ESWC Belgium 2008

When compared with the Netherlands, Germany or France, Belgium has always had some trouble in the past with organizing qualifiers for international events. In 2008 however, it seems Belgium has finally caught up with its neighbour countries. This year the Belgian ESWC qualifier will be organized by Gamevibes and LowLandLions. The managers behind these established names have proven their organizational talent time and again. Wsquared, the organisation behind several Dutch qualifiers, have offered their expertise and will overlook the qualifier.

In the year that Belgium sees a remarkable qualifier, the two games that will be played happen to be the two games that kicked off professional gaming for most people: Counter-strike 1.6 and Quake3. Sixteen teams and sixteen players will have the chance to qualify for the prestigious LAN finals at the Antwerp E-sports Festival on the 25th of July. The Antwerp eSports Festival, the setting for the Belgian qualifier, is the new 50,000 € tournament organized by Gamevibes in the Hilton in Antwerp.

The online qualifiers will be played on the 21st and 28th of June. The best four counter-strike 1.6 teams and the best four Quake3 players will then battle it out at the AEF in hopes of defending the Belgian colours in San Jose, California. This is where the ESWC grand finals will be played this year, a major change from previous years as the finals were always in France.

The ESWC, one of the most well-known brands in electronic sports and has an impressive track record. This year will be their sixth event and it will have 800 video game champions from all over the world competing for the title of world champion in their respective game. The finals will be held in three different locations in San Jose from the 25th until the 27th of August.  Thousands of visitors will witness the thrill of seeing the best players in the world compete against each other. Organizing spectacular finals is one of the ESWC’s strong points and it will be no different this year.