcome the World Esports Family. Iași has our full confidence and support to deliver an exceptional championship in 2023.”
Iași Deputy Mayor Daniel Juravle said: “Iasi is a dynamic and full of energy city. We have the youngest population in Romania, a creative youth passionate about everything esports entails. As a city that is the heart of culture and history in Romania and at the same time an IT&C hub in remarkable growth, we have all the prerequisites to organize the 15th edition of the WE Championships in a memorable way. We are excited to develop together the future of the esports industry with the International Esports Federations!”
