Highlights
- Esports World Cup: Level Up Season 2 debuts June 26 on Amazon Prime, spotlighting the 2025 pro gaming tournament.
- Directed by R.J. Cutler, the series features the personal sacrifices and high-stakes journeys of players chasing a $70M prize.
- The doc highlights the fusion of gaming and celebrity culture, building anticipation for the EWC 2026 event in Paris.
The Esports World Cup Foundation (EWCF) is officially bringing the heat back to our screens. On June 26, the highly anticipated second season of the documentary series "Esports World Cup: Level Up" will premiere exclusively and globally on Amazon Prime Video. Dropping all five episodes for a perfect binge-watching experience, the series offers an intimate, behind-the-scenes look at the 2025 Esports World Cup.
Helmed by Emmy Award-winning filmmaker R.J. Cutler, known for his work on Billie Eilish: The World's a Little Blurry and Martha, the documentary strips away the flashing lights to reveal the deeply human chronicles of the professional players, clubs, and families grappling with the immense pressure of the world's most lucrative gaming tournament.
Set against the intense, seven-week backdrop of EWC 2025 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, the second season captures the grueling race for a record-shattering $70 million USD prize pool and the coveted EWC Club Championship title. Produced by This Machine, a division of Sony Pictures Television, the returning production team includes director R.J. Cutler, showrunner Jon Dorsey, and executive producers Jane Cha Cutler, Trevor Smith, Elise Pearlstein, and Mark Blatty, as per InvenGlobal.
To authentically capture the high-stakes reality of the players, the crew employed a deeply immersive cinéma vérité filming style. They didn't just stay in Riyadh; the production team spent seven weeks on-site while also traveling across the globe to the UK, the US, Indonesia, and beyond. The result is a raw, unfiltered portrayal of the top-tier gamers' daily lives, highlighting the profound challenges and sacrifices required to thrive on a global stage where a single match can define a career and dictate a club's future.
The Faces Behind the Keyboards
The heart of the documentary lies in its compelling personal narratives, bringing fans closer to the biggest names in the industry. The storylines weave together a diverse tapestry of backgrounds and games. Viewers will witness chess grandmaster Magnus Carlsen of Team Liquid as he navigates the isolation of total dominance in classical chess and transitions into the fresh, challenging battlefield of esports.
Meanwhile, Jake "Boaster" Howlett from Fnatic showcases immense resilience, taking fans through his unconventional journey from an aspiring actor to a top contender in the inaugural Valorant tournament.
The series also dives into the lives of seasoned veterans and rising stars alike. Xiaohai of KuaiShou Gaming, a defending Street Fighter 6 champion who has been competing against adults since age six, is shown struggling to balance his fierce competitive drive with his new life as a father. In Mobile Legends: Bang Bang, Vivi "Vivian" Indrawaty of Team Vitality confronts childhood trauma and fights through a recent slump for life-changing prize money, while Coach Arsi of Team Liquid draws on his own difficult upbringing to lead and motivate his squad.
The documentary also highlights the immense pressure faced by defending Call of Duty: Warzone champion Kasimiri "Soka" Tongamoa of Team Falcons, revealing his intense rivalries and turbulent family history. Rounding out these incredible stories is the inspiring rise of Garidmagnai "Blitz" Byambasuren, who led his homegrown Mongolian Counter-Strike 2 squad, The MongolZ, from relative obscurity to becoming national heroes and symbols of pride.
JACEK PRONDZYNSKI | Esports World Cup 2025
Where Culture, Music, and Sports Collide
Beyond the fierce competition, the series reportedly captures the unique cultural energy of the EWC, showcasing the vibrant intersection of sports, music, and gaming. The documentary highlights moments that transcend traditional esports, featuring global superstars soaking in the atmosphere. Fans will see opening headliner Post Malone enjoying games backstage, alongside football icon Cristiano Ronaldo lifting the prestigious EWC Club Championship trophy at the closing ceremony.
The unmatched scale of the event also drew praise from traditional sports legends. The documentary features appearances by F1 champion Lando Norris, footballer Alisha Lehmann, and skateboarder Tony Hawk. Viewers will even catch Brazilian football legends Ronaldo and Kaká facing off in an EA FC event match. The electric atmosphere left a lasting impression on tennis star Nick Kyrgios, who noted that the crowd and energy were literally better than Wimbledon or any Grand Slam.
The creators behind the event and the series emphasize that this project is about much more than just the games.
"‘Esports World Cup: Level Up’ captures the human side of the competition we are building through the EWC. The EWC creates a stage that brings together the best games, clubs, and players, along with life-changing prize money and a global gaming community of billions, said Ralf Reichert, CEO of the Esports World Cup Foundation. He mentioned, "This allows us to get closer to the people behind those moments—their pressures, ambitions, families, and the stories that make esports meaningful for a new generation."
"This season delves deeper into the global phenomenon of human ambition and identity, just as much as it does the competition. Esports is one of the most dynamic cultural contents of our time, and in Season 2, we continue to document the lives, dreams, and sacrifices of the players at its center, showing a world that is both deeply personal and globally relatable,” said R.J. Cutler, Director, in a press release.
Looking Ahead to EWC 2026 in Paris
The exclusive Amazon Prime release of "Level Up" builds on the staggering, historic success of the 2025 tournament. Now, the release of the documentary perfectly sets the stage for the highly anticipated EWC 2026. Scheduled to run from July 6 to August 23, the upcoming tournament will move to Paris, France. It promises to shatter previous records with a monumental $75M total prize pool.
