With the 2009 World Cyber Games emerging, the hunt is on for the top notch local gamers who will represent Sri Lanka at the world championships. One of two national preliminary rounds was held in Kandy at which the first group of participants was selected. The second preliminary round is to be held in Colombo.
The Colombo preliminaries, for which the expected turn out is 800 gamers. While the official games are Counter Strike 1.6 and FIFA, others game such as Warcraft3 (DOTA), COD4, HALO (X-BOX) and NFS Most Wanted also will be hosted at the event.
Lanka eSports is the first Sri Lankan organization to form a strategic partnership with the world’s largest international video gaming tournament, World Cyber Games. Participating in games that local gamers are more familiar with should give them some edge at the World Cyber Games (WCG) Grand Finals which is to be held in China this year. “At the WCG this November, Sri Lanka will be playing Counter Strike and FIFA,” says co-founder of Lanka eSports, Prageeth Thoradeniya.
According to the Lanka eSports, there are several gamers in Sri Lanka. Local gamers are mostly between the ages of 13 and 30 and are richly diverse, which shows that an incredible amount of potential that is still to be tapped. “Most Sri Lankans aren’t aware that people can make careers out of gaming. Pro gamers can pursue careers as a video game designer and much more,” says co-founder of Lanka eSports, Cindy Perea.
In search of the best Sri Lankan gamers, Lanka eSports is trying to reach gamers not just in Colombo but across the island. “We’ve held the first preliminary in Kandy this year and the other will be in Colombo. Next year we are hoping to hold preliminaries in Galle as well, we want to give all the local gamers an opportunity to test their skills and take part in the WCG,” they added. The primary sponsor for the event is Intel, while the gold sponsors include EWis, Kingston, Memory Tech, CPC, LIOC and Hyrax Oil, and Informatics Institute of Technology is the bronze sponsor. Gareena comes in as the gaming media sponsor, while the electronic media sponsors are EFM and ETV, and the digital media sponsor, Colombo Spirit. The print media sponsors will be The Sunday Times. The Colombo Preliminaries will be held on September 12 and 13, at Ground Zero and the entrance fee is Rs. 300/-. Participants are requested to bring their gaming gear- headphones, mouse, and keyboard.
The National Championships will be held the weekend after on September 19 and 20 at Ground Zero, where 7 of the best gamers will be selected to represent Sri Lanka at the WCG Grand Final in Chengdu, China. The team will consist of 5 players from Counter Strike, 1 player from FIFA and 1 team leader. Gamers who would like to take up the challenge can register at lk.wcg.com.
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