Eight Aspiring Professional Gamers Win Big in Chicago at Second Doritos MLG Pro-Gaming Combine

CHICAGO and NEW YORK, May 21 /PRNewswire/ -- Eight video game fans broke through a field of more than 1,000 game players aspiring to become professional video gamers at the second stop of the 2010 Doritos MLG Pro-Gaming Combine in Chicago this past weekend, a four-city tour of the first-ever nationwide skills challenge in competitive video gaming history.

The Combine – which was created with Doritos to inspire fans to pursue their gaming passions and showcase their talents at the highest levels – brought together thousands of video game amateurs with MLG Pros and League officials across America.  Aspiring professional gamers were given a rigorous testing ground to showcase their skills, and an opportunity to further gain exposure through MLG's thriving community of players. The winners will now travel to Columbus to compete alongside the best gamers in the world at the MLG Pro Circuit event June 4-6.

The Chicago winners are:

• Free For All (FFA) winner: 15-year-old Jordan "Amish Acorns" Dotzel from Mountaintop, PA.
• Winning 4v4 team: "Victorious Secret" with featured players:
  • 18 yr old Timothy "Adrenaline" Keane from Queens, NY; winner of Nashville Combine FFA competition
  • 19 yr old Alejandro "Swiftkill" Ramirez from San Juan, TX
  • 19 yr old Brendan "Fugo" Fugo from Chapel Hill, NC
  • 19 yr old Zachary "Revamp" Edwards from Dayton, OH
• Wild Card Winners:
  • 18 yr old Jonathan "AczDc" Harlow of team Escape from Livonia, MI
  • 17 yr old Nathan "Google Nate" Cava of team Pluto is a Planet from Canton, MI
  • 15 yr old Joey "Twin Savior" Gargaro of team UoR Livin' The Dream from Naperville, IL

Over the course of the weekend, more than 1,000 players played nearly 550 games and were evaluated by the league in key areas including: communication, accuracy, decision-making and situational performance. Approximately 400 players who exhibited superior performance in those categories were identified by the MLG Scout Team, and put through additional competitions and tests to separate out the players with professional-league potential. The eight winners each received:

• $500 in prize money.
• An invitation to compete for Pro Status in the Finals Event.
• Round Trip Airfare ($500 Limit) to the Pro Circuit National Championship Competition and a three-night stay in the Pro Circuit National Championship Competition Hotel booked by Major League Gaming (provided that winner maintains his or her eligibility status for the Finals Event).  MLG will have the option of either booking the airfare for winner or providing winner with a $500 airfare stipend (or cash) at the upcoming Pro Circuit Competition.
• Free Entry into the upcoming Halo 3 Pro Circuit Event and the opportunity to purchase a Reserved Team Pass for that Event.   
• A Profile page on the Doritos Pro-Gaming Combine Web site.
• Editorial Coverage at the upcoming Pro Circuit Competition.
• The ability to play on a Feature Station, at the upcoming Pro Circuit Competition, dedicated to matches featuring Combine Winners.

The series of nationwide Combine events will culminate at the Finals Event at the 2010 MLG Pro Circuit National Championship, the date and location of which has yet to be announced. Four players will receive MLG pro status at that time. The remaining two Doritos MLG Pro-Gaming Combines are:

• July 23-26, 2010  --  Denver, Colo.
• October 15-17, 2010  --  Washington, D.C.

"Coming out of our second Doritos MLG Pro-Gaming Combine event, we were thrilled to see the caliber of amateur gamers who came to showcase their skills. I'm excited to see how this group performs in Columbus as they continue along the path towards making their professional gaming dreams a reality," said Sundance DiGiovanni, co-founder and interim CEO of Major League Gaming.

Full details about the event are available at www.doritoscombine.com, including specifics about the Combine format and other events.

ABOUT MAJOR LEAGUE GAMING

Founded in 2002, Major League Gaming (MLG) is the dominant media property exclusively targeting the approximately 40 million consumers in North America who have a passion for playing video games as a competitive social activity. The company exclusively represents the best professional gamers and gives millions of aspiring gamers around the world an opportunity to compete, improve their skills, and socialize through our thriving online competitive community and live Pro Circuit competitions. For more information: www.mlgpro.com.

ABOUT FRITO-LAY

Doritos tortilla chips is one of the many brands that make up Frito-Lay North America, the $13 billion convenient foods business unit of PepsiCo (NYSE: PEP), which is headquartered in Purchase, NY.  Learn more about Frito-Lay at the corporate Web site, http://www.fritolay.com/, the Snack Chat blog, http://www.snacks.com/ and on Twitter at www.twitter.com/fritolay.

PepsiCo offers the world's largest portfolio of billion-dollar food and beverage brands, including 19 different product lines that each generates more than $1 billion in annual retail sales. Our main businesses - Frito-Lay, Quaker, Pepsi-Cola, Tropicana and Gatorade - also make hundreds of other nourishing, tasty foods and drinks that bring joy to our consumers in more than 200 countries. With annualized revenues of nearly $60 billion, PepsiCo's people are united by our unique commitment to sustainable growth, called Performance with Purpose. By dedicating ourselves to offering a broad array of choices for healthy, convenient and fun nourishment, reducing our environmental impact, and fostering a diverse and inclusive workplace culture, PepsiCo balances strong financial returns with giving back to our communities worldwide. In recognition of its continued sustainability efforts, PepsiCo was named for the third time to the Dow Jones Sustainability World Index (DJSI World) and for the fourth time to the Dow Jones Sustainability North America Index (DJSI North America) in 2009. For more information, please visit www.pepsico.com

SOURCE Major League Gaming