First US World Cyber Games Ends

Organizers of this year’s World Cyber Games, which recently took place in San Francisco, are calling it the most successful yet. The event drew over 600 players from more than 62 different countries, with an estimated 30,000 visitors attending the five-day event. The finals in San Francisco were the first time the World Cyber Games have been held outside South Korea. The games were the brainchild of South Korean Hank Jeong, and receive financial banking from Korean firm Samsung, which contributed to the pot of $400,000 in prize money. The games played by contestants were heavily biased towards online PC and Xbox titles. The most hotly contested medals were for Counter-Strike, WarCraft III, StarCraft, Unreal Tournament 2004 and Halo. Contestants from The Netherlands won the most number of medals with three golds (Unreal Tournament 2004, WarCraft III and Project Gotham Racing 2) and one bronze; followed by South Korea with two golds (FIFA 2004 and StarCraft), two silvers and one bronze; and the USA with two golds (Counter-Strike and Halo) and one bronze. The World Cyber Games will be hosted in Singapore, in the Fall of 2005.