eGaming crosses borders with Intel Extreme Masters III at Gitex Dubai

This is a worldwide tournament that makes nine stops around the world, with Dubai playing host to one of the tournament's Global Challenges. Local UAE teams will play Counter-Strike against the international pros for a $50,000 prize and the chance to compete in the worldwide Grand Final in Germany next year.

Khaldoun Aboul-Saoud, Markets Development Manager, Intel GCC, said:

"Intel Extreme Masters is the biggest eSports show and competition in the history of online gaming, and we are extremely proud to have Dubai as one of the Global Challenge stops. We will also be showcasing Intel's Enthusiast Quad-Core Processors in action - these are our fastest processors, and are best demonstrated with gaming!"

The games are played on Alienware Area-51 systems from Dell's gaming group based on Intel Core2 Extreme processors. The event will also feature free gaming areas giving everybody a chance to play gaming blockbusters on the latest Intel processors: The Intel Core 2 Extreme in Notebooks or Desktops. Intel and Dell sponsor the global league of eSports champions and brought to Dubai by Turtle Entertainment and in cooperation with the Dubai World Trade Center.

"Alienware presents gaming enthusiasts with high-quality, high-performance products. Intel and Dell Gaming have always worked closely to provide gamers with the highest-performing equipment possible," said Brad Whatmough, Head of Consumer Marketing, Dell EC-EMEA. "The Extreme Gaming Tour gives users a chance to experience first-hand the raw performance of Alienware and XPS systems from Dell powered by Intel processors."

Intel Extreme Masters is the biggest event in the Electronic Sports League (ESL), and the Dubai Challenge is set to be the biggest eSports event to ever be held in the Middle East. The global league comprises four stages: national qualification, main round, continental finals and the global finals.

A local pre-qualifier tournament is held from 20th until 21st of October, where 16 teams in Counter Strike are playing in an amateur qualification tournament. Just four teams will qualify for the professional Global Challenge tournament on Wednesday 22nd to Friday 24th October, with the Grand Final being held on 24th October at 6.30pm.