The World's largest computer & video game tournament drew to a close Sunday night amid fireworks after an intense week of competition between 650 players from 59 countries. With elite players, breathtaking matches and colossal stakes, the World Cyber Games is proof that the age of e-sports is upon us.
Sunday's Counter-Strike Final featured intense action that brought the crowd to its feet many times as America's Team3D and Denmark's Titans battled into triple overtime before 5,000 fans.
"It's awesome," said team captain David "Moto" Geffon of Westlake Village, CA. "There couldn't be a better place or a better tournament than the World Cyber Games."
When the tournament dust finally settled, the Netherlands collected the most Gold Medals, winning Unreal Tournament, Project Gotham Racing 2 and, in a huge upset over the heavily favored Korean team, the WarCraft III competition as well.
Gold medalist Matthew Leto of the USA took home $20,000, winning his second consecutive Halo title at the World Cyber Games. $412,000 was awarded overall to winners at the 2004 Grand Final.
"The competition this year was the toughest ever," said Hank Jeong, CEO of World Cyber Games Organizer ICM. "Every year the World Cyber Games expands to include even more of the world's best players. This year's champions should be truly proud of their achievement."
The WCG Gold Medal winners are: Team3D, USA (CounterStrike: Condition Zero); Jihoon Seo, Korea (StarCraft III: Brood War); Manuel Schenkhuizen, Netherlands (WarCraft III: Frozen Throne); Daehan Choi, Korea (FIFA Soccer 2004); Laurens Pluymaekers, Netherlands (Unreal Tournament 2004); Niklas Timmermann, Germany (Need for Speed: Underground); Arthur Vankan (Project Gotham Racing 2); and Matt Leto, USA (Halo).
Samsung is the global sponsor of the World Cyber Games.
Full results for all matches, as well as highlights, pictures and instant replay files of key games are available online at http://www.worldcybergames.com/pressinfo .