World Cyber Games 2005 USA Championship takes its competitions to higher level

World Cyber Games | Online registration for preliminary tournaments opens on April 15 at us.worldcybergames.com

Following success of WCG 2004 Grand Final in San Francisco, WCG 2005 USA Championship aims to attract more gamers and general public nationwide

Seoul Korea, Mountain View CA, April 14 -International Cyber Marketing, Inc. ("ICM"), the global organizer of World Cyber Games ("WCG"), the premiere international game festival, announced today that registration for nationwide online and LAN preliminary tournaments for the WCG 2005 USA Championship will open on April 15, 2005. With iGames appointed as the operating partner for the USA Championship, ICM will select the top-tier US gamers through the WCG 2005 USA Championship event series. The winning finalists will represent their country at the WCG 2005 Grand Final in Singapore in November. The WCG 2005 USA Championship program includes nationwide online and LAN preliminaries that qualify players to participate in national final game tournaments with WCG exhibition in New York City September 8 through 10, 2005. Last year, nearly 30,000 gamers competed in the WCG preliminary events in the US. This year, more than 40,000 gamers are expected to participate.

The WCG 2005 USA Championship will consist of local, regional and online national competitions held throughout the United States in eight of the most popular PC and console (Xbox) game titles on the market, including Counter-Strike 1.6, Starcraft: Brood Wars, Warcraft 3: The Frozen Throne, Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War, FIFA 2005, Need for Speed Underground 2, Dead or Alive Ultimate, and Halo 2. Beginning in May, 2005, selected iGames member game centers will feature live Counter-Strike, Starcraft, Warcraft 3, Warhammer 40000, and Halo 2 in local competitions where players will qualify to participate in the semi-final regional tournaments taking place in August. Online National Tournaments for Counter-Strike, Starcraft and Warcraft 3 will begin in May. The winners of these online competitions and the semi-final regional tournaments will qualify for the WCG USA National Final to be held at Manhattan Center Studios in New York, where players will compete for a chance to represent the United States at the WCG Grand Final in Singapore.

Online registration for the WCG 2005 USA preliminaries will be available beginning April 15 at the WCG USA official site (us.worldcybergames.com). Players will be able to choose the game and the qualifier path in which they want to participate and learn the WCG 2005 official rules and regulations.

"As the WCG US organizer, ICM will ensure the highest event quality this year. That is why we are so glad to work with iGames as our reliable partner to operate the WCG 2005 USA Championship. Through close coordination with iGames, ICM will bring high quality and well-organized WCG events to the US." said Hank Jeong, CEO of ICM. "Last year WCG was promoted widely in the US West Coast through the WCG Grand Final event in San Francisco. This year, we expect to boost WCG's reputation by attracting even more gamers and also the general public to the East Coast-based National Final event in New York."

"We were delighted to be asked by the WCG to coordinate its USA events this year", said Mark Nielsen, Executive Director of iGames. "We have great respect for what the ICM has been able to accomplish in the last 5 years. It has created the best of all tournaments bar none, and we are excited to partner with ICM for the most important tournament series they will hold this year. The WCG USA National Final will provide another important dimension to our goal of bringing the best of the interactive game phenomenon to the East Coast at iGames Expo".

South Korea-based ICM (www.worldcybergames.com) is the global organizer of WCG, the world's largest computer and video game festival and is responsible for all WCG interactive game tournaments to be held in about 70 countries this year. This year the winners of each national event series will compete for the world championship title and prizes worth more than $400,000 . Last year's WCG Grand Final was held in San Francisco, California with more than 700 gamers from 59 countries, attracting major media such as The New York Times, San Francisco Chronicle, CNN, ABC, NBC, and many more.

For further information about WCG 2005 US Preliminaries, visit us.worldcybergames.com.

About the World Cyber Games (WCG)

The World Cyber Games (Co-Chairmen Chung, Dong-chea & Yun, Jong-yong, www.worldcybergames.com) is a global game cultural festival that was founded in 2000 to promote global harmony through cyber games. The event started in 2000, and has run annually ever since. With the slogan "Beyond the Game," the World Cyber Games has developed into a truly global game phenomenon with arguably the largest prize amount at stake. The World Cyber Games prides itself on leading the "Digital Entertainment Culture." The 2005 Grand Final in Singapore will be held in November.

About International Cyber Marketing Inc. (ICM Inc.)

ICM Inc. (CEO: Hank Jeong) is the game marketing company which takes full charge of organizing and managing WCG events. With five years experience in organizing WCG, it has built a worldwide business network in about 70 countries around the globe. Furthermore, ICM has been created business opportunities relating to WCG, and is constantly reshaping business models to expand its global network. As such, ICM also takes charge of global business development and its execution by utilizing World Cyber Games.

About iGames

iGames, Inc., North America's leading game center organization, was founded in 1996 in order to promote and develop the growth of the game center industry.

iGames' vision is to establish game centers as the driving force enabling the interactive entertainment industry to become the #1 form of entertainment around the world. iGames believes that, in addition to the continuous development of a variety of games, the social environment and interaction provided by game centers is the key ingredient for expanding interactive entertainment to a diverse and broad community of gamers.

iGames has established strong relationships with a wide group of game industry leaders to provide a variety of products, services and programs to support its members, comprised of independent and franchised game centers, and gamers. Some of the programs developed and/or facilitated by iGames include software licensing, hardware discounts, exclusive game premiers, tournaments, and game premiers. Today, the company associates with more than 600 centers and 45,000 players, initiating and co-organizing more than 200 game events each year.

Contact

Michelle Kim, ICM, [email protected] +82-2-2106-6550

D.K Ha, ICM, [email protected] +82-2-2106-6551

Mia Yu, ICM, [email protected] +82-2-2106-6552