RIYADH: The StarCraft II tournament is set to kick off at Gamers8: The Land of Heroes on Thursday with total prize money of $500,000 on offer.

The tournament will see three StarCraft competitions take place over four days at Boulevard Riyadh City.

StarCraft II: Legacy of the Void casts players in the role of Hierarch Artanis, leader of the technologically advanced protoss race, with the objective to reunite the protoss factions and defeat the coming darkness.

Faisal bin Homran, chief esports officer at the Saudi Esports Federation, said: “We cannot wait for the action to get underway and we are thrilled that StarCraft II is part of our esports calendar for Gamers8: The Land of Heroes. The summer so far has seen us stage a number of unforgettable tournaments and this is the next one to delight, excite, and highlight why Gamers8 has become the greatest gaming and esports festival on the planet.

“Building on the success of last year, we wanted to bring more of the greatest titles to Gamers8 in 2023,” he added. “Staging the StarCraft II tournament is the latest realization of this vision, and we urge everyone to join us this weekend by attending in person or tuning in online. It really will be an epic four days that live long in the memory.”

Organized by SEF, the tournament marks StarCraft’s introduction at Gamers8. The third and final installment of this sensational trilogy saga, StarCraft II: Legacy of the Void is the science fiction real-time strategy game developed and presented by Blizzard Entertainment.

Released in 2015, it follows on from StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty (2010) and StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm (2013) — and has remained a mainstay among the most popular video games in the world for almost a decade.