The Core 2 Extreme Masters by ESL elevate eSports onto a new level entirely. This tournament organized by Intel and the Electronic Sports League brings together the eSports elite from 24 European countries. With prize money of €160,000 (about $205,000), topped off by offline events in large European cities, the Core 2 Extreme Masters by ESL are setting new standards for European gaming tournaments.
In each of the disciplines Warcraft 3 and Counterstrike, 24 participants will play for the biggest prize purse ever in an all European tournament. The Core 2 Extreme Masters are not online-only. Besides the obligatory LAN finals there will be several Intel Friday Night Games. These one-day tour events are already famous from the German ESL Pro Series where each week about 1,000 fans gather in different cities to watch two top matches of the league. The events offer plenty of entertainment, high-tech coverage of the games and lots of extras that you should not miss. Stops are currently planned for Hamburg, Paris, Stockholm and London.

In the first quarter of 2007 the big Core 2 Extreme Masters Finals will take place. In the course of a couple of days, 8 participants in each discipline will determine the season winner.

In Counter-Strike there is a prize money sum of €110,000 (about $141,000), Warcraft 3 offers €40,000 (about $51,000). Additionally, there will be €10,000 (about $13,000) in event bonuses for the Intel Friday Night Game for a prize money total of €160,000 (about $205,000). Counter-Strike will be played in version 1.6, Warcraft 3 is played in 1on1 mode.

In Germany, Greece, Italy and the Alps countries Austria and Switzerland, the participants of Core 2 Extreme Masters are determined via the national ESL Pro Series. The best teams and players from these national leagues are directly invited to take part in the Core 2 Extreme Masters by ESL. In general, each participating country gets a certain amount of slots, depending on the relative strength of the country.

In all countries without an ESL Pro Series, participants will be determined via national qualifiers. 48 slots will be distributed to the national qualifiers and ESL Pro Series, 12 of which allow for a guaranteed spot in the Core 2 Extreme Masters. The 36 remaining teams/players will play out another 12 slots in a two-round international qualifier. After all qualifiers, 24 teams/players are determined as participants of the first season of Core 2 Extreme Masters by ESL.

At Games Convention 2006 from 24th to 27th of August, the Core 2 Extreme Masters will be presented to the public with a Kick-Off event. Details about this event, qualification modes, national qualifiers, the distribution of slots and prize money, rules and participating teams from ESL Pro Series will be disclosed shortly. Special thanks go out to Intel. Without their exceptional dedication to eSports, the Core 2 Extreme Masters would be impossible.