In the heart of Riyadh, Boulevard City, keyboards, controllers and joysticks were held up for battle as the Esports World Cup 2024 bloomed in full colour.
I found myself in a lucky position to be passing by the city on my way elsewhere and got to see what the world of Esports gaming is up to these days. Trust me, it was a lot.
To not bog you down with the insane event I enjoyed, let me list down all the attractions and events that I saw in chronological order. This way you will see what you missed or what you can enjoy when it takes place again next here and I can reminisce about the fun I had there.
In this article, I want to talk about everything else there at the World Cup 2024. Most of what I did there was view the Tekken 8 tournament, which you can view here: {Tekken 8 at the Esports world Cup 2024.}
Let’s go!
Let the exploring begin
After a long journey, we finally arrived in Riyadh, Boulevard City. Don’t be fooled by the name, it is not an actual city. Just three criss-crossing streets filled with stores, malls, restaurants, etc. Welcome to the World Cup 2024 event!
At first glance, it seemed like the place had been specifically designed for the event. But a closer look revealed what was part of the boulevard and what had been added just for the occasion.
After the rounds of Tekken finished, I and my Associate decided to take a look around and get a lay of the land.
This involved playing some carnival-like games such as ring toss, bottle throw and bag punch. There were some insane prices to be won but sadly, most games were rigged to impossibility.
We did, however, get to capture some interesting shots during the World Cup 2024.
After some roaming, we decided to check out the attractions Riyadh had in store.
GAMING ZONE
Available for free for all the people at the event, was a large room filled with PS5’s running EA Sports FC 24. There were other options like Call of Duty and Astro Bot but football never left the screens.
It was hard to really get to do anything as the sea of people made the room hard to navigate. We did manage to try out the demo for Astro Bot and take a look at some state-of-the-art technology on display. The World Cup 2024 brought in an immense crowd.
Riyadh took my Camera
Sadly, we were not allowed to take any pictures in this section of the event but here is the one thing I was allowed to film.
All the prizes were different types of cheap pens, just in case you were wondering.
RACING SIMULATION
Next was the large indoor Racing Simulation Centre thingy. Surrounding the ongoing, EA F1 24 tournament, we got to check some of the latest in Race simulation technology. The World Cup 2024 has some great tech displays.
I am talking about 4k screens, with large rigs, simulating proper movement and reaction of real-life vehicles. I am not just talking about cars but also proper Formula 1 vehicles.
Esports World Cup 2024’s FINAL FANTASY MUSEUM
On the way out of that room, my eyes hit something that was not on the itinerary list. Hidden between the rush of the Riyadh, Boulevard, I spotted a sign for A Final Fantasy mini-museum! Cannot miss anything connected to the World Cup 2024.
Obviously, we had to go.
It was an odd ruling on the way in. We were allowed to take some pictures but not others. So I’ll describe it room by room and if a pic is relevant, I’ll place it.
The first room had every wall covered with screens playing trailers of all the final fantasy games from the past. We are talking FF1 till FF 16 and FFVII Rebirth.
In Front of each screen were headphones and you could listen to the main theme of each game. It was nostalgia overdrive!
In the next room, we had actual life-size recreations of locations from Different Final Fantasy games. This was followed by objects like weapons and stuff from the game.
You can check everything out in this video. (Just close the sound as it is blaring ear-rake):
There were consoles set up so you could play Final Fantasy VII Rebirth as well and a little store with official licensed merch was for sale. It cost an arm and a leg to buy, though.
So barring the Tekken side of things, the most joy I got from the event was the FF museum. It was the only place I revisited during my time there.
Things we did not have the time for in Riyadh during the World Cup 2024
While we wanted to do everything, sadly time was not our friend. The schedule of the Tekken Tournament also kept us too busy to move around. Here is a collection of things we did not get to do.
That’s a wrap for the World Cup 2024
As the 2024 Esports World Cup wrapped up in Riyadh, Boulevard City, it was clear that the event had truly delivered.
From the thrilling Tekken 8 matches to the bustling Gaming Zone and the nostalgic Final Fantasy Museum, there was no shortage of cool experiences to dive into.
Even though we didn’t manage to catch everything—the FNAF Museum, Anime Park, and WWE experience will have to wait for next time—the event was a blast. The energy, the tech, and the sheer scale of it all made for an unforgettable adventure at the World Cup 2024.
If you missed it this year, I hope this gives you a good sense of what went down and what you can look forward to next year.
Now I can crawl back into my cave and start writing more game reviews.
Until then, A Cool Outro!




























































