Premiering in Shenzhen, China on July 15th, the Intel Extreme Masters is set to continue its elite pro gaming tour in Toronto for what promises to be the most impressive season of competition to date. Following the event in Shenzhen, the worldwide leader in eSports will host a US$25,000 StarCraft II competition at this year’s Fan Expo Canada (August 28-31), as part of its ever-expanding premier product, Intel Extreme Masters.
Taking place in the Metro Toronto Convention Center, the event will see the World’s Best Gamers take to the stage once again in the hopes of earning themselves World Championship Series (WCS) points for the Global Finals at BlizzCon later this year, and the lion’s share of the prize money. Qualifications for the event are underway with players from all around the world set to compete in the North American showdown.
“Canada’s StarCraft fans are arguably the greatest in the world,” says Michal Blicharz, Director of Pro Gaming at ESL. “If not for the great games, I expect this Intel Extreme Masters tournament to be talked about because of how loud it is going to be at Fan Expo Canada.”
Joining the globetrotting company are tour sponsors Intel, BenQ, HyperX and GIGABYTE. Intel’s title sponsorship of ESL’s premier tournament circuit marks the longest running global sponsorship of its kind in eSports. The upcoming Intel Extreme Masters season will be BenQ’s 4th (official monitor sponsor) and HyperX’s 2nd (official memory and headset sponsor). The new member of the team is GIGABYTE as the official motherboard and graphics card sponsor.
Intel Extreme Masters is the ESL’s elite global pro gaming tour since 2006 with over 4 million USD given out in prize money in eight seasons. StarCraft II and League of Legends superstars from Europe, Asia and America compete at the world’s largest technological trade shows for their share of a lucrative prize purse. ESL TV, ESL’s web-TV service, presents the best games of the season live and reports directly from the offline events via Twitch TV, reaching over 20 million unique viewers each season.