The Games Domain Online Championships 2002

The championships are set to become the centrepiece of the UK online games calendar, with gamers competing against each other in three popular categories; football (Fifa 2002 published by Electronic Arts), first person shooters ('Return to Castle Wolfenstein' published by Activision and 'Counter-Strike' published by Vivendi Universal) and chess (Games Domain's speed chess) for a total prize pot of over £20,000.

The competition kicks off online with heats running in May and June 2002 culminating in a LAN based final in July 2002 at a central London venue. To register and check out the competition rules go to http://www.gamesdomain.co.uk/multi/index.html and click on the Tell Me More button. The first 100 registrations will receive a free Games Domain t-shirt. Closing date for registration is May 3, 2002. The tournament will be organised and monitored by Games Domain's community support team AlienPants.

Alison Ritchie, chief executive officer, BTopenworld said: - "The Games Domain Online Championships offer gamers a great mix of game genres, huge cash prizes and the chance to become the first Games Domian Online Champion. Games Domain's aim is to evolve this competition into the UK's leading online games event and further raise the profile of the UK online games community."

Computer games are now the biggest entertainment sector in the UK with consumers in the UK spending more on computer games than video rental or cinema visits and games software sales topping £1.6 billion in 2001*. Online games are playing a key role in this growth a fact highlighted by Forrester Research which recently announced that broadband will drive online console gaming into 10 million European homes by 2006**.