Gab Hernandez 
From its humble origins as a browser game, GeoGuessr became a phenomenon and now boasts a competitive scene complete with a World Cup event in 2024
GeoGuessr started life as the hobby project of IT consultant Anton Wallen. He loved to travel and initially developed GeoGuessr as a simple random location generator. Soon enough, he added game mechanics to the app to make it more interesting.
GeoGuessr doesn’t just favor the well-traveled, but those who pay attention to the nuances of different countries, both culturally and geographically. While it was moderately successful in the 2010s, the game’s popularity exploded after 2020. Because any game can be made into an esport, whether it’s Stardew Valley or Pokemon, GeoGuessr has seen a proper competitive circuit come to exist.
Does GeoGuessr have competitive multiplayer?
GeoGuessr features competitive multiplayer modes including Duels, Team Duels, and Battle Royale.
The classic multiplayer mode is Duels, which pits two players against each other in a game of GeoGuessr. Each player begins the game with 6,000 points. They have 15 seconds to guess their location every round. Duels is the primary format in competitive GeoGuessr and is set to be used during the 2024 World Cup.
Players damage their opponent’s points by guessing closer to the actual location. Whoever reduces their opponent’s points to zero first wins the game. Team Duels follows a similar format, with up to 20 players competing in teams of any ratio. For example, it could be 10v10 or 19v1. There are also rule variations for Duels, like No Moving or No Zooming, which adds restrictions to the player.
Finally, the Battle Royale mode is a free-for-all mode with two distinct variants. Countries give players three attempts each round to guess the country they spawn in. The last player of each round to guess gets eliminated until the last person standing wins.
Battle Royale Distance has players guess as close as possible to their location. The furthest guesser will get eliminated each round. Much like Countries, this repeats until one player becomes the victor.
When is the 2024 GeoGuessr World Cup?
The GeoGuessr World Cup will take place on October 13-14.
The event is set to take place in Stockholm, Sweden. The first day takes place at the Red Bull Gaming Sphere, while the finals will be at the Space Arena.
Day one will be broadcasted on Twitch though it’s unspecified if the final day will be as well. Fans in Stockholm can actually hop into the action on day one for free, thanks to its free attendance.
Does competitive GeoGuessr have rankings?
Competitive GeoGuessr sorts players into different categories based on their skill level.
Players will earn or lose points depending on their performance in multiplayer GeoGuessr games. Much like MMR, players will usually be paired with opponents of a similar level. These are the divisions below, as well as their ranking:
- Bronze – 0 to 449
- Silver – 450 – 674
- Gold – 675 to 849
- Master – 850 – 1099
- Champion – 1100+
Currently, only Duels modes will affect player rankings. Community pushback convinced the Geoguessr team to turn Battle Royale into an unranked mode. The competitive GeoGuessr scene is thriving, and players can jump in at any time for both one-on-one or team action.
Prize pool details for the GeoGuessr World Cup
The 2024 GeoGuessr World Cup will have a $50,000 prize pool. Prize pool distribution and any other additional rewards were not revealed.
In 2023, the top prize for competitive GeoGuessr was $15,000 and a vacation in Italy. The 2024 season has a prize pool worth $100,000 across a series of events around the world.
