Saudi Arabia - Creative Technology Middle East (CTME) provided technical expertise at the E-Sports World Cup (EWC) opening ceremony at ANB Arena in Riyadh, delivering an impactful visual experience with the support of nearly 600 Elation lighting fixtures.
EWC 2025 brought together over 2,500 players from around the world, competing for $70m in total prize money. Headlined by rapper and singer Post Malone and EDM star Alesso, the opening event celebrated weeks of competitive gaming with a production that merged LED panels, projection, and lighting into ‘a cohesive, cinematic showcase’.
The visual design, led by Emmy Award-winning designer Jon Kusner of 22 Degrees, featured a monumental setup and included more than 1,500 lighting fixtures and 388sq.m of LED screen. Integrated across the stage floor and overhead triangular trusses, the LED system worked in conjunction with scenic projection deployed onto custom-fabricated triangular structures.
Partnering with TAIT, MDLBEAST, and a creative team from Possible Productions Visual Noise, 22 Degrees, and Wieder Design Studios, CTME supplied LED screens, projection mapping, and lighting, supported by an infrastructure backbone for the large-scale production.
Andy Reardon, managing director of Creative Technology Middle East, commented: “Our significant investment in lighting technology over the past year has been pivotal in enabling us to deliver impeccable productions of this scale. We expanded our fleet with a substantial number of Elation fixtures. Their performance played a key role in shaping the immersive visual environment and elevating the audience experience throughout the event.”
The massive lighting rig included an array of 200 Proteus Maximus, 182 Pulse Panel FX, and 191 Pulse Bar L units. CTME’s head of lighting & power, Sam Connolly, praised the Elation gear in helping to achieve the show’s visual identity. “The Elation fixtures performed exceptionally well. They proved to be reliable, bright, and versatile throughout rehearsals and showtime, contributing significantly to the visual impact and creative execution of the production.”
“One of the main reasons we utilised the Elation Pulse family was for colour synchronisation,” Connolly shares. “This allowed the lighting design team to achieve perfectly matched colour tones across all Pulse fixtures, ensuring a cohesive and uniform look throughout the show.”