CGS Opens Up eSports Stadium In China
April 4, 2008 by Chapree
That is where Wuhan is located, folks.
Championship Gaming Series recently announced that they are going to opened up a full-blown eSports center at Wuhan, China. The facility, which will be called Wuhan Optical Valley Electronic Sports Stadium was created together with some help from the government of Wuhan and the Wuhan Hi Tech Group.
The main purpose of the eSports center are to be a premier training center and gaming area. Currently, it already being used by the local CGS team - Wuhan Dragon as their training center and will host the upcoming CGS Pan-Asia Finals starting from April 30th.
It is certainly a good thing for China’s eSports scene. This kind of facility is not the first in Asia as the Korean e-Sports Players Association already has such facility in South Korea for some time. I also hope that the facility will not be an half-assed effort just to take advantage of China’s booming economy and stuff. 
Full press release available after the jump.
China Will Host CGS 2008 Pan-Asia Final
Sports Facility in China Will Host CGS 2008 Pan-Asia Final
Los Angeles, CA and Wuhan, China, March 31, 2008— In a groundbreaking move for eSports, Championship Gaming Series, the only worldwide professional gaming league, the government of Wuhan and the Wuhan Hi Tech Group, today announced the creation of the world’s premiere eSports training center and professional gaming arena at the Wuhan Optical Valley Electronic Sports Stadium. This initiative marks a new step forward for the digital entertainment industry in Wuhan and the worldwide professional gaming community.
In addition to serving as the training center for the CGS Wuhan Dragon team, the new facility will be the location for the upcoming CGS 2008 Pan-Asia Final from April 30 to May 3. Competing teams will include the six CGS teams from the Pan-Asia Region: Wuhan Dragon, Seoul Jinhwa, Singapore Sword, Sydney Underground, Dubai Mirage and Kuala Lumpur Taufan. The top two finishers at the Pan-Asia Final will then be invited to compete against the world’s best teams for a share of the $1,000,000 prize purse at the 2008 CGS World Final to be held later this year in Los Angeles.
“By participating in the opening of this great new training center and gaming arena in China, we are spearheading the next step in the evolution of eSports,” states Andy Reif, CGS Commissioner. “We expect attendance at the upcoming CGS Pan-Asia Final to exceed 125,000 over the course of the Final which not only demonstrates the magnitude of the event, but also underscores the value which this state-of the-art facility will bring to professional gaming.”
Each CGS team consists of ten athletes, each specializing in an official League game. Five of the ten players comprise a Counter-Strike: Source (CS:S) squad which competes in five-on-five matches. FIFA 08 is played in a one-on-one format. Each CGS team also has a mixed-doubles team of two Dead or Alive 4 players, who will play against other teams in one-on-one matches on Xbox 360. Forza Motorsport 2 consists of two racers on each team competing in a two-versus-two format, also on Xbox 360.
CGS events will be broadcast to more than 350 million viewers worldwide by DIRECTV in the U.S., BSkyB in the UK, ESPN STAR Sports in Asia.
Posted in Championship Gaming Series, Consoles / Handheld, Events, International eSports, Microsoft, PC
Chapree
April 4th, 2008 at 7:34 pm
No matter how you put it, China’s side certainly won’t be as half ass as Malaysia’s, they have the player numbers to back it up, and not many countries have the culture, mentality, hardcoreness which China have and rising.
Chapree: It is not about the China’s side. It’s the CGS side I’m more worried about.