More Than $120,000 in Cash, Prizes, Bragging Rights On the Line
DALLAS – July 31, 2008 – Competitive gamers and id Software fans from across the country and around the globe will embark on their annual pilgrimage to QuakeCon 2008, July 31-August 3 in Dallas’ Hilton Anatole Hotel, the biggest free LAN party in North America. This year’s QuakeCon unquestionably gives the fans more id Software goodness – more RAGE™, more Wolfenstein™, more DOOM ™, more Wolf RPG™ and more Quake Live™!
Todd Hollenshead, CEO, and John Carmack, technical director and co-founder of id Software take center stage Thursday afternoon for a back-to-back press conference and keynote address where announcements will be made and new video game trailers/footage will be shown from their highly-anticipated games. id Software’s psyched to share:
· Never-before-seen video footage from RAGE, an all-new take on the first person shooter published by EA
· New gameplay trailer from Wolfenstein, co-developed with Raven Software and published by Activision, the ultimate supernatural thriller that brings the Nazi’s dark obsession with the occult to life
· QUAKE LIVE, created by id Software, an innovative new way to deliver the excitement and energy of first-person multiplayer action to a broader audience through a free and easily accessible browser-based experience
· The next DOOM, created by id Software continues the journey into the legendary DOOM universe
· Wolfenstein RPG, created by id Mobile and published by EA Mobile, allows gamers to play as B.J. Blazkowicz, leader of an elite unit deployed by the U.S. to infiltrate Castle Wolfenstein, stop the Axis and save the world
“We love having an awesome time every year at QuakeCon along with thousands of game fans and LAN partiers,” said Todd Hollenshead, CEO, id Software. “QuakeCon’s continuing popularity is a credit to the dedication and grassroots support of our volunteers along with a ton of support from sponsors and exhibitors. The enthusiasm runs rampant at QuakeCon and inspires us to keep working hard to create the best video games on the planet. This year QuakeCon will offer more to the fans than ever before, with new games, new events and a shot at driving away in a $55,000 sports car!”
QuakeCon 2008 Tournaments:
* The debut of the first Intel QUAKE LIVE Championships pro-tournament. The tournament line-up includes a classic $12,500 One Versus One tournament and a $12,500 Capture the Flag Team Tournament.
* Enemy Territory: QUAKE Wars™ makes its second QuakeCon tournament appearance with the Activision Enemy Territory: QUAKE Wars Team Championships. On the Windows PC side, 16 teams will compete for $15,000 and in the Xbox 360 competition, eight teams will vie for $10,000.
* QuakeCon Guitar Hero III Tournaments – 2 player and 1 player head to head competitions with $5,000 in cash up for grabs.
· Also for the fans in attendance, Alienware, manufacturer of high-performance desktop, notebook, media center and professional systems, will sponsor the Quick-Draw Challenge, with $10,000 in prize money on the line for randomly selected contenders who will battle it out in special QUAKE LIVE competitions throughout the four-day event.
In addition to their prize money, the top two finalists and teams in each of the above competitive tournament events will also be given tickets to the “QuakeCon Ultimate Power-Up” raffle contest, sponsored by Ventrilo, for a brand new 2008 Corvette. The 13th annual QuakeCon marks the first “QuakeCon Ultimate Power-Up” Sweepstakes contest hosted by Ventrilo Enterprises, the premier group voice communications program used in tournaments and multiplayer games. One lucky winner will be driving away in a brand new 2008 Chevrolet Corvette Coupe, valued at approximately $55,000.
QuakeCon 2008 is organized by a dedicated group of 30 year-round volunteers, 200 on-site volunteers and video game pioneer, id Software. The event offers 96 hours of round-the-clock parties, entertainment and fierce gameplay action.
QuakeCon consumes more than 103,000 square feet of gaming righteousness, including a 3,000 seat Bring Your Own Computer (BYOC) Area and 30,000 square foot exhibit space that features demos of the latest video games and displays of next-generation hardware.
The QuakeCon 2008 sponsor line up includes industry giants: id Software, Alienware, Dell, Ventrilo, Activision, Intel, amBX, Clanwarz, World in Conflict: Soviet Assault, FSP Group, SMU Guildhall, Logitech and Linksys by Cisco.
