World Cyber Games
| World Cyber Games | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Status | Ended |
| Genre | eSports |
| Frequency | Annual |
| Inaugurated | 2000 |
| Most recent | 2013 |
| People | Brad Lee (CEO) |
The World Cyber Games (WCG) was an international competitive video gaming event operated by South Korean company World Cyber Games Inc., and sponsored by Samsung Electronics and Microsoft. WCG events attempted to emulate a traditional sporting tournament, such as the Olympic Games; events included an official opening ceremony, and players from various countries competing for gold, silver, and bronze medals. The official motto of WCG was "Beyond the Game", which is also the title of a documentary about eSports.
As of 2011[update], the World Cyber Games was the largest global electronic sport tournament, with divisions in various countries. The World Cyber Games, created by International Cyber Marketing CEO Hank Jeong and backed financially by Samsung, was considered the e-sports Olympics; events included an official opening ceremony, and players from various countries competing for gold, silver and bronze medals. The organization itself had an official mascot, and used an Olympic Games inspired logo. Organizations from each participating country conducted preliminary events at a regional level, before conducting national finals to determine the players best suited to represent them in the main World Cyber Games tournament event. All events had areas for spectators, but the tournament could also be viewed over internet video streams.
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. 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.
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. The competition initially had 174 competitors from 17 different countries with a total prize purse of $20,000.
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