Ubisoft And IGN Partner To Bring ShootMania Storm To The IGN Pro League Tournament Line Up

SAN FRANCISCO, Aug. 29, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Ubisoft's upcoming PC online multiplayer first-person shooter ShootMania Storm will hit the eSports circuit as part of the tournament line up of the IGN Pro League (IPL), the professional video games league presented by IGN Entertainment, the world's leading video games media company. 

Kicking of the partnership between the companies, Ubisoft and the IPL will host an exclusive ShootMania Storm tournament at PAX Prime, August 31-September 2, live from the Ubisoft booth each day of the show.  The tournament will be streamed live online at http://www.ign.com/ipl/ShootMania.

Making a return to the roots of competitive gaming which originated with first-person shooters, ShootMania Storm will become the first-ever first-person shooter (FPS) game to be featured at IPL tournaments.  Through this partnership, the IPL will work closely with Ubisoft and Nadeo to build a large fan base and eSports community following for the title in the United States.

"IPL is looking to build ShootMania as the FPS standard for eSports," said David Ting, General Manager of eSports and Vice President of Research & Development at IGN Entertainment. "We believe competitive video gaming can become the next major spectator sport, and we will continue to add new titles and genres that attract new fans to the world of eSports." 

"We're excited for ShootMania Storm to be part of IPL's line-up," said Tony Key, senior vice president of sales and marketing, Ubisoft.  "The team at Nadeo has done a tremendous job in creating a fun and competitive game and players in the upcoming IPL tournaments will validate ShootMania as the next big tournament-tested shooter."

Developed by Ubisoft's Nadeo studio, ShootMania Storm follows the footsteps of TrackMania, Nadeo's successful arcade racing game, to present a new dimension in first-person shooter.  As part of the ManiaPlanet system, ShootMania Storm puts players at the center of their gaming experience.  To date, players have created more than 15 game modes and, already, more than 20,000 maps have been created by players using ManiaPlanet's proprietary map editor.

The title has already received acclaim on the competitive gaming circuit, with appearances in many tournaments, most recently at the 2012 Electronic Entertainment Expo, DreamHack Summer and Gamescom. ShootMania is currently in beta phase and available for pre-order on http://www.ShootMania.com giving instant access to the beta.

The IGN Pro League has become a major contender in the North American eSports market since its launch in April 2011.  Its last major tournament event drew in more than 10,000 spectators and logged a record-breaking 346,000 concurrent online viewers. 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 sports celebrities. 

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 Ubisoft:
Ubisoft is a leading producer, publisher and distributor of interactive entertainment products worldwide and has grown considerably through a strong and diversified lineup of products and partnerships. Ubisoft has offices in 26 countries and has sales in more than 55 countries around the globe. It is committed to delivering high-quality, cutting-edge video game titles to consumers. For the 2010–11 fiscal year Ubisoft generated sales of 1.039 billion euros. To learn more, please visit http://www.ubisoftgroup.com

SOURCE IGN Entertainment