The exhibit area at QuakeCon 2008 will include booths from Activision, Adsci Engineering, amBX, AMD, BAWLS, Cooler Master, CPU, CyberPower Inc., Cybertron, Dell, Devry University, Dust-Off Zone, E-Sports, FSP Group, Game-Rigs, Intel, In-Win Development, Kingston Technology, Linksys by Cisco, PNY, Pod Wombats, SteelSeries, Texas Instruments DLP, TN Games and Tritton Technologies.
For fans unable to make the journey to Dallas for QuakeCon 2008, the official event web site (www.quakecon.org) will have links to view broadcast footage from the event 24/7 from both static cameras and roaming hand-held cameras.
About Activision, Inc.:
Headquartered in Santa Monica, California, Activision, Inc. is a leading worldwide developer, publisher and distributor of interactive entertainment and leisure products. Founded in 1979, Activision posted net revenues of $1.5 billion for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2007.
Activision maintains operations in the U.S., Canada, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Scandinavia, Spain, the Netherlands, Australia, Japan and South Korea. More information about Activision and its products can be found on the company's World Wide Web site, which is located at www.activision.com.
About Electronic Arts:
Electronic Arts Inc. (EA), headquartered in Redwood City, California, is the world's leading interactive entertainment software company. Founded in 1982, the Company develops, publishes, and distributes interactive software worldwide for video game systems, personal computers, cellular handsets and the Internet. Electronic Arts markets its products under four brand names: EA SPORTSTM, EATM, EA SPORTS Freestyle TM and POGOTM. In fiscal 2008, EA posted GAAP net revenue of $3.67 billion and had 27 titles that sold more than one million copies. EA's homepage and online game site is www.ea.com. More information about EA's products and full text of press releases can be found on the Internet at http://info.ea.com.
EA, EA SPORTS, EA SPORTS Freestyle and POGO are trademarks or registered trademarks of Electronic Arts Inc. in the U.S and/or other countries. “PLAYSTATION” is a trademark of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. Xbox 360 is a trademark of the Microsoft group of companies. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
About EA Mobile:
EA Mobile™, a division of EA’s Casual Entertainment Label, is the world’s leading wireless entertainment publisher with award-winning games such as Tetris®, Bejeweled®, The Sims™, and Need For Speed™. The EA Mobile portfolio also includes casual games based on the company’s partnership with Hasbro, Inc. including MONOPOLY, YAHTZEE and SCRABBLE (in the U.S. and Canada) as well as sports blockbusters from the EA SPORTS™ brand, including Madden NFL Football, FIFA Soccer and NASCAR®. EA Mobile develops games for multiple mobile platforms including mobile phones, smartphones, the iPhone™ and iPod®. For more information about EA Mobile, please visit www.eamobile.com.
About QuakeCon:
Often described as the “Woodstock of Gaming,” QuakeCon was created in August of 1996 by a group of friends on the IRC network’s EFnet who had a desire to meet in person. Less than 100 attendees gathered at the Best Western in Garland, Texas that first year to play and talk games and compete in the first QuakeCon tournament. id Software’s lead programmer John Carmack and several other id team members stopped by to chat with fans about DOOM, QUAKE, and the future of an up-and-coming id Software.
Going into its 13th year, QuakeCon remains true to its original mission as an event created by gamers, for gamers. Sponsored by id Software and other industry-leading software and hardware manufacturers, QuakeCon continues to be run by a dedicated group of 30 year-round volunteers and more than 200 on-site volunteers. More than 6,000 people attended QuakeCon in 2006, and the event has expanded to include the entire series of QUAKE® games, Return to Castle Wolfenstein®, Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory®, DOOM3®, and now Enemy Territory: QUAKE Wars™.
About id Software:
id – defined by Freud as the primal section of the human psyche; id Software, located in Mesquite, Texas, was founded in 1991. From inception to present day, id Software has relentlessly provided technical, design and artistic leadership as an independent game developer and technology provider.
Transcending the games industry, id’s iconic brands such as Wolfenstein, DOOM, QUAKE and Enemy Territory have become staples of popular culture for generations of gamers. More information on id Software can be found at www.idsoftware.com.