The spiritual successor to the World Cyber Games (WCG)—the closest thing esports ever had to an Olympics—has released some of the first concrete details on its first event.
Former WCG executive Bory Jun launched the World Esports Championship Games (WECG) earlier this year, not long after the collapse of the WCG after more than a decade. Details on the plans for WECG were scarce at the time, beyond an intent to carry on the WCG legacy. But more information has since come to light.
The inaugural WECG finals will be held in China in December, the organization announced last month. Competitors at the finals will be chosen through a series of qualifiers, as was the case in past WCG events. These qualifiers will be held in Asian, European, and American regional zones, though specific countries haven’t yet been named.
Yesterday, the organization finally announced the first games for which it would be hosting competitions at December’s final event.
For the four official games, one from each major esports genre was chosen. Blizzard titles StarCraft 2 and Hearthstone will be joined by Valve’s Dota 2 and Capcom’s Ultra Street Fighter 4.
The inclusion of Starcraft 2 was widely expected given WCG’s history with the Starcraft franchise. Dota 2 was considered a minor surprise as it was chosen over League of Legends, a game with a somewhat larger playerbase. WECG has indicated that more games will be added to the event, leaving room for League or others to potentially join the list.
Two mobile games will also be included in the competition: first-person shooter Crisis Action and rhythm game Dance Everyday.
Interestingly, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive is also on the list, but only as a “promotional title.” WECG hasn’t yet provided comment regarding the difference between competitions designated official and promotional.
