UPDATE (11 March 2009):
Registration for this even is now OPEN!
ESWC Masters will be held in Asia for the first time, in the city of
Cheonan.
Together, ESWC and Cheonan City will host the ESWC Asia Masters in Cheonan.
From May 2nd 2009 to May 5th 2009, ESWC Masters will be held within the "2009 Cheonan International e-Sports Culture Festival" for the first time in Asia.
Counter Strike 1.6,
Warcraft 3, Special Force,
Fifa Online 2,
Starcraft Brood War. 5 games with a total prize money of approximately $100,000.
ESWC Asia will be held in the city of Cheonan, Korea, for the first time ever.
On March 5th, at the "2009 Cheonan International e-Sports Culture Festival Media-Day", Cheonan and ESWC will make an official announcement that "ESWC Asia Masters of Cheonan will be held in Asia for the first time ever".
The 2009 Cheonan International e-Sports Culture Festival is the event that will be held from May 2nd to 5th at the Yu Gwanun Gymnasium and Cheonan Sports Complex. It's the biggest Asian event ever. There are going to be many events along with ESWC Asia Masters such as, the Korean Career Fair, International Digital Contents Conference, Game IT Contents Show, Culture Festival, and many other events.
At ESWC Asia, there will be 550 gamers from 15 countries. It will become the biggest festival ever that represents Asia's greatest event.
ESWC Asia will have Counter Strike 1.6, Warcraft 3, Special Force, StarCraft, and Fifa Online 2 for the competition.
For Counter Strike 1.6, Warcraft 3, teams and players will be selected by the ESWC Organizing Committee according to criteria like other ESWC Masters events. 12 international teams and 4 Korean teams will make up 16 teams, split into 4 groups. For Starcraft, there will be continental qualifications for 3 continents (Asia, North and South America, and Europe). The 1st place finishers from Counter Strike 1.6 and Warcraft 3 will achieve round trip plane tickets to the ESWC 2009 Grand Finals with a seed. 2nd and 3rd place will receive seeds at the ESWC 2009 Grand Finals.
- Title of the Event: 2009 ESWC Asia Masters of Cheonan
- Host: ESWC & Cheonan City
- Organizer: CTIA, IEG
- Dates: May 2nd (Sat) - May 5th (Tue) 2009 - for 4 days
- Location: Yu Gwansun Gymnasium and Cheonan Sports Complex
- Games: Counter Strike 1.6 ($30,000USD)
Warcraft 3 TFT ($15,000USD)
Special Force ($30,000USD)
Fifa On-line 2 ($12,000USD)
Starcraft ($9,000USD)
(date of Dollar Rate : Jan. 30th 2009)
- Counter Strike 1.6 best of 16 (12 international teams, 4 Korean teams)
- 12 international teams (through candidate application)
- 4 Korean teams (TOP 4 from ESWC Korea ranking on 2nd and 3rd)
- Warcraft 3 and Fifa On-line 2 in same format
- For Special Force, the publisher from other countries will decide
- Qualification information will be announced soon through the ESWC Asia Masters website.
- Continental qualification
- 1 from Asia vs. 1 from North and South America vs. 1 from Europe vs. 1 from Korea
- Qualification information will be announced soon.
- Special Prize: 1st place for WC3 and CS 1.6 will receive seeds and the plane ticket to Paris for 2009 ESWC Grand Final.
All participants will be provided with meals, hotels, and partial financial support for the plane ticket to Korea.
About the 2009 Cheonan International e-Sports Culture Festival]
- Title of the Event: 2009 Cheonan International e-Sports Culture Festival
- Host: The City of Cheonan
- Organizer: CTIA
- Dates: 2nd of May (Sat) 2009 ~ 5th of May (Tue) - 4 days
- Place: Yu Gwansun Gymnasium and Cheonan Sports Complex
- Supporters: The Ministry of Physical Culture and Tourism, South Choongcheong Province, CTIA, KeSPA, Future Fusion Contents Industry association
- Contents for event: 1. ESWC Asia Masters of Cheonan
2. Korean Career Fair
3. International Digital Contents Conference
4. Game IT Contents Show
5. Culture Festival
ESWC was first started in France in 2003. It has been biggest the tournament, similar to WCG for e-sports and gamers. ESWC has 6 months of national qualifications and a 3 day Grand Final. 53 countries and 1,250,000 gamers have participated in the national qualifications, and 2,500 gamers have competed against each other at the Grand Final up to 2008. ESWC is also well known for the 500 women pro-gamers who have attended the tournament. During 2006 ESWC Grand Final, 22,500 people paid and watched the games. It is a well known event throughout the world, with 696,027 people visiting ESWC.com frequently.