Intel Extreme Masters

Opening Global Challenge event to be held next month at ChinaJoy in Shanghai.

News by GamesIndustry International Contributor

Published on June 7, 2010

Cologne, June 7, 2010 – The fifth season of the Intel ^® Extreme Masters ( www.intelextrememasters.com), the global league of video game champions, will have its opening Global Challenge event at the China Digital Entertainment Expo & Conference ( http://en.chinajoy.net/) in Shanghai on July 29th – August 1st. The event will boast a $57,000 prize purse, attracting the world’s best gamers in the disciplines of Counter-Strike 1.6 ($40,000), DotA ($12,000) and Warcraft 3 ($5,000) to kick off the world's only global eSports league. The winner of the ChinaJoy Global Challenge in Counter-Strike 1.6 will be qualified for the Intel Extreme Masters World Championship in 2011.

The Intel Extreme Masters is a series of competitions for eSports champions of over 35 countries from 3 continents. The fifth season will feature several Global Challenges, three Continental Championships: in Asia, Europe and the Americas and will culminate with the Intel Extreme Masters World Championship in 2011 with the very best teams and players of each Continental Championship participating.

"I am very proud that we can kick off the fifth Intel Extreme Masters season in China, a country with a great passion for esports and one that has proven to be a great host of events for us. The opening event is very important for any league and we hope that the enthusiasm of the Chinese fans will carry over to the entire season," says Michal Blicharz, Product Manager for Intel Extreme Masters at Turtle Entertainment.

Further information about the Intel Extreme Masters is available at www.intelextrememasters.com

Intel Extreme Masters

The Intel ^® Extreme Masters is the global league of video game champions since 2006. The league arranges the hardest and most popular competitions in Counter-Strike, World of Warcraft and Quake Live. eSports champions from Europe, Asia and America. Live tournaments at the world’s largest IT- and Gaming conventions feature the top performers of the season - global stars in eSports. The fourth season had its exciting final at CeBIT 2010, finding the top teams and players in the Intel ^® Extreme Masters World Championship. The IPTV station ESL TV presents the best games of the season live and reports directly from the offline events.

Further information is available at: www.intelextrememasters.com or www.intel.com/consumer/game/teams/events.htm

Turtle Entertainment GmbH

Turtle Entertainment was founded in 2000. The company quickly grew to be the European leader in the sector of electronic sports (eSports). The Electronic Sports League (ESL), operated by Turtle Entertainment, is active in 37 different countries worldwide. The league portal www.esl.eu reaches above ten million visits a month generated by more than 2,5 million registered users. Turtle Entertainment broadcasts ESL events via IPTV channel ESL TV since 2007. The headquarter has over 170 employees and is located in Cologne, Germany. Turtle Entertainment owns the majority of the Chinese eSports league PGL (Pro Gamer League) since 2007. Important business partners of Turtle Entertainment are global corporations such as Intel, Alienware, ASUS, adidas, Volkswagen, Nokia, Trend Micro, Sennheiser, Windows 7, Sidewinder, Razer and gamed.de.

Further information is available at www.turtle-entertainment.com

Intel Corporation

Intel (NASDAQ: INTC), the world leader in silicon innovation, develops technologies, products and initiatives to continually advance how people work and live. Additional information about Intel is available at www.intel.com/pressroom and blogs.intel.com.

Online resources at a glance:

- This press release as PDF: www.turtle-entertainment.com/Dateien/PM_IEM_Season5_EN.pdf

- ChinaJoy Digital Entertainment Expo and Conference: http://en.chinajoy.net/

- Intel Extreme Masters: www.intelextrememasters.com

- Electronic Sports League (ESL): www.esl.eu

- Turtle Entertainment: www.turtle-entertainment.com

- Company Trailer Turtle Entertainment GmbH (browser flash movie): http://files.turtle-entertainment.de/video/eslpromo.html

Contact:

Turtle Entertainment GmbH

Press Office

Ibrahim Mazari

Siegburger Straße 189