The additions include all-time favorite Xbox 360 and PC titles FIFA 09™, TrackMania Nations Forever™, Carom3D™ and Red Stone™ as the Official Game Titles for WCG. They will join the previously announced five Official Game Titles - including Counter-Strike™ 1.6 (PC), Starcraft®: Brood War™ (PC), WarCraft® III The Frozen Throne™ (PC), Guitar Hero®: World Tour (Xbox 360) and Virtua Fighter® 5 (Xbox 360) - to ensure that this year's competition features a wide variety of games that appeal to all different types of gamers around the world.
This marks the ninth year that FIFA Soccer will be an Official Game Title for WCG. The beloved soccer game provided one of the shockers of the 2008 Grand Final when Romania ended Germany's dominance to capture the gold. Also marking return engagements in the competition will be Carom3D, which has been a part of the WCG for the past three years, and Red Stone, which made its WCG debut last year. TrackMania, the world famous racing game, will add to the competition's long pedigree of racing games.
Adding to the diversity of the 2009 tournament will be the return of the Mobile Game Category. After making a huge splash through 'Samsung Mobile Challenge' at the 2008 Grand Final, the two mobile games to be featured include Asphalt 4™ and the celestial puzzle game Wise Star2™. Also in this year's line-up, MORPG (Multi-player online role-playing game) Dungeon & Fighter will be featured as a Promotional Title.
"The World Cyber Games is more committed than ever to make eSports accessible to every type of gamer around the world" said Hyoung-Seok Kim, president and CEO of World Cyber Games. "This year's lineup not only features a wide variety of Official Game Titles including Xbox 360 and PC games, but we are expanding the number of mobile games. With these new titles, we expect the 2009 Grand Final to be the most diverse and exciting we have ever had."
WCG also announced the date of WCG 2009 Grand Final. This year the annual event will be held from November 11 to 15, for 5 days taking place in Chengdu, China.
The road to the Grand Final begins in the United States on May 16th and 17th as the nation's best and brightest gamers converge at the Samsung Experience in New York for the annual WCG USA 2009 Invitational (formerly the US Open). Traditionally the opening of the WCG competition in the United States, the WCG USA 2009 Invitational is the first opportunity for players to begin their quest to earn a spot on Team USA, which is among the best teams in the world having captured the overall team title two years ago and placing third last year. Current members of Team USA and high-ranking gamers from across the United States will be among the competitors at this two-day event, which provides elite ranked gamers the opportunity to bypass the WCG Online and Regional Tournaments and proceed directly to the WCG National Final. Gamers will also duke it out for a separate prize purse, invitations to the WCG Pan-American Championship and other great cash and electronic prizes.