The eighth World Championship final of the Intel Extreme Masters will take place at the extraordinary Spodek sports arena in Katowice (Poland) between March 14th-16th, 2014. The event in Katowice will be the final stop of the tour that goes to Shanghai (China), New York City (USA), Singapore and Sao Paulo (Brazil).
Gaming superstars from around the world will compete for a total prize purse of 250,000 US Dollars in League of Legends and StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm.
The event will mark the first time that the Intel Extreme Masters World Championship is not held at the CeBIT trade show in Hannover (Germany), where the tournament occupied an entire exhibition hall. In Katowice the event will be held inside Spodek, Poland’s most famous sports and events venue, which also plays host to world famous musicians and the volleyball World League.
Spodek was previously used by the Intel Extreme Masters in January 2013, attracting 50,000 visiting fans and over 5,000,000 unique viewers on ESL TV’s online streams, making it the most successful European eSports event in history. As with the previous event, the Intel Extreme Masters World Championship will take place thanks to a partnership with the city of Katowice and with the direct involvement of Piotr Uszok, the Katowice President. “We are proud to be hosting such a prestigious and globally influential gaming event like the Intel Extreme Masters in our city,” says Piotr Uszok. “The event has become a part of our city’s strategy because gaming is a major part of youth culture today.”
“I have never seen an event as amazing as the Intel Extreme Masters event that took place in Spodek last January and I can only imagine what it will look like when we stage the World Championship here,” says Michał Blicharz, Director of Pro Gaming at Turtle Entertainment. “The turnout of the fans last year and the unforgettable atmosphere they have created gave us absolutely no choice but to move the finals event from Germany to Poland.”
“I have been involved with this global tour for seven years now and in that time I had not seen anything like the event we had in Katowice,” says George Woo, Intel’s IEM Marketing Manager. “Poland is very passionate for gaming and Spodek is the perfect venue for what we are trying to achieve together.”
Next to experiencing eSports competition at the highest level, visitors can interact with the newest games and gaming technology at various partner areas, including the Intel showcase, BenQ and Kingston HyperX.
Good I think, Cebit wasn't all that esport friendly, mostly due to the size of the event, it's better if you have something dedicated to the tournament.
Yay, this is great news!! I never really liked the atmosphere at CeBIT, be it on stream or live at the venue. Even if this most likely means one less esports event I'll be able to attend in 2014, I'm happy about this decision. Will be a great party for sure
On July 22 2013 22:06 Mekare wrote: Yay, this is great news!! I never really liked the atmosphere at CeBIT, be it on stream or live at the venue. Even if this most likely means one less esports event I'll be able to attend in 2014, I'm happy about this decision. Will be a great party for sure
Also, CeBIT will focus more on business this year... Intel said they could make something happen, but why force it to be there if the crowd is only going to be suits and locals.
I guess best IEM Finals incoming ; ) I hope they will be selling entry tickets now, couse considering the starpower players that may come, there will be even more ppl than last time (last time ppl could not fit into the arena and many were waching on telebims set outside in - 20*C)
I figured they would come back to Katowice seeing how big of a success it was. Didnt think they would give up CeBit as their final location but it makes sense. A little sad though that there is no stop in Germany this season.
On July 22 2013 22:43 trada wrote: I figured they would come back to Katowice seeing how big of a success it was. Didnt think they would give up CeBit as their final location but it makes sense. A little sad though that there is no stop in Germany this season.
I'm so going there. I've been to the last IEM in Katowice and it was f@#king AWESOME! And it is only 3 hours by car from where I live, which reminds me - anyone for a ride from Zilina?
Excellent, Cebit has been so underwhelming from a fan perspective and I doubt the exposure was relevant. Loved the last IEM in Katowice, it was Dreamhack awesome, so this should be epic.
On July 22 2013 23:25 Larkin wrote: Katowice was awesome last year, hope to see an even bigger crowd this time.
There won't be bigger crowd than before (venue reached full capasity and ~2k ppl were watching outside) unless they won't be fitting the sponsors booths in the main arena.
Really happy about this since Katowice was so energetic last year. That moment when the crowd started chanting Daisy's name in Daisy vs Nerchio brought a smile to my face.
An amazing crowd is what an amazing event deserves. It is so disappointing when you have a detached crowd or one that polarized to just one player. They were awesome last time and hopefully they show up and do it again.
On July 23 2013 00:54 BusteD wrote: It's kind of sad that there will be no stop at all in Germany this year... Great for the polish fans though
There is still WCS Season 2 Grand Slam somewhere here. And next years CeBit could easily host WCS the season finals too but if they do more suits then probably not.
