Gamers WIthout Borders 2023 is the biggest Rocket League for charity event of the season. It leads into one of the greatest third-party Rocket League LAN events of all time makes a return this year with another huge $2,000,000 prize pool on the line. Gamers8 will once again host a massive summer event this year, featuring $45M in prize money and Rocket League among the selected titles.
Let’s take a look at what happened at Gamers WIthout Borders 2023, and which teams and charities won.
Source: GamersWithoutBorders
Esports’ Biggest Charity Event and the Road to Riyadh
Before we get to Gamers8 in Riyadh, teams qualified by battling through the online Gamers Without Borders Main Event. However Gamers Without Borders is not only a qualifier for the LAN event in Riyadh, it is also a charity event where the players are competing for an incredible $1,000,000 charity prize on top of their qualification spot. And with 2 separate GWB events in both EU and NA, it means $2,000,000 will be going to charity which is a huge increase from last year’s $1,500,000!
Gamers Without Borders
After two days of play in each region, Vitality and Version1 were the “champions”.
However, all eight teams participating in each region get awarded a piece of the prize fund and can donate it to a charity of their choosing. We are yet to find out the charities selected.
Being able to successfully incorporate the 1v1 and 2v2 gamemodes into a professional tournament whilst keeping the majority of the games as the standard 3v3 created a highly enjoyable and unique experience for all viewers.
The Gamers Without Borders Main Event featured an A-stream and B-stream, and all broadcasts are available as VODs.
Gamers8 is back and better than before
The fans’ main focus is of course going to be on the Gamers8 LAN taking place in Riyadh, with the main taking point being the $2,000,000 prize pool. This is something that we had never seen before from an external tournament organiser until last year, and the fact that they have matched it this year is huge for the scene. Before the RLCS 2021-22 World Championship, Gamers8 had the biggest prize pool ever seen in the esport.
The one difference from last year is that instead of it being held in between the RLCS Spring Major and Worlds, it will now take place after Worlds. This may cause some problems with Worlds ending August 13th and Gamers8 starting August 21st, as there will be almost no break for the players, and teams will not have time to make any inevitable roster changes after being knocked out of Worlds.
However this shouldn’t be too much of an issue, as nobody will want to miss out on their share of the huge prize pool on offer so we can still expect to see a full strength lineup from all regions. A big bonus for the players however is that they can fully focus on preparing for Worlds after the Spring Major instead of having to fly to Riyadh to play in another tournament.
Gamers8 will also continue with the GWB Crew battle format, which was very exciting to see played last year on LAN. The tournament format will also be the same as last year, first with a group stage of 4 groups of 6 teams, with 2 teams from each group advancing into the single elimination playoff bracket.
As for the teams competing, we will have to wait and see. We will get our first eight EU/NA qualified teams after the conclusion of the Gamers Without Border Main event, who will join MENA’s Rule One and Team Falcons who have already qualified after placing top 2 at Saudi eLeague 2023. The remaining 14 teams will be announced in the run up to Gamers8, but we can expect the likes of FaZe Clan, Gen.G, Karmine Corp and Team Liquid to be included for sure.
