The Stories Behind The Competition: ‘Esports World Cup: Level Up’ Docuseries Drops June 6 On Prime Video
By Marc Berman
June 3, 2025
Competitive gameplay and esports fandom in the tradition of conventional sports. Easy accessibility. Social interaction and connection. Mainstream recognition and acceptance. Worldwide camaraderie. A global marketplace projected to rise in revenue to $4.8 billion this year, and up to $5.9 billion by 2029 (according to data and business intelligence platform Statistica).
Electronic sports, also known as esports, have escalated from a niche for dedicated gamers competing in organized video game matchups into an industry that boasts millions of participants and spectators globally. Despite some debate about its validity as a “real” sport, what was once perceived as a hobby of enthusiasts has morphed into the multi-million-dollar mainstream where streaming services, the advertising community, the participating players, the job market, and an annual global competition like the Esports World Cup (EWC) are reaping the benefits.
Run by the Esports World Cup Foundation, the EWC is now considered the largest professional esports event in the world, both financially and in terms of games. It takes place in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia in July and August each year. It involves multiple game titles, allowing teams to compete across different genres. And Amazon Prime Video is showcasing the inaugural competition in 2024, and its participants, in the documentary series Esports World Cup: Level Up from Emmy Award-winning filmmaker R.J. Cutler (The War Room, Billie Eilish: The World’s a Little Blurry, Elton John: Never Too Late, and Martha) with the first of five episodes on Friday, June 6. One episode is slated each week for four additional weeks.
Esports World Cup: Level Up joins other series in the category on Prime Video, which include the news-centric That Gaming Show, hosted by Emile Cole and Alex “Stumpy” Knight, and documentary The World of Esports.
Shot in cinéma verité style, Esports World Cup: Level Up showcases the individual challenges and the victories, both in and out of the arena, at the EWC last summer. The international competition featured 23 tournaments across 22 different video game titles, which appealed to a wide range of esports fans.
"What drew me to the Esports World Cup was the compelling human stories unfolding within this high-stakes arena,” said R.J. Cutler in a statement. Cutler’s first film, The War Room in 1993, was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature.
“Level Up isn’t just about the incredible competition and prize money; it's about the dedication, the passion, and the sheer will of these athletes and teams pushing the boundaries of what's possible,” he said. “Under high pressure, we discover the true character of the competitors who vie for $60 million, but who also expose their humanity in the process.”
Produced by This Machine Filmworks (a part of Sony Pictures Television – Nonfiction), Esports World Cup: Level Up, per the logline, “pulls back the curtain on the inaugural Esports World Cup (EWC) in 2024, where a record $60 million in total prize money sparked a high-stakes, multinational battle to become the world’s top esports Club.” A mixture of competitive gameplay and a range of compelling participants, each with his or her backstory, the end result after consuming the first episode of Esports World Cup: Level Up is great anticipation of the remaining four.
The featured competitors include Sanford Marin Vanuya, a 19-year-old gaming prodigy from the Philippines; Lee Sang-hyeok, better known as “Faker,” a South Korean professional League of Legends player; and Yevhen Zolotarov, the CEO of the Ukrainian esports organization Natus Vincere, who evacuated his home in the city of Hostomel and competed in support of his war-torn homeland. The first episode features (Team Falcons), who plays Call of Duty, and hailing from the rough streets of Oakland, is the smack-talking extrovert who flips the script on the gamer-loner stereotype. He taunts his rivals, rallies his team and calls his shot, but his bravado masks the struggles overcome from his childhood.
“Esports is the universal language for people from all regions and all cultures from around the world. It brings people together where they can play, compete, and explore in unity. It builds communities and forms relationships. And it removes many of the restrictions of traditional live sports,” said Ralf Reichert, CEO, Esports World Cup Foundation, who appears on camera in Esports World Cup: Level Up.
Active in gaming and esports for over 20 years, Ralf Reichert co-founded the German professional esports organization SK Gaming in the late 1990s. In 2000, he co-founded the esports organization company Electronic Sports League (ESL), which merged with FaceIT, a platform that connects competitive gamers, to form ESL FaceIT Group (EFG). And, in 2023, Reichert took on the role of CEO at the Esports World Cup Foundation with a mandate to elevate esports to one of the world's top sports while expanding the foundation as a driving force in its development.
Taking place in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia for seven weeks last summer (and returning July 7 to August 24, 2025, to the same location), the Esports World Cup is an international competition for all forms of esports in celebration of competitive excellence and esports fandom. Last summer’s event attracted over a reported 500 million online viewers and 2.6 million visitors to Riyadh’s Boulevard City. And in April came the announcement of a record-breaking $70+ million prize pool for the upcoming Esports World Cup 2025.
“This all began when Saudi government, including The Crown Prince, asked me to run the Esports World Cup. It was an unprecedented opportunity to accelerate the growth of esports into a global sport for the games industry. And the overall mission is to make the players global stars and build the industry as a whole,” he said. “Now we have Level Up on Amazon to showcase our efforts. The second Esports World Cup is this summer. And, in 2027, is the Olympic Esports Games, which will be the first time esports will be recognized as an official part of the Olympic Games.”
The EWC has included chess in its 2025 edition, which features a new format for chess, designed to be more accessible to an esports audience.
“Esports unifies us. Everyone is the same, regardless of where you come from, or your position, your age, your gender, and your color,” he said. “It removes the restrictions of traditional live sports. You can interact in a world where there are no boundaries. You can take on roles you probably never even imagined you could. And, combined with the deep social connections, these video games are probably the best entertainment experience in the history of human mankind.”
For the diehard fan of esports, or the casual viewer in search of some compelling backstories, Esports World Cup: Level Up offers an intriguing look at the participants and the sport itself. And for Amazon Prime Video, the predominantly young, male, and digitally native audience skew for esports gives this R.J. Cutler docuseries a competitive edge.
