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IGN
Entertainment and The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas Partner
to Bring eSports to the Entertainment Capital of the
World
SAN
FRANCISCO, Feb. 29, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- IGN Entertainment
and The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas have entered into
a multi-event partnership to bring IGN Pro League
(IPL) video gaming tournaments to the entertainment
capital of the world. The companies' first jointly-held
tournament - IPL 4 - will take place April 6-8th,
2012 at The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas, with a second
event - IPL 5 - slated for August 2012.
Competitive
video gaming ("eSports") will join The Cosmopolitan
of Las Vegas' already-robust slate of entertainment,
culinary and lifestyle events - its first move toward
becoming the premier Las Vegas destination for live
eSports events providing a unique experience for the
next-generation of eSports stars and fans.
"eSports
is on a trajectory to become the next mainstream form
of entertainment, and we're thrilled to be collaborating
with a forward-thinking partner like The Cosmopolitan
of Las Vegas to bring eSports and its passionate fan
base to Las Vegas," said David Ting, GM of eSports
and VP of Research & Development for IGN Entertainment.
"The
IGN Pro League tournaments are very unique and just
another way in which we evolve our entertainment and
guest experiences," remarked Lisa Marchese, Chief
Marketing Officer at The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas.
"The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas is excited to
be at the forefront of the eSports phenomenon and
serve as its Las Vegas headquarters."
IPL
4 will play host to the finals for Korea's Global
StarCraft Team Leagues (GSTL) - one of the most highly-anticipated
eSports events of 2012. This will be the first time
a GSTL final has been hosted outside of Korea, where
eSports is already the largest sport with live events
garnering 20K attendees and online events capturing
over 300K concurrent broadcast views. Through partnerships
with The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas and the GSTL, IPL
4 is well-positioned to eclipse the viewership of
traditional sports.
"We
are very glad to have this chance to make eSports
history again, this time with IPL in Las Vegas. We
believe that this partnership will elevate the world
of eSports to another level," said Jung Won Chae,
Director of the Global StarCraft League (GSL), the
leading professional StarCraft II organization in
Korea which hosts the team-based (GSTL) competitions
to over 180 countries worldwide.
In
addition to Korea's GSTL finals, IPL 4 will bring
together the top StarCraft II and League of Legends
players from across the globe to vie for a six-figure
prize pool.
Tickets
for IPL 4 start at $25 per person for general admission
and are available at http://tickets.ign.com. VIP tickets
for $175 include a limited edition commemorative IPL
4 poster created by Alvin Lee, guaranteed front row
seating and an IPL T-Shirt. To see upcoming announcements
about the final player line-ups and specific tournament
locations at The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas, visit
www.ign.com/ipl.
IPL
4 will be the second live eSports event from IGN Entertainment
-- IGN's first live tournament, IPL 3: Origins, was
held last year at Caesars Atlantic City, offering
a prize pool of $120,000. IPL 3 Origins drew in more
than 12 million online video views. It was preceded
by IPL 1 and IPL 2, which were both held online. With
the IGN Pro League franchise, IGN's goal is to help
legitimize video gaming as a profession that can produce
the next generation of celebrities. Since its launch
in April 2011, the IGN Pro League has attracted over
4 million unique viewers to its online and live tournaments.
About
IGN Entertainment
IGN Entertainment is the leading Internet media and
services provider focused on the video game and entertainment
enthusiast markets. Collectively, IGN's properties
reach more than 57 million unique users worldwide,
according to Internet audience measurement firm comScore.
IGN's network of video game-related properties (IGN.com,
1UP.com, GameSpy, FilePlanet, TeamXbox and others)
is the Web's #1 video game information destination.
IGN also owns the world's largest men's lifestyle
website, AskMen.com, and men's entertainment site
UGO.com. It also provides technology for online game
play in video games. IGN is headquartered in the San
Francisco Bay Area, with offices across North America,
Europe and Australia.
About
The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas
The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas is the city's newest
luxury resort offering a decidedly different perspective.
