FIFA Interactive World Cup

FIFA Interactive World Cup

The FIFA Interactive World Cup, also known as FIWC is an annual international competition of football video games held under the auspices of FIFA with partnership:[1] from EA Sports and Sony Computer Entertainment Europe. The first edition was held in 2004 in Switzerland. In 2013, nearly 2.5 million players competed. More than 5,000,000 players have taken part since 2009 giving FIWC the recognition of the world's largest online gaming tournament by Guinness World Records.[2]

Format

The tournament spans for six months. There are six seasons, each lasting one month. Each online season kicks off at 9:00 (GMT) on the first day of the respective month and finishes at 8:59 (GMT) on the first day of the next month. Points are automatically reset when a new online season kicks off (9 am GMT).[3]

Qualification

To qualify for the Grand Final, players need to participate in the online mode of the EA Sports FIFA video game only available on Sony's PlayStation consoles. The two best players in the league table, and the player with the best win loss ratio for each online season[4] are rewarded a place in the Grand Final. The defending champion and the champion from the host nation also compete in the Grand Final.

Starting from online season 2, in a single online season, players are allowed to play a maximum of 900 games. After 900 games, any additional points scored are not counted towards qualification for that online season.

Grand Final

The players are divided into four groups consisting of five players each. The top eight players of the Group Stage proceed to the Quarter Finals. The winners of the Quarter Finals reach the Semi Finals, and the winners of the Semis proceed to the Final.

Gameplay settings

The following Gameplay settings are used:[5]

Results

Year[6] Host[7] Winner Finalist Score
2004   Switzerland Brazil Thiago Carrico de Azevedo United States Matija Biljeskovic 2-1
2005  England England Chris Bullard Hungary Gabor Mokos 5-2
2006  Netherlands Netherlands Andries Smit Austria Wolfgang Meier 6-4
2008  Germany Spain Alfonso Ramos United States Michael Ribeiro 3-1
2009  Spain France Bruce Grannec Mexico Ruben Morales Zerecero 3-1
2010  Spain United States Nenad Stojkovic Germany Ayhan Altundag 2-1
2011  United States Portugal Francisco Cruz Colombia Javier Munoz 4-1
2012  Qatar Spain Alfonso Ramos France Bruce Grannec 1-0
2013  Spain France Bruce Grannec Mexico Andrei Torres Vivero 1-0
2014  Brazil Denmark August Rosenmeier England David Bytheway 3-1

Broadcast

The FIWC Grand Final is streamed live on YouTube[8] and Twitch.[9]

Prize

For the 2014 season, the winner was awarded 20,000 USD and two tickets to the FIFA Ballon d'Or Gala.[10]

References

  1. "FIFA Interactive World Cup 2015 - Marketing Affiliates - FIFA.com". FIFA.com. Retrieved 26 October 2014.
  2. Guinness World Records. "Watch live: Gamers battle out to win at record-breaking FIFA Interactive World Cup". Guinnessworldrecords.com. Retrieved 26 October 2014.
  3. "FIFA Interactive World Cup 2015 - Tournament Format - FIFA.com". FIFA.com. Retrieved 26 October 2014.
  4. "FIFA Interactive World Cup - FIFA.com". FIFA.com. Retrieved 26 October 2014.
  5. "TERMS AND CONDITIONS FOR THE FIFA INTERACTIVE WORLD CUP 2014 (“FIWC14”) & SEASONAL CHALLENGE" (PDF). Fifa.com. Retrieved 26 October 2014.
  6. "FIFA Interactive World Cup". FIFA.com. Retrieved 26 October 2014.
  7. "FIFA Interactive World Cup 2015 - Destination - FIFA.com". FIFA.com. Retrieved 26 October 2014.
  8. "FIFA Interactive World Cup 2014". Youtube.com. Retrieved 26 October 2014.
  9. "Twitch". Twitch.tv. Retrieved 26 October 2014.
  10. "FIFA Interactive World Cup 2015 - Prizes - FIFA.com". FIFA.com. Retrieved 26 October 2014.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to FIWC.