Samsung Electronics America (SEA) and The World Cyber Games (WCG) announced today that the electronics giant has renewed its commitment to the US leg of the largest global gaming tournament and festival for the fifth straight year, making it one of the longest-standing sponsors of e-Sports tournaments in the United States.
Together with Samsung, the WCG has established e-Sports as a vehicle for building healthy competition, friendships and professional careers in competitive gaming.
"Samsung encourages competition, fair play and the digital entertainment lifestyle embodied by the World Cyber Games." said Mr. SW Hong, Sr. Vice President, Samsung Electronics America. "As a leader in high definition visual display technology, Samsung continues to provide gamers with the most realistic and high speed experience in gaming."
"We're extremely pleased that Samsung continues to support the growth of e-Sports from a niche market to a mainstream entertainment platform," said Michael Arzt, general manager and senior vice-president for ICM USA, organizers of the World Cyber Games USA Championships. "It's a natural fit for the world's best electronics brand to partner with the premiere e-Sports tournament competition. With their support, the WCG USA Championship has grown into a true series and reached an unprecedented level in 2006."
The World Cyber Games has pioneered television coverage of the genre and has launched the careers of such pro gamers as Jonathan "Fatal1ty" Wendell (Quake), Matt "Zyos" Leto (Halo) and Team 3D (Counter-Strike, Halo, WarCraft). The 2006 WCG USA Championship Final will see a cash prize pot worth more than $76,000, more than doubling the winnings from last year's tournament.
Under the terms of the agreement, SEA will sponsor all WCG USA events including the WCG USA online preliminaries, WCG US Open, WCG USA Regional Tournaments and the WCG USA Championship National Finals. Samsung will be the exclusive provider of HDTV displays for the Xbox 360 matches and top-rated monitors for the PC matches. Additional exclusive sponsorship categories include Cellular Handsets, MP3 Music Players and Computer Printers.
The US competition is already in full swing, with recently completed WCG US Open in Hollywood, CA and upcoming WCG Regional Tournaments scheduled for; Irvine, CA (August 5-6); Austin, TX (July 15-16); Indianapolis, IN (July 29-30) and New York, NY (August 12-13). The US tournament culminates with the WCG USA Championship Final September 15-17 at a soon-to-be announced location, where 175 of the nation's best gamers will face-off for $76,000 in prizes and the chance to represent America as a member of Team USA at the Grand Final in Monza, Italy.
Started as the World Cyber Challenge in 2000, the WCG was first officially held in 2001 and continues today under the slogan, "Beyond the Game." It has grown into the world's largest computer and video games tournament festival with more than 1.25 million people competing in 2005 in local, regional and national qualifying tournaments.
Organizers expect up to 700 of the world's best gamers will travel to Monza, Italy, in October, 2006, to participate in the Grand Final of the most prestigious e-Sports competition and enjoy a well-rounded festival designed to promote culture and social harmony among world gamers.
Additional sponsors for the WCG USA program include Microsoft and Shuttle. Samsung Electronics is also the worldwide sponsor for the World Cyber Games.