Located at the heart of The Strip directly between
CityCenter and Bellagio, the resort's uniquely vertical
multi-tower design offers spectacular views of the
vibrant city. The new 2,995-room resort features oversized
residential-style living spaces with expansive, one-of-a-kind
private terraces. The Cosmopolitan's luxurious resort
amenities include a 100,000 square foot casino; Sahra
Spa & Hammam and Violet Hour Hair Nails Beauty;
three unique pool experiences; Marquee Nightclub &
Dayclub, a multi-level integrated indoor/outdoor nightclub
and 150,000 square feet of state-of-the-art convention
and meeting space. An eclectic line-up of new-to-market
retailers include: AllSaints Spitalfields, Beckley,
CRSVR Sneaker Boutique, DNA2050, EATDRINK, Jason of
Beverly Hills, Kidrobot, Molly Brown's Swimwear, Retrospecs
& Co, Skins 62 Cosmetics, Stitched and Utique.
Signature restaurants include: Blue Ribbon Sushi Bar
& Grill by restaurateurs Bruce and Eric Bromberg;
Comme Ca by Los Angeles Chef David Myers; Estiatorio
Milos, by international restaurateur Costas Spiliadis;
Holsteins from Block 16 Hospitality; Jaleo and China
Poblano restaurants by acclaimed Chef Jose Andres;
Scarpetta and D.O.C.G. by award-winning Chef Scott
Conant; and popular steakhouse STK from The ONE Group.
About the Global Starcraft League
GSL is a South Korea-based StarCraft II tournament
broadcasted to over 180 countries worldwide. The best
players in the world have participated in the GSL
since 2010. In 2012 it plans to hold 5 individual
leagues (GSL) and 3 team leagues (GSTL). With a total
of 210 game days and a total of 1.5 billion won in
prize money, the GSL is the world's largest-scale
StarCraft II tournament. The GSL can be watch lived
via GOM Player. More information is available at GOMTV.net
(http://www.GOMTV.net).
Profile
IGN
Entertainment, a unit of Fox Interactive Media, Inc.,
is a leading Internet media and services provider
focused on the videogame and entertainment enthusiast
markets. IGN's properties collectively attract more
than 31 million unique monthly users worldwide. Our
network of videogame-related properties (IGN.com,
GameSpy, FilePlanet, TeamXbox, 3D Gamers, Direct2Drive
and others) is the web's number one videogame information
destination and attracts one of the largest concentrated
audiences of young males on the Internet. We also
own and operate the popular movie-related website,
Rotten Tomatoes, and one of the leading male lifestyle
websites, AskMen.com. In addition, we provide technology
for online game play in videogames. (Credit:
IGN).
Website
IGN
Articles
Jeepers
creepers, it's game on in the battle for ads, by Simon
Canning - 3rd August 2006
(Credit:
The Australian)
When News Corporation announced it was plunging more
than $850 million in to online gaming operator IGN
Entertainment last year, media observers across the
globe were stunned.
But the move signalled the shift of old media operators,
used to broadcasting, print and even telephony, into
the booming online gaming world where users are forming
global communities, often at the expense of the time
they spend with old media. For News, IGN represented
not just the web destination where gamers got their
news but more than 70 community and gaming sites used
to chat, download games and compete in live online
battles.
Ninemsn
has also begun investing heavily in online games through
its website, while Telstra's BigPond has a dedicated
gaming area called The Arena that its subscribers
can use to play live online.
Now
game manufacturers and advertisers are bracing themselves
for an explosion in online gaming as the medium emerges
from the darkened bedrooms of teenage computer geeks
to take pride of place in the lounge room.
The
launch, in November, of Sony's next generation PlayStation
3 is expected to be the catalyst for online gaming
to begin serious inroads as a channel in its own right,
coming in the wake of Microsoft's Xbox 360 earlier
this year and after years of entrenched online gaming
through computers. Both Sony and Microsoft have offered
primitive online gaming with the original Xbox and
PS2. But gamers are now being greeted with dedicated
broadband connections, exclusive games, movie trailers
and, of course, advertising with the new generation
of consoles.
Xbox
spokesman Mark Lenyszyn says since the launch of the
360 in the US last year, more than 50 per cent of
all owners have signed their consoles up to Xbox Live
within days of purchase. Locally, Xbox Live is believed
to have about 50,000 subscribers -- the majority of
them considered hard-core gamers.
Three
weeks ago Xbox Live launched what it has dubbed as
"Arcade Wednesdays" when gamers can download
classic arcade games such as Frogger, Galaga and Pac
Man. Globally, Xbox 360 owners have downloaded more
than five million games, suggesting live online play
and downloading is quickly gaining traction.
In
May Microsoft spent $500million to buy in-game advertising
pioneer Massive and this week in the US, Massive announced
its first interactive deal that will see ads for the
2007 Toyota Yaris appear in the online game Anarchy
Online.
