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The Glorious Past of WCG
The World Cyber Games are the biggest and most prestigious competition for computer and console network games. Held in the spirit and style of the Olympics, today WCG provides opportunity for representatives of the gamers’ society from 70 countries to compete annually for the first place and the $2,000,000 prize money. If you look “World Cyber Games” up in the online dictionaries, it will turn out to be “a world youth festival organized annually since 2000” or “an international forum where the leading companies in the gaming industry comment on the future of e-sports and their place in the modern society”. The big definitions are nothing compared to the statistic truth that WCG are the sole worldwide competition where players from six continents meet. In other words, for e-sport WCG are the equivalent of the Olympic Games. The organizers from International Cyber Marketing unite the events under the motto “Beyond the game”. The ICM and their partners’ ambition is to attract young people with the power of fun and emotions to the idea of knowing and respecting each other and creating harmonious and useful relationships. “Beyond the game” symbolizes the true character of the competition – a forum without linguistic, ethnical or bureaucratic boundaries, one true World cultural festival uniting the participants with emotions and fairplay.
 | World Cyber Game challenge 2000
It all began in the year 2000 with the World Cyber Game Challenge which was held under the “a Festival for all the world game” slogan. Korea’s capital Seoul welcomed gamers from 17 countries – Australia, Canada, China, Denmark, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, Republic of Korea, Mexico, Holland, Singapore, Sweden, Chinese Taipei, UK and USA.
The international preliminaries were held between 22nd of July and 24th of September 2000, the national – between the 6th and 25th of September 2000 and the offline matches – on the 30th of September 2000. The gamers from the 17 participating countries were competing for the leadership in four categories of PC games – Quake III: Arena, FIFA 2000, Age of Empires II, StarCraft: Broodwar.
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|  | World Cyber Games 2001
After the success of the 2000 international forum it was logical for an event in a similar scale to happen in 2001. Of course it happened and the initiative WCG 2001 was born. For the first time the slogan “Beyond the Game” was announced and it’s still uniting the annual tournaments.
The host city was again Seoul. Twenty four countries, including representatives from Europe, North America, Africa, Asia and Australia participate in the Grand Final. The finals were attended by 430 gamers from 390,000 participants in the preliminaries.
Since this year the preliminaries have been international – without special dates for the Koreans. The gamers who wanted to participate in the Grand Final competed between March and September 2001. The Grand Final was held between 5th and 9th December 2001. The games were six: Age of Empires II: The Conquerors, HALF-LIFE: Counter-Strike, 2001 FIFA World Cup, StarCraft: Brood War, Unreal Tournament and Quake III: Arena.
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|  | World Cyber Games 2002
In 2002 the tradition continued and Korea hosted the WCG once more. This time the host-city wasn’t Seoul but Daejong. The picturesque city is the fifth largest in Korea and in 2002 opened its doors for gamers from 34 countries from 6 continents. After the heavy international qualifying matches between March and September 2002, 462 out of almost 450,000 gamers around the world participated in the Grand Final.
The Grand Final was held in Daejong between the 28th of October and the 3rd of November 2002. The gamers competed in six categories of computer games: Age of Empires II: The Conquerors, HALF-LIFE: Counter-Strike, 2002 FIFA World Cup, StarCraft: Brood War, Unreal Tournament, Quake III: Arena.
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|  | World Cyber Games 2003
The fourth World Cyber Games were held in Seoul, Korea again. This time gamers from 45 countries from Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia, North and South America came to the 11-milion people city. In 2003 over 600,000 gamers competed for a place among the 562 gamers allowed to the tournament in Seoul.
The international preliminaries were held between March and September 2003 and the Grand Final – between the 12th and 18th October 2003. For the first time the players competed in a console game discipline – Halo. The PC games’ traditions continued – the categories were six. The games that were played in Seoul were Age of Mythology, FIFA Soccer 2003, HALF-LIFE: Counter-Strike, StarCraft: Brood War, Unreal Tournament 2003 and WarCraft III: Reign of Chaos. For the first time the Korean government participated with a special sponsored competition in the Survival Project category.
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|  | World Cyber Games 2004
In the year 2004 for the first time WCG went outside of Korea. The host city was San Francisco, USA. The home to the Golden Gate Bridge opened its doors for the fifth WCG. The international qualifications were held between March and September 2004. Over a million gamers participated in the national preliminaries but only 642 players from 60 countries went to the Grand Final.
The Grand Final was held between the 6th and 10th of October 2004. The gamers competed in six categories of PC games and two categories of console games. The PC games were Counter-Strike: Condition Zero, FIFA Soccer 2004, Need for Speed: Underground, StarCraft: Brood War, Unreal Tournament 2004 and WarCraft III: The Frozen Throne. Meantime the console competition was running on full throttle with Halo and Project Gotham Racing 2. In 2004 the first specialized tournament in category PangYa was held.
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|  | World Cyber Games 2005
In 2005 the WCG returned to Asia. The host city Singapore was attended by 679 players from 65 countries. The international qualifications were held between March and October 2005.
Over 1,250,000 competitors participated in the national preliminaries. The Grand Final was held between the 16th and 20th of November 2005. The PC categories were six again - Counter-Strike: Source, FIFA Soccer 2005, Need for Speed: Underground 2, StarCraft: Brood War, WarCraft III: The Frozen Throne, Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War. The console games were two – Halo 2 and Dead of Alive Ultimate.
Except the official categories some gamers competed in a special tournament in Free Style and others participated in the first tournament with invitations – Carom 3D. A competition for the mobile phone gamers was provided – the categories were Bruce Lee, Chopper Rescue Goolie and Midtown Madness 3.
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|  | World Cyber Games 2006
For the 7th WCG the best gamers in the world went to Monza, Italy. The city, famous for its World Superbikes and Formula 1 track, was attended by almost 700 gamers from 68 countries. The national preliminaries were traditionally held between March and September.
At the Grand Final between the 18th and 22nd of October the gamers competed in six categories PC games - FIFA Soccer 06, Half-Life: Counter-Strike 1.6, Need for Speed: Most Wanted, StarCraft: Brood War, WarCraft III: The Frozen Throne, Dawn of War: Winter Assault. A special tournament in category PangYa and a Carom 3D tournament with invitations were held. For the first time the Quake 4 All Stars competition was held. | | |
|  | World Cyber Games 2007
In 2007 the host city of the already traditional WCG is in the USA. Over 700 enthusiastic gamers attended Seattle to show the world who was the best. After the heavy national preliminaries, held between March and September, gamers from 74 countries went to the city of Jimi Hendrix. The computer games for the Grand Final, held between the 3rd and 7th of October, were WarCraft III : The Frozen Throne, StarCraft : Brood War, Half-Life : Counter-Strike, FIFA Soccer 2007, Need for Speed Carbon, Command & Conquer 3 Tiberium Wars, Age of Empires III: The WarChiefs and Carom 3D. The console games were four - Gears of War, Dead or Alive 4, Project Gotham Racing 3 and Tony Hawk's Project 8.
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