The inaugural Ultimate Gamers Expo to be held in Los Angeles in the third week of August will also be the site of the U.S. Finals of the Samsung World Cyber Games, the United Cyber Games Association announced today. “We’re thrilled to have the finals at UGE,” says Wayne Pepper, Co-Founder of UGE. “It’s the perfect place to showcase the world’s largest e-sports competition and let the fans see the best American gamers in action.”
The finals will be held amidst the excitement and fanfare of the Expo, in the South Hall of the Los Angeles Convention Center. Twenty finalists from each of the Samsung WCG 2003 official games will compete over the three-day event, with key matches played on stage and public viewing areas set up throughout the tournament area. A closing award ceremony on Sunday will reveal the 17 members of Team USA’the country’s best gamers’who will go on to represent the U.S. at the WCG 2003 Grand Final in Korea. The competition marks the end of the four-month U.S. phase of Samsung’s WCG 2003, the world’s largest e-sports competition with an estimated 300,000 gamers from more than 55 countries participating.
The Samsung WCG U.S. competition (also sponsored by CompUSA and NVIDIA) consists of a series of 300 qualifying and semifinal rounds held at 20 locations across the country from May through July. The U.S. competition will culminate with the national final at UGE in August. The official games are: Age of Mythology, FIFA Soccer 2003, Half-Life: Counter-Strike, Star Craft: Brood War, Unreal Tournament 2003, and Warcraft III on the PC platform; as well as Halo on the Xbox.
Winners from the L.A competition advance to the Samsung WCG 2003 Grand Final in Seoul, Korea October 12-18 to compete for a share of $350,000 in prizes. The UGE is the first-ever videogame and gaming lifestyle Expo specifically aimed at the public. Over 100,000 attendees are expected at the three-day festival of games, sports, and entertainment.
