The fifth season of the Intel Extreme Masters, the global league of video game champions, will have its opening Global Challenge event at the China Digital Entertainment Expo & Conference 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.
