Press release
Friday 24 February 2006: Guild Wars developer ArenaNet and NCsoft Corporation, the world's leading publisher of online computer games, are thrilled to announce the successful conclusion of the first Guild Wars World Championship (GWWC) and the crowning of guild The Last Pride (EvIL) from Korea as Guild Wars World Champions. The winning guild defeated five others from around the world during the February 17-19 championship at the Taiwan Game Show in Taipei. The Last Pride also walked away with a cash prize of $50,000 dollars, their share of the $100,000 total purse, for winning the tournament.
The GWWC featured the top six Guild Wars guilds, two each from America, Europe and Korea. These top players survived several months of elimination tournaments staged for the more than one million Guild Wars players worldwide. The battle raged on through the weekend, and on Sunday afternoon The Last Pride (EvIL) guild emerged victorious. They beat out the Korean Regional Champions, the Guild Wars juggernaut War Machine.
With the conclusion of the first Guild Wars World Championship comes the news that players will get their next opportunity to test their mettle as the world tournament season for Guild Wars FactionsTM begins March 7, 2006. The Guild Wars Factions Championship (GWFC) series will feature three seasons of competitive play and tournaments. Each tournament season will consist of four weeks of competitive guild vs. guild (GvG) play that will culminate with a season-ending tournament for the top 16 guilds. Each guild that makes this final tournament will earn GWFC points as well as in-game and out-of-game prizes. GWFC points can be spent in each guild's attempt to earn one of five available invitations being offered to compete live at the Guild Wars Factions Championship in August 2006. Just like the recent GWWC event held in Taiwan, the guilds invited to the GWFC will compete for more than $100,000 cash and prizes in front of a live audience, where they will meet and make friends with guilds from around the world.
Guild Wars Factions is the highly anticipated stand-alone follow up to the wildly successful and critically acclaimed Guild Wars. Guild Wars is an online roleplaying game where players explore a rich fantasy world, acquire skills, build personalized characters, and compete in head-to-head battles with players from around the world. ArenaNet attributes the success of Guild Wars to compelling game design, innovative technology that offers a unique online gameplay experience, and a revolutionary business model with no monthly subscription fees charged to users.