From USA you can easily buy tickets for USD 600-700 return (and much less if you're lucky/East Coast) - I would recommend not buying them to Katowice as this screws the prices big time for many airlines.
Try Cracow (KRK) or Warsaw (WAW), eg. ORD to Katowice (KTW) on 14-16 March is USD 930, KRK is 80 km away - price is USD 682. And I wasn't doing any fancy search - just the simpliest query.
I can help with searching a flight to Poland if need be. I travel a lot and have some history with searching pretty sweet flight deals. PM if necessary.
More tips and tricks (especially for people not from Europe): 1) Low-cost airlines really work in Europe. Finding the cheapest flight might include a travel to eg. London and a flight to Katowice on another ticket. Also it's a great way to visit some other European cities; 2) From Cracow or Warsaw it's very easy to arrange a ticket to Katowice for a bus (eg. www.polskibus.com) or train (eg. www.intercity.pl); 3) Looking for some cheaper flight options check also Prague and main German cities.
TL; DR: Tickets to Poland are not expensive and you have to most important thing to buy them very cheap - time before the event.
I still remember how loud they got cheering for Nerchio last time. Also, has IEM ever been to Sweden or has Dreamhack threatened to beat them with bats if they invade Dreamhack turf?
On July 23 2013 05:42 DavoS wrote: I still remember how loud they got cheering for Nerchio last time. Also, has IEM ever been to Sweden or has Dreamhack threatened to beat them with bats if they invade Dreamhack turf?
No, IEM and DH have not been in the same country yet; IEM had stops in Germany, Ukraine and Poland (and outside of Europe ofc.) and Dreamhack was in Sweden, Spain and Romania. France has ESWC and Iron Squid, who are also not going into other countries.
On July 23 2013 04:44 Waxangel wrote: wow tickets to poland are expensive -_-
You want to only fly to Warsaw / Cracow from the US. Not Katowice.
Carmac will there be entry fee this time? last time due to the high interest there were some problems with huge lines, people were w8ing 1-3h in freezing cold only to get informed that arena is full. That sucks especially for foreigners, who may pay for the trip and not be able to even enter the venue
On July 23 2013 04:44 Waxangel wrote: wow tickets to poland are expensive -_-
You want to only fly to Warsaw / Cracow from the US. Not Katowice.
Carmac will there be entry fee this time? last time due to the high interest there were some problems with huge lines, people were w8ing 1-3h in freezing cold only to get informed that arena is full. That sucks especially for foreigners, who may pay for the trip and not be able to even enter the venue
March shouldn't be as cold as January, though if this year is any indicator - snow is not completely out of the question
On July 23 2013 04:44 Waxangel wrote: wow tickets to poland are expensive -_-
You want to only fly to Warsaw / Cracow from the US. Not Katowice.
Carmac will there be entry fee this time? last time due to the high interest there were some problems with huge lines, people were w8ing 1-3h in freezing cold only to get informed that arena is full. That sucks especially for foreigners, who may pay for the trip and not be able to even enter the venue
There is a chance that there will be no entry fee this time also.
Here is some background information on how things are done in Poland (sry for my english) Lets start from the start. Spodek is managed and owned by a company which is in 100% belongs to the city. Its highly possible that Turtle gmbh (IEM brand owners) would once again file for a grant from the city council (or president) to host IEM finals in Spodek. The chances of this grant getting through are ridiculous high (trust me it is. more about it below). IEM could even get up to 90% of cost of renting Spodek through that grant (hell even 100% is possible)
Why is it possible to get such a huge grant to host a event? MOSiR (the company which is managing Spodek) would be able to show in the annual report that the stadion is earning money for itself (or at least keeping afloat). City council cannot officially pump money into the MOSIR. There comes Turtle gmbh. They get the money from city council to host the finals (one of the requirements might be that it should be open if they get the huge grant) but that money could only be spent on renting Spodek from MOSIR. So basically all sides are the winner in it ^^
Also. 2014 is the local government election year here in Poland. So its extra points for the local politicians that could brag that thanks to their effort the finals of "the largest e-sport tournament that tenth of thousands people come to watch" (trust me they would call it that - the politicians) was hosted thanks to us. So vote for us "
On July 23 2013 04:44 Waxangel wrote: wow tickets to poland are expensive -_-
You want to only fly to Warsaw / Cracow from the US. Not Katowice.
Carmac will there be entry fee this time? last time due to the high interest there were some problems with huge lines, people were w8ing 1-3h in freezing cold only to get informed that arena is full. That sucks especially for foreigners, who may pay for the trip and not be able to even enter the venue
There is a chance that there will be no entry fee this time also.
