Eight Star Talents Outperform Hundreds of Gaming Hopefuls at the Third Doritos MLG Pro-Gaming Combine in Denver

DENVER and NEW YORK, July 29 /PRNewswire/ -- Eight video game fans are now closer to reaching professional video gamer status having dominated more than 850 other competitors at the third stop of the 2010 Doritos MLG Pro-Gaming Combine in Denver this past weekend.

The Denver Combine was the third event in a four-city tour of the first-ever nationwide skills challenge in competitive video gaming history. Created by Major League Gaming (MLG) with Doritos to inspire fans to pursue their gaming passions and showcase their talents at the highest levels, the Combine events have brought together thousands of video game amateurs with MLG Pros and League officials across America.  Aspiring professional gamers are given a rigorous testing ground to showcase their skills, and an opportunity to further gain exposure through MLG's thriving community of players. The eight Denver Combine winners will now travel to Raleigh, NC to compete alongside the best gamers in the world at the MLG Pro Circuit event August 27-29.

The Denver winners are:

• Free For All (FFA) winner: 15-year-old Justin Dotzel from Wapwallopen, PA
• Winning 4v4 team: "Victorious Secret" with featured players:
  • 18-year-old Timothy Keane from Bellerose, NY
  • 17-year-old Justin Mozingo from Farmville, NC
  • 19-year-old Zachary Cahill from London, Ontario
  • 19-year-old Alejandro Ramirez from San Juan, TX
• Wild Card Winners:
  • 19-year-old Beau Gray of team Cloud 10 from Avondale, AZ
  • 17-year-old Cory Sloss of team Crowd Pleasers from San Gabriel, CA
  • 17-year-old Devon Layton of team Chocolate Rain from Royal Oak, MI

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).
• A Profile page on the Doritos Pro-Gaming Combine website.
• Editorial Coverage at the upcoming Pro Circuit Competition.

Over the course of the weekend, more than 850 players played nearly 350 games and in addition to the main competition brackets, competitors were also evaluated by the MLG scout team in key areas including: communication, accuracy, decision-making and situational performance. Approximately 300 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 remaining Doritos MLG Pro-Gaming Combine takes place on October 15-17 in Washington, D.C. and the series of nationwide Combine events will culminate at the MLG Pro Circuit National Championship and Combine Finals event in Dallas. TX November 5-7. Four players will receive MLG pro status at the finals event.

"The outstanding competitive performances at this weekend's Denver Combine have again produced exceptional wins in particular for trailblazing 4V4 team, Victorious Secret and FFA winner, Amish Acorns, said Sundance DiGiovanni, co-founder and CEO of Major League Gaming. "These players' demonstrations of teamwork, tenacity and sheer skill are exactly what we hoped to reveal through the Combine series as we build out our next roster of talented Pro players".

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