World Cyber Games
World Cyber Games | |
---|---|
Status | Active |
Genre | Esports tournaments |
Frequency | Annual |
Inaugurated | 2000 |
Website | Official site |
The World Cyber Games (WCG) is an international
General
World Cyber Games is one of the largest global
Besides providing a platform for tournament gaming, the World Cyber Games was used as a marketing tool; sponsors, such as Samsung, using the space around the venue to set up product demonstrations and stalls.[6] In addition, advertisers saw the event as a good means to reach young male audiences, who may not be exposed to traditional advertising streams via television.[5]
History
In 2000, the World Cyber Games was formed, and an event was held titled "The World Cyber Game Challenge", which began with an opening ceremony on 7 October. The event was sponsored by the Republic of Korea's Ministry of Culture and Tourism, Ministry of Information and Communications, and Samsung. It brought together teams from 17 countries to compete against each other in PC games including Quake III Arena, FIFA 2000, Age of Empires II, and StarCraft: Brood War. The tournament ended on 15 October 2000.[7] The competition initially had 174 competitors from 17 different countries with a total prize purse of $20,000.
In 2001, the World Cyber Games held their first main event, hosted in
In 2002, the World Cyber Games held a larger event in
In 2004, the World Cyber Games held a tournament in
In 2006, the prize purse had risen to $462,000, and the event had grown to 9 different competitions and 700 qualified participants from 70 different countries.[citation needed]
In 2007, the event was hosted in
In 2014 February, the CEO Brad Lee announced the closing of WCG.[16] Several partners described difficulty working with the CEO and the organization.[17]
In March 2017, the former Samsung owned WCG Trademark was transferred to Korean Publisher Smilegate. Plans to develop the WCG "into the world's top digital entertainment festival in the future".[18] World Cyber Games 2018 should have been hosted in Bangkok on April 26–29, 2018,[19][20] but was cancelled subsequently. World Cyber Games 2019 was hosted in Xi'an, China on July 18–21, 2019.[21] The WCG 2020 competition received nearly 650 million views worldwide.[22]
World Cyber Game tournaments
Event | Date | Total prize (USD) | Host location | Participants | Countries | Games offered |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
WCG Challenge
|
October 7 – 15, 2000 | $200,000 | Everland, Yongin, South Korea | 174 | 17 | |
WCG 2001
|
December 5 – 9, 2001 | $300,000 | COEX Convention & Exhibition Center, Seoul, South Korea | 430 | 37 | |
WCG 2002
|
October 28 – November 3, 2002 | $300,000 | Expo Science Park, Daejeon, South Korea | 462 | 45 | |
WCG 2003
|
October 12 – 18, 2003 | $350,000 | Olympic Park, Seoul, South Korea | 562 | 55 |
|
WCG 2004
|
October 6 – 10, 2004 | $400,000 | San Francisco, California, United States | 642 | 63 | |
WCG 2005
|
November 16 – 20, 2005 | $435,000 | Suntec City, Singapore
|
679 | 67 | |
WCG 2006
|
October 18 – 22, 2006 | $462,000 | Monza, Italy | 700 | 70 | |
WCG 2007
|
October 3 – 7, 2007 | $448,000 | Seattle, Washington, United States | 700 | 75 |
|
WCG 2008
|
November 5 – 9, 2008 | $470,000 | Cologne, Germany | 800 | 78 | |
WCG 2009
|
November 11 – 15, 2009 | $500,000 | China
|
600 | 65 |
|
WCG 2010
|
September 30 – October 3, 2010 | $250,000 | Los Angeles, California, United States | 450 | 58 |
|
WCG 2011
|
December 8 – 11, 2011 | $303,000 | Busan, South Korea | 600 | 60 |
|
WCG 2012
|
November 29 – December 2, 2012 | $258,000 | Kunshan, China | 500 | 40 | |
WCG 2013
|
November 28 – December 1, 2013 | $306,000 | 500 | 38 | ||
WCG 2019 | July 18 – 21, 2019 | $612,500 | Xi'an, China | 506 | 34 | |
WCG 2020 | September 7 – November 8, 2020 | $285,000 | ONLINE (Shanghai, China / Seoul, South Korea) | - | - |
|
WCG 2023 | July 28 – July 30, 2023 | - | Busan, South Korea | - | - |
|
References
- ^ Hill, Jason (29 April 2011). "Let the Cyber Games begin". Brisbane Times. Retrieved 25 August 2011.
