SHAMEFUL: WAVERIDER & GALAXY RIDER CLAIM DUBAI IS “LEADING DESTINATION FOR CULTURE”

Entertainment company Waverider and esports organisation Galaxy Rider (GXR) have teamed up to organise the inaugural edition of POPC Live! in Dubai – slated to be the Middle East’s biggest esports, comics, and YouTuber’s pop culture festival. 

The five-day event will feature ‘groundbreaking experiences’ and unique activities, and is being supported by Brand Dubai, the creative arm of the Government of Dubai Media Office (GDMO). It is part of the effort to transform Dubai into a creative space and showcase for the city as a leading destination for culture, innovation, and talent. 

Organisers say some of the world’s most prominent celebrities, developers, publishers, and organisations will be in attendance, and the event will feature an esports zone, tournaments, pop culture panels, workshops, conferences, and concerts. 

Highlights will include PUBG Mobile, League of Legends, and DOTA 2 tournaments, will the esports zone will also host the GIRLGAMER World Finals, as well as several community tournaments hosted by Galaxy Racer. 

Nehal Badri, Director of Brand Dubai, said: “The hosting of POPC Live! for the first time in the region in Dubai not only reinforces the city’s status as a leading destination for digital content development, but also highlights its role as a leader in creating exciting new opportunities for youth in the region. The partnership between Waverider and Galaxy Racer supports our efforts to encourage talent, creativity and entrepreneurship. The event will also contribute to further positioning Dubai as a major global venue for entertainment and sporting events.”

Arafaat Ali Khan, CEO of Waverider, said: “I am thrilled to once again get the opportunity to develop the biggest pop culture event in the region. Featuring prominent celebrities and brands from around the world, the festival is focused on creativity, a true sense of community and the best content. At Waverider, our focus is on new content and IP from the region to the region. POPC Live! will be one of many exciting content events planned in the coming months.”

Paul Roy, CEO of Galaxy Racer, said: “We are excited to be partnering with Waverider, one of the pioneers in pop culture events in the region, to organise POPC Live! in Dubai. This experience, coupled with our gaming and esports expertise, content creators and relationship with the global GIRLGAMER Esports Festival, means this event will be the biggest celebration of pop culture, gaming and esports the region has ever seen.”

AYO.NEWS says:

Here’s that collective cognitive dissonance and proof that “money talks” again. While it’s great to see investment in the esports space in the Middle East, Dubai’s appalling human rights record makes a mockery of the claim that the event will be a “showcase for the city as a leading destination for culture, innovation, and talent.”

Simply put, enough is enough. We cannot, on the one hand, espouse universal human rights, and on the other condone a jurisdiction where homosexuality is illegal, women are treated as second class citizens, foregin workers are routinely abused, and media censorship is widespread. 

Companies are, of course, free to do what they want, but it is vomit-inducing when these companies and organisations preach about being welcoming to culture, innovation, and talent. Every single company and organisation investing in these jurisdictions should be ashamed – including Spain’s LaLiga football league, for partnering with Galaxy Racer for a content series recently. And, as for GIRLGAMER Esports Festival and its links with Dubai – well, words fail me.