Tournament Winners

Final Warcraft III Standings

1. WE.Sky, China ($8,000)
2. WE.Remind, Korea ($5,000)
3. SK.apm70, Russia ($2,000)

Final Counter-Strike Standings

1. Virtus Pro, Russia ($20,000)
2. Bizonours, France ($10,000)
3. Defuse Kids, Belgium ($5,000)

Beyond the details of who won and lost the matches the real story from ACON5 is a much broader one: the rise of gaming as a spectator sport, particularly in China. Rocketboy is a bona fide celebrity now, and in a country of 1.4 billion people, this is no joke. US audiences may think their gamers are hot, but look at the competition for celebrity status in the US and you quickly realize that gamers are at the bottom of the totem pole for now. In China, the whole celebrity culture is really in it’s infancy and right from the beginning, guys like Rocketboy are drawing huge audiences and receiving huge (by Chinese standards…actually also by 99% of FS reader’s standards ) endorsement contracts to play games. The Chinese fans were asking for autographs from all the CS teams and WCIII players, which is part of the reason ABIT chose to have the finals in China two years in a row. The rise of gaming in China has also coincided with phenomenal growth for ABIT: apparently their sales have doubled since ACON4, a much higher rate of growth than the overall Chinese PC market. After two successful ACON events, ABIT is huge in China.

Another story is how ABIT as a company has continued to distinguish itself in a tough motherboard market where they are still basically a tier 2 company who specializes in motherboards and video cards. While most other companies have either diversified their product lines, or slowly withered away, ABIT has continued to not only increase sales year after year, but has built a strong global brand in the motherboard business. Compared to any other Taiwanese motherboard manufacturer, ABIT has an identity that is tangible and recognizable. This is due to the huge effort of their marketing staff, which have made great effort to organize events on a global basis and connect with gamers, media and PC enthusiasts unlike anyone else. Most other companies, with a few exceptions, pay lip service to the concept of connecting with their customer base. Much credit must go to the type of people ABIT hires as it’s marketing staff, and a corporate culture that can be described as the most “fun” of the Taiwanese players.