“The Royal Millionaire Championship” was launched Amidst International Participation in the Biggest Gaming Tournament in the Region at Deerfields Mall, Abu Dhabi

• Under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Maktoum Bin Juma Al Maktoum
• The tournament witnessed the participation of more than 13,000 contestants, including the participation of UAE Football stars “Bakhit Saad” and “Mohammad Ali Kojak”

21 December 2015 - United Arab Emirates: Under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Maktoum Bin Juma Al Maktoum, “The Royal Millionaire Championship” launched one of the largest gaming tournaments the region has ever witnessed, and one of the biggest in the world, at Cine Royal in Deerfields Mall, Abu Dhabi. “Bakhit Saad” and “Mohammad Ali Kojak”, two of the most prolific UAE Football stars of their golden generation, were in attendance at the launch and mingled with the media, participants and VIP guests. More than 13,000 participants from more than 25 Arab and foreign countries, including the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), Egypt, and Jordan  United Kingdom, Italy, Germany, Belgium, as well as Far East countries like India and Japan, will participate in this tournament.

Mohammad Al-Falasi, Chairman of the organizing committee of "The Royal Millionaire Championship," extended "sincere thanks for the kind patronage of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Maktoum Bin Juma Al Maktoum of this tournament. We were delighted with the participation and attendance of the UAE national football team stars of the golden generation “Bakhit Saad” and “Mohammad Ali Kojak”.

He added that, "In the past years, we witnessed great passion and drive for video games, and based on that, we were keen to strengthen the presence of this industry in the United Arab Emirates by means of organizing annual events for all age groups. We are confident that the "Royal Millionaire Championship" will be a platform to encourage youth to focus on their talents and to win valuable prizes as professional gamers.” He noted that "the month long tournament, now in its first chapter, has attracted more than 13,000 contestants from over 25 different countries from around the globe, including contestants who flew in specifically to the UAE to participate.”

Commenting on Deerfields Mall hosting this event, Mohammad Al Haj, Chief Executive Officer for Mubarak and Brothers Investments (MBI), said that Deerfields Mall is honored to host the high level gaming tournament, which will be held under the kind patronage of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Maktoum Bin Juma Al Maktoum. Al Haj stated that this tournament is unique because it targets a large number of participants belonging from different age groups and countries. He added that even though it will be held for the first time, it has so far achieved a great success reflected in the high number of participants from different geographical locations. A mall is not the usual setting for a challenge of this sort but at Deerfields Mall we always bring new and creative activations to our community, and this certainly is one of the top we have done, Al Haj confirmed.

The "Royal Millionaire Championship" will continue until 15 January 2016, with contestants competing against professionals in FIFA video gaming, daily from 6 pm to midnight. The duration of each competitive gaming session will be 10 minutes and will take place across 8 screens in Cine Royal cinema in the Deerfields Mall. The tournament is offering one of the largest cash prizes this region has seen with total winnings of 5 million dirhams, with 2 million dirhams of the total prize shared between the top four finalists, and the remaining [3 million dirhams] distributed among the top 124 contestants. The tournament includes games dedicated to contestants with special needs, with participation in the contest being free of charge and winners from this category automatically qualifying to the finals.

Developing the concept of this tournament and bringing it to fruition, was the responsibility of the Royal Games Trading Company, which is paving its way to achieving an ambitious objective of organizing the biggest tournament for the most popular football video game in the world, on an annual basis. Their vision is that it will become the biggest annual event for video games and one of the most important event on the global gaming calendar.