- ^ "Americans win gold at world video game championships". USA Today. 10 October 2004. Retrieved 24 August 2011.
- ^ a b Svoboda, Elizabeth (October 2004). "World Cyber Games Finals". IEEE Spectrum. Retrieved 24 August 2011.
- ^ "World Cyber Games: from Korea in 2000 to China in 2009 – and now on TV…". 9 March 2009. Retrieved 24 August 2011.
- ^ a b "Professional gamers draw big-name sponsors". NBC News. 13 September 2005. Retrieved 24 August 2011.
- ^ Rojas, Peter (11 October 2004). "World Cyber Games 2004 takes aim in San Francisco". Joystiq. Retrieved 24 August 2011.
- ^ "WCG - Official History - WCG Challenge". World Cyber Games. Archived from the original on 17 January 2012. Retrieved 23 August 2011.
- ^ "WCG - Official History - WCG 2001". World Cyber Games. Archived from the original on 17 January 2012. Retrieved 23 August 2011.
- ^ "WCG Official Website - WCG History - WCG 2002". World Cyber Games. Archived from the original on 28 May 2013. Retrieved 23 August 2011.
- ^ "WCG Official Website - WCG History - WCG 2003". World Cyber Games. Archived from the original on 17 January 2012. Retrieved 23 August 2011.
- ^ "WCG Official Website - WCG History - WCG 2004". World Cyber Games. Archived from the original on 17 January 2012. Retrieved 23 August 2011.
- ^ Dobson, Jason (13 April 2006). "Microsoft Announces World Cyber Games Sponsorship". Gamasutra.
- ^ Surette, Tim (14 April 2006). "Microsoft to sponsor World Cyber Games". CNET News. Retrieved 24 August 2011.
- ^ "WCG Official Website - WCG History - WCG 2008". World Cyber Games. Archived from the original on 17 January 2012. Retrieved 23 August 2011.
- ^ "WCG Official Website - WCG History - WCG 2009". World Cyber Games. Archived from the original on 17 January 2012. Retrieved 23 August 2011.
- ^ "World Cyber Games to close down all tournaments in 2014". 7 February 2014. Retrieved 25 March 2014.
- ^ Howell O'Neill, Patrick (February 5, 2014). "The Olympics of esports shuts down, partners say CEO was 'impossible to work with'". The Daily Dot. Archived from the original on May 21, 2015. Retrieved May 20, 2015.
- ^ "WCG called e-Sports Olympics will be back". 29 March 2017.
- ^ "WCG 2018 Host City and Dates Announced". 7 November 2017. Retrieved 7 November 2017.
- ^ "WCG to Hold Regional Qualifying Rounds from First Edition". 18 February 2018. Retrieved 18 February 2018.
- ^ "WCG 2019 Host City and Dates Announced". 14 September 2018. Retrieved 14 September 2018.
- ^ "More than Half a Billion Tune In To WCG 2020 CONNECTED". PR Newswire. World Cyber Games. December 21, 2020. Retrieved 7 January 2021.
- ^ "WCG 2019 Xi'an Event Tournament Registration". Team Liquid. 17 June 2019. Archived from the original on 2023-02-19. Retrieved 19 February 2023.
- ^ Krugliak, Albina (21 July 2019). "Maru is the Starcraft II champion at WCG 2019". Weplay Esports. Archived from the original on 2023-02-19. Retrieved 19 February 2023.