The step backwards followed a press release, issued two weeks ago, which demanded a fee of €200 per player, respectively €1,000 per team, after recieving an invite via the application system.
The announcement was not well-recieved by six renowned multi-gaming organizations, which subsequently moved on to publicly threaten with boycotting the event. In response, the following was published at eswc.com.
“... Today we acknowledge that we have quickly assessed the ability of players, teams and their sponsors to support the required fees to participate to such major world-class tournament. ...
... We will now focus our efforts on attracting new partners to the project and we are counting on your support to succeed.”, writes Jean-Marie Coutant
All players who have already paid the registration fees will, as of today, be fully reimbursed.
This means that teams and players who get chosen according to the achievement-based applications, will not have to pay the fee in order to participate.
The qualification system for ESWC consists of a free application system and online qualifiers, which are set to commence between the 19th and the 27th of September. While the first and second place finishers qualify for ESWC and get both entrance and accomodation funded, the third and fourth position holders only recieve payment for the entrance.
Links
eswc.com - ESWC qualification information
