Eine kleine Überraschung ist sicherlich, dass Quake 3 Arena wieder in das Spiele-Lineup aufgenommen wurde. Vielleicht wird sich der eine oder andere alte Quake-Hase, der in Painkiller noch kein Fuß fassen konnte, wieder seiner Wurzeln erinnern. Vor der schwierigsten Entscheidung stehen jedoch die Warcraft-Spieler. Entweder sie treten die Reise über den großen Teich an, oder sie probieren ihr Glück gleich in Europa. Das Rahmenprogramm sollte in Frankreich jedoch um einiges besser sein als in Dallas, bietet man den Spielern und Zuschauern doch die Möglichkeit, dem einen oder anderen Konzert beizuwohnen. Zudem ist das Preisgeld deutlich höher als in Dallas.

PC:
• 120 000 $ Counter-Strike 1.6 (5 gegen 5)
• 40 000 $ Warcraft 3 The Frozen Throne (1 gegen 1)
• 40 000 $ Pro Evolution Soccer 4 (1 gegen 1)
• 30 000 $ Counter-Strike Female 1.6 (5 gegen 5)
• 12 000 $ Unreal Tournament 2004 (1 gegen 1)
• 12 000 $ Quake 3 Arena (1 gegen 1) PlayStation 2:
• 12 000 $ Gran Tourismo 4 (1 gegen 1)

[justify]Paris, Tuesday the 18th 2005 ELECTRONIC SPORTS WORLD CUP 2005: “Release your skill” The ESWC Organizing Committee confirms today that the Electronic Sports World Cup Grand Final will be organized from Wednesday 6th July to Sunday 10th July 2005, in the most prestigious venue of France, in Paris: “The Carrousel of the Louvre” – with the support of Nvidia as Main and Worldwide Partner. The ESWC Grand Final, designed as a traditional sport event and produced as a show for television, will gather together 800 champions selected trough a world tour involving 50 countries from February to June 2005. The ESWC Official Disciplines Participation reserved exclusively to teams and players champions of their national ESWC qualifiers Counter-Strike v1.6 (© Valve – © Sierra - © VU Games) 120,000$ Tournament / 5v5 * Warcraft III TFT (© Blizzard - © VU Games) 40,000$ Tournament / 1v1 Pro Evolution Soccer 4 (© Konami) 40,000$ Tournament / 1v1 ** * Selected version is Counter-Strike v1.6 from Half-Life for all the national qualifiers, subject to alteration for the Grand Final if Counter-Strike Source comes up to the ESWC competition exigencies ** The Grand Final will be played on the PC version with the possibility of using any pads including PS2 or Xbox The ESWC Masters Hybrid system of participation mixing invitations and national qualifiers Counter-Strike Women (© Valve – © Sierra - © VU Games) 30,000$ Tournament / 5v5 * Unreal Tournament 2004 (© Epic - © Atari) 12,000$ Tournament / 1v1 Quake III Arena (© ID Software - © Activision) 12,000$ Tournament / 1v1 Gran Tourismo 4 (© Sony) 12,000$ Tournament / 1v1 During five days of competitions, concerts and parties, competitors will battle for more than $300.000 of prizes. 60 major matches will be played on 3 stages – including a main hall with 2000 seats for spectators. A dedicated television program, international media agreements and a daily broadcast of the event by satellite and broadband will be part of the set-up to elevate ESports to the status of the most exciting sporting adventure of the XXIth century. All information concerning the qualifiers and the support of Nvidia will be announced in the next press releases end of January and published on www.esworldcup.com.