Gamers 8: The Land of Heroes concludes a record-breaking esports season as champions are crowned in eight weeks of action-packed tournaments

Gamers8, the world’s largest gaming and esports festival, wrapped up its second edition on Sunday with the final awards ceremony seeing Team Twisted Minds secure first place in Gamers8 Club Awards, bringing the curtain down on a thrilling season that began in July and went through August. Featuring a record-breaking prize pool of $45 million, thousands of visitors attended the festival in person and tuned in online to watch 16 elite esports tournaments from 13 top titles.

The festival transformed Boulevard Riyadh City into a gaming and entertainment paradise with epic venues, concerts, and activities and welcomed the best of the best across titles such as Dota 2, Rocket League, and FIFAe to do battle in front of fans lucky enough to be in attendance and streamed live across the globe. In the Dota 2 Riyadh Masters, Team Spirit defeated Team Liquid in the grand final to win first place and $5 million from the total $15 million prize pool. And in the Rocket League finals, Version 1 defeated Rule One in the grand final to take home $500k in prize money.

The Club Awards were presented as part of the Next World Forum’s second edition, a forum gathering top minds in the gaming, entertainment, and esports industry, including Team Falcons founder Msdossary, Hollywood director Michael Bay, football legend Gareth Bale, ESL FACEIT Group Chairman Ralf Reichert, VSPO co-founder Danni Tang, and Twitch co-founder Kevin Lin. Team Vitality, Gaimin Gladiators, Team BDS, and overall winners Twisted Minds completed the top teams who earned the most points over several titles at Gamers8 and, therefore, took home a share of the $5 million prize pool. Rocket League caster Stax presented Twisted Minds with the trophy following an epic introduction featuring a performer on a robotic arm and a highlight package recapping each team’s journey to the Gamers8 Club Awards.

Highlighting that its appeal didn’t just extend to gaming, the festival also featured several musical performances, including concerts by Imagine Dragons, Alan Walker, and Metro Boomin, with the series of musical performances being concluded by an all-female lineup that included Iggy Azalea and DJ Soda, who entertained attendees throughout the event.

For more information on Gamers8, visit the official website and follow on Twitter.