Here is some background information on how things are done in Poland (sry for my english) Lets start from the start. Spodek is managed and owned by a company which is in 100% belongs to the city. Its highly possible that Turtle gmbh (IEM brand owners) would once again file for a grant from the city council (or president) to host IEM finals in Spodek. The chances of this grant getting through are ridiculous high (trust me it is. more about it below). IEM could even get up to 90% of cost of renting Spodek through that grant (hell even 100% is possible)
Why is it possible to get such a huge grant to host a event? MOSiR (the company which is managing Spodek) would be able to show in the annual report that the stadion is earning money for itself (or at least keeping afloat). City council cannot officially pump money into the MOSIR. There comes Turtle gmbh. They get the money from city council to host the finals (one of the requirements might be that it should be open if they get the huge grant) but that money could only be spent on renting Spodek from MOSIR. So basically all sides are the winner in it ^^
Also. 2014 is the local government election year here in Poland. So its extra points for the local politicians that could brag that thanks to their effort the finals of "the largest e-sport tournament that tenth of thousands people come to watch" (trust me they would call it that - the politicians) was hosted thanks to us. So vote for us "
Here is how things are done in Poland.
So 90% chance of free entry this year also.
From one side it's awsome, but i can imagine the frustration you can get when you are not guaranteed to enter the venue and watch the matches, especially if you have flown from different continent
On July 23 2013 04:44 Waxangel wrote: wow tickets to poland are expensive -_-
You want to only fly to Warsaw / Cracow from the US. Not Katowice.
Carmac will there be entry fee this time? last time due to the high interest there were some problems with huge lines, people were w8ing 1-3h in freezing cold only to get informed that arena is full. That sucks especially for foreigners, who may pay for the trip and not be able to even enter the venue
There is a chance that there will be no entry fee this time also.
Here is some background information on how things are done in Poland (sry for my english) Lets start from the start. Spodek is managed and owned by a company which is in 100% belongs to the city. Its highly possible that Turtle gmbh (IEM brand owners) would once again file for a grant from the city council (or president) to host IEM finals in Spodek. The chances of this grant getting through are ridiculous high (trust me it is. more about it below). IEM could even get up to 90% of cost of renting Spodek through that grant (hell even 100% is possible)
Why is it possible to get such a huge grant to host a event? MOSiR (the company which is managing Spodek) would be able to show in the annual report that the stadion is earning money for itself (or at least keeping afloat). City council cannot officially pump money into the MOSIR. There comes Turtle gmbh. They get the money from city council to host the finals (one of the requirements might be that it should be open if they get the huge grant) but that money could only be spent on renting Spodek from MOSIR. So basically all sides are the winner in it ^^
Also. 2014 is the local government election year here in Poland. So its extra points for the local politicians that could brag that thanks to their effort the finals of "the largest e-sport tournament that tenth of thousands people come to watch" (trust me they would call it that - the politicians) was hosted thanks to us. So vote for us "
Here is how things are done in Poland.
So 90% chance of free entry this year also.
From one side it's awsome, but i can imagine the frustration you can get when you are not guaranteed to enter the venue and watch the matches, especially if you have flown from different continent
Maybe they could make it half open - like 15000 tickets, separate line, guaranteed entry etc + 20000 free entries "first come first served (let in)".
Yeah, I already booked a hotel and even though I am coming just from Slovakia, it would be pretty disappointing if I couldn't get in .. So hopefully there will be some tickets
On July 24 2013 00:46 HelpMeGetBetter wrote: Is there any timetable for IEM - Shanghai. Can't find anything, and its not listed in the upcoming events...?
On July 24 2013 00:07 Ammanas wrote: Yeah, I already booked a hotel and even though I am coming just from Slovakia, it would be pretty disappointing if I couldn't get in .. So hopefully there will be some tickets
I did similarly for IEM Katowice and couldn't come
Great to see Katowice, Poland is selected as the finals event. Well deserved and shown IMO. The only issue is the fact that this is happening in March 2014
On July 24 2013 16:15 BirdKiller wrote: Great to see Katowice, Poland is selected as the finals event. Well deserved and shown IMO. The only issue is the fact that this is happening in March 2014
Urrgh...so much noise, especially from noisy MOBA/CoD/whatever players. Kids making noise doesn't "hype" me. I am glad the finals are in Katowice though.
EPT
But yeah, so many people were mocking the gaming halls and it's a fair trade exhibition after all.
