36 Pro Gamers Qualify for World Cyber Games USA National Final at US Open Tournament

Hollywood, CA, June 8, 2006 - You can see the stars walking down Hollywood Boulevard, but last weekend it was the World Cyber Games' All Stars that drew crowds inside the Kodak Theater in Los Angeles. America's top gamers competed in the inaugural WCG US Open, an invitation-only tournament, to determine who would qualify for a spot in the WCG US National Final. When the dust settled, 36 gamers won trips to the WCG US National Final this September.

The WCG US Open officially kicked off the 2006 WCG program in the United States, which is the first stop on the road to Monza, Italy, in October, where Team USA will defend its title against 700 gamers from more than 70 countries. Over 100 gamers participated in the tournament, designed to give elite professionals the opportunity to earn automatic berths to the US Finals while opening the door for a new generation of gamers to qualify in upcoming preliminaries.

The tournament featured stage matches, grudge matches and more than a few upsets. The most notable developments include:

- Daniel "FateCares" Eidson upended three-time US champion Tom "Hero77" Whittier in an exciting StarCraft final enjoyed by the fans.

- Felipe "[LnX]KreeganBG" Stoynev rallied to defeat two-time defending 2005 WCG US FIFA Soccer champion Matija "Taf_Jevrej" Biljeskovic in a barn burner that featured overtime, own goals and Taj Jevrej getting owned.

- Counter-Strike veterans United 5 and the upstart Jax Money Crew (JmC) gave Complexity (coL) a serious run for their money before the top rated CS team emerged victorious.

- Defending WCG US champion James "NefariousSage" Clifford took down highly rated Bryan "DrDogg" Dawson in spectator friendly Dead or Alive 4 final, while Ryan "Gameclucks" Erickson made a repeat appearance in Project Gotham Racing 3 after representing the US in 2004.

- Matthew "mTwWizard)" Anderson returns to bid for his third appearance representing the US in Warcraft as Kamran "omegaelite" Siddiqui guns for his second run at representing the US in Need for Speed.

There is still time for new players to register online at us.worldcybergames.com. If you want to go pro, you've got to win here first.

The top three finishers in each event qualified for the US Final in September. They are:

StarCraft: Brood War (PC)
Daniel "FateCares" Eidson
Tom "Hero77" Whittier
Sean "striderdoom" Plott

WarCraft III: Frozen Throne (PC)
Matthew "mTwWizard)" Anderson
Matt "IncInerator" Schlenker
Oscar "InT]TechnoBoy" Rivera

Half-Life: Counter-Strike 1.6 (PC)
Complexity (coL)
United 5
Jax Money Crew (JmC)

FIFA Soccer 2006 (PC)
Felipe "[LnX]KreeganBG" Stoynev
Matija "Taf_Jevrej" Biljeskovic
Isidro "Novusnaim" Sifuentes

Need for Speed: Most Wanted (PC)
Kamran "omegaelite" Siddiqui
Jonathan "SixxHole" Gistand
Matt "d00bious" Marcou

Warhammer 40,000: Winter Assault (PC)
Steven "[pd]Bluewolf" Anderson
Ryan "Aphelion" Tuosto
Doug "FoH)Rider" Polk

Dead or Alive 4 (Xbox 360)
James "NefariousSage" Clifford
Bryan "DrDogg" Dawson
Benjamin "MisterJoker" Russell

Project Gotham Racing 3 (Xbox 360)
Ryan "Gameclucks" Erickson
Patrick "IndigoFerret" Wyrick
Joe Anthony

MEDIA CONTACT:
Emily Halverson
Text 100 PR
P: 212-331-8428
E: emilyh@text100.com

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