IGN Pro League Heads Back To Sin City For IPL 5 November 29-December 2 At The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas

SAN FRANCISCO, Aug. 23, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- The IGN Pro League (IPL), the competitive video game league presented by IGN Entertainment, will head back to Sin City for IPL 5, which will take place November 29-December 2, 2012 at The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas.

The fifth major event hosted by the IGN Pro League, IPL 5 follows the success of IPL 4, which brought more than 10,000 spectators to The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas last April, selling out the venue, and logging a record-breaking 346,000 concurrent online viewers.

IPL 5 will feature the top League of Legends and StarCraft II players from around the globe battling for world domination and prize pools totaling more than $200,000.  Highlights will include:

League of Legends "International versus Western" Showdown
IPL 5's League of Legends competitions will feature the best international teams from Asia competing against the best Western players from North America and Europe. The IGN Pro League will host renowned international teams, including Taiwan's "Taipei Assassins", China's "W.E." (aka "World Elite"), Singapore's "Singapore Sentinels" and the top team from Hong Kong/Macau. Western players will include TSM, Evo, Team Dynamic, Moscow 5, CLG EU and four more top teams from North America and Europe.

StarCraft II "World Championships"
For IPL 5's main event, taking place on Saturday, December 1, the top five Korean StarCraft II players selected by the Global StarCraft League will face-off against the top five players from the rest of the world selected by IPL, to ultimately determine if the Koreans can hold on to their dominance in StarCraft. Leading up to the event, IPL will host tournaments to find the five best players outside of Korea to break the reign of dominance. In addition to the World Championship, the top 72 of the world's best players such as: MarineKing, Taeja, Polt, aLive, Axslav, Nerchio and Axslav will compete to take home the IPL 5 title.

"IPL 5 will truly be a battle of the champions," said David Ting, GM of eSports and VP of Research & Development for IGN Entertainment. "We're breaking down the geographical boundaries to find the best pro gamers in the world. We're thrilled to bring IPL and the eSports community back to the energy and excitement of Las Vegas."

IPL 5 will mark the latest in a series of live eSports events hosted by IGN Entertainment over the last year.  IGN's first live tournament, IPL 3: Origins, was held last year at Caesars Atlantic City, offering a prize pool of $120,000, and IPL 4 took place at The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas, offering a prize pool of $140,000. Both were preceded by IPL 1 and IPL 2, which were held online.  IGN's growing eSports league has also hosted competitive gaming showcases featuring top players at major events, including SXSW, E3, Comic-Con and more.  With the IGN Pro League franchise, IGN's goal is to help legitimize video gaming as a profession that can produce the next generation of celebrities.

Tickets for IPL 5 start at $40 per person for general admission and $250 for VIP and are available at http://cosmopolitanlasvegas.com/IPL5.

For more information and to see upcoming announcements about the final player line-ups and specific tournament locations at The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas, visit http://www.ign.com/ipl/all/ipl-5.

About IGN Entertainment

IGN Entertainment is the leading Internet media and services provider focused on the video game and entertainment enthusiast markets. Collectively, IGN's properties reach more than 57 million unique users worldwide, according to Internet audience measurement firm comScore.  IGN's network of video game-related properties (IGN.com, 1UP.com, GameSpy and others) is the Web's #1 video game information destination.  IGN also owns the world's largest men's lifestyle website, AskMen.com, and men's entertainment site UGO.com. IGN is headquartered in the San Francisco Bay Area, with offices across North America, Europe and Australia.

About The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas

The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas is the city's newest luxury resort offering a decidedly different perspective. Located at the heart of The Strip, the resort's uniquely vertical multi-tower design offers spectacular views of the vibrant city. The new 2,995-room resort features oversized residential-style living spaces with expansive, one-of-a-kind private terraces. The Cosmopolitan's luxurious resort amenities include a 100,000 square foot casino; Sahra Spa & Hammam and Violet Hour Hair Nails Beauty; three unique pool experiences; Marquee Nightclub & Dayclub, a multi-level integrated indoor/outdoor nightclub and 150,000 square feet of state-of-the-art convention and meeting space. An eclectic line-up of new-to-market retailers include:  All Saints Spitalfields, Beckley, CRSVR Sneaker Boutique, DNA2050, EATDRINK, Jason of Beverly Hills, Kidrobot, Molly Brown's Swimwear, Monogram, Retrospecs & Co, Skins 6l2 Cosmetics, Stitched and Utique. Signature restaurants include: Blue Ribbon Sushi Bar & Grill by restaurateurs Bruce and Eric Bromberg; Comme Ca by Los Angeles Chef David Myers; Estiatorio Milos, by international restaurateur Costas Spiliadis; Holsteins from Block 16 Hospitality; Jaleo and China Poblano restaurants by acclaimed Chef Jose Andres; Scarpetta and D.O.C.G. by award-winning Chef Scott Conant; and popular steakhouse STK from The ONE Group.

SOURCE IGN Entertainment