Hero Esports has launched CyberHero, a humanoid robot sports league, in Riyadh and plans to stage its inaugural season across eight cities in the Middle East, Europe, the Americas and Asia. The Riyadh event served as the first competition in the CyberHero series and featured EngineAI T800 humanoid robots competing in a purpose-built arena. Hero Esports said two of the eight planned circuit stops will be in the Middle East.
The T800 robots stand about 1.73 metres tall and weigh between 75 and 85 kilograms. They have 29 articulated joints and can perform movements including walking, running, punching, kicking and recovering after falls. Hero Esports said it intends to use competitive events to generate data that can support the development of humanoid robotics and physical artificial intelligence. The company is also establishing a technology laboratory at its Shanghai headquarters.
“CyberHero was born from a bold idea about the future of competition: that robots can be pushed to test their limits, break new boundaries and improve through data generated in competition,” Hero Esports co-founder and CEO Danny Tang said. The company is seeking host cities and venues for the planned circuit, as well as robotics and technology suppliers, university teams and research partners, and commercial partners in sectors including tourism, sport and entertainment.
The Riyadh competition was held as an invitation-only event and included digital creators serving as managers of the competing teams. MENA creator AboFlah and Saudi sports creator Bashar Arabi managed the two teams, while other participants included Bilal Fadili, Ta7o, Ahmad AlKhateb and Micky of Team Falcons. Electronic music producer Tokyo Machine also performed during the event.
CyberHero’s competition format divides teams into three functions. Builders design and engineer the robots, coders develop and train their software, and drivers make live decisions during competition. Hero Esports said it plans to add further competitive disciplines as humanoid robot capabilities develop.
Hero Esports organizes esports competitions across titles including Honor of Kings, Peacekeeper Elite, League of Legends and VALORANT. The company is backed by Savvy Games Group and Tencent and also serves as a China partner of the Esports World Cup.