But
it is the launch of the PS3 that, along with the 360,
is expected to lead to an explosion of console owners
connecting their televisions to Sony and Microsoft's
live sites in Australia. Michael Ephraim, head of
Sony Computer Entertainment in Australia, believes
the online component will be pivotal to the success
of the PS3.
While
the take-up of the ability to play against other competitors
on the PS2 online has been limited, Ephraim says nearly
40,000 PS2 owners have bought the network adapter
that allows them to go online.
"That
is off a base of about 1.8million PlayStations,"
he says. Xbox's numbers come off a base of about 800,000
first-generation consoles in the market.
"That
online offering for both of us was pretty limited.
It was just online gaming and there was very little
community aspect. PlayStation 2 online was, if anything,
a dress rehearsal."
Ephraim
is coy about many of the offerings for the PS3, but
admits the broadband capabilities of the new unit
will be an important part of the decision by consumers
to buy. "Definitely the vision is to create an
online community for online gaming and I'm very excited
about the potential for what we can do with it."
While
interest in the online component of gaming for both
Microsoft and Sony seems a given, what remains to
be seen is the impact advertising might have in the
online environment.
Lenyszyn
admits that Microsoft's PC background gives the company
a sense of what may be possible through the 360, but
he expects third parties such as game developers to
be the first to try turning online gaming into a marketing
channel.
"I
think compared to, say, the music or movie industry,
there has been a finite revenue stream that could
be gained from a game release. Taking it online could
change that."
Already
many developers have struck deals with advertisers
to insert ads in game environments. Racing games such
as Sony's Gran Tourismo series and Microsoft's Forza
Motorsport are examples where real world advertisers
have made the transition to the cyber world.
The
shift to real-time online gaming through consoles
plugged into TVs heralds the first opportunity for
advertisers to gain television-style impact with gaming
ads.
In
December, software developer, Activision, teamed with
research company, Nielsen, to gauge how acceptable
online gamers would find in-game advertising. The
results suggested rather than being angered by such
marketing, ads that were deemed relevant and appropriate
would be welcomed by gamers.
"Advertisers
have finally found a pipeline into the 18-34 male
sweet spot," says Nielsen Entertainment chief
executive and president Andy Wing.
According
to the findings of the study, advertisers could take
hints about real-world choices from in-game decisions.
"The colour of a Jeep a gamer chooses says a
lot about how they might act in the real world,"
Nielsen's Michael Dowling says. "This is invaluable
information to advertisers."
Kevin
Walsh, of online specialist agency NetX says the Massive
deal may prove an important moment in the history
of online game advertising, with the global market
already valued by some at more than $1 billion.
"You
have to remember that the generation under 25 is spending
as much time playing games online as they are using
the internet," Walsh says.
Sony's
Ephraim says the online experience is the most important
element for the next generation PlayStation in the
short term, although he could not rule out software
developers writing games that would be open to real-time
advertising when players went online. But he described
the potential of advertising as "the icing, not
the cake".
"We
need to make the cake first, then build the eyeballs
and then start looking at the advertising revenue."
David
Chang, head of News Corp's IGN, says gamers are cashed
up and willing to spend. He says working with hardware
companies such as Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo, as
well as software developers such as Electronic Arts,
Activision and THQ is paramount in future development.
Chang
says the allure of IGN for a company such as News
Corp was the ability to tap into consumers who were
spending their free time playing games online rather
than with old media. "Across our readership globally
the average household income is $US67,000," Chang
recently said.
He
noted that vehicle manufacturers such as Honda, Volkswagen
and General Motors were extending their online presence
with games websites, and this could easily shift into
online gaming.
Ephraim
says the serious potential of online gaming advertising
may not be reached until the PS3 had five to 10 million
users and that getting people used to the new environment
is the key.
"On
the commercial side of the digital download we see
this more of an evolution than a revolution. We see
packaged goods and digital downloads complimenting
each other."
Key
to any early success will be making sure the early
adopters embrace the system, as Microsoft found with
the 360.
"We
will be communicating with our core group of consumers
(some 40,000 owners of PS2 and PlayStation Portable)
who will probably be the pioneers of PS3 online,"
Ephraim says.
Regardless
of their competition, both Ephraim and Lenyszyn agree
that with the launch of the PS3, the console battleground
will move from the living room to cyberspace, with
companies such as News Corp, PBL, and Telstra following
closely behind.
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