World Pump Festival

Last updated

World Pump Festival
Current season, competition or edition:
Sports current event.svg World Pump Festival 2016
WorldPumpFestival2016.png
Sport eSports
Founded2005;18 years ago (2005)
Owner(s) Andamiro
Countries Korea
Indonesia
Japan
United States
Mexico
Thailand
Bolivia
Malaysia
Philippines
Peru
Official website PIU Game's official WPF page

World Pump Festival, better known as World Pump It Up Festival or WPF, is a competition and event focusing on the dance game Pump It Up which takes place in various time slots. [1] Pump It Up is a Korean game that requires physical movement of the feet. The game is open for breakdancing, and many people have accomplished this feat by memorizing the steps and creating dance moves to hit the arrows on time. What separates this from other Machine dance tournaments is the large amount of prize money on offer and national qualifiers around the world.

Contents

At WPF, the best technical and freestyle players are flown from several countries to compete in their respective categories: Speed and Freestyle. As of 2006, a Female Speed category was introduced. The candidates are selected by tournaments held in their respective country by Supporters and Club Leaders - Members of the Pump community who work unpaid for Andamiro, organise tournaments and social events during the year. As well as the competition itself, Andamiro takes players and spectators on a tour of the host country, as a form of tourism aiming to promote the game as a sport for weight loss using videogames and Korean culture to create friendship between players. Previous locations of WPF have been held in Korea at G Star, Lotte World and more recently[ when? ], Mexico City. Nationals (qualifiers for WPF) in Mexico and Brazil have been held in sports stadiums.

Competitors in the freestyle category incorporate elements of locking, salsa, funk styles, popping, hip hop dance, breakdance, street dance and other types of dance and theatrical movements into performances. It has become the norm to make a routine using choreography while facing the audience.

Andamiro provides a round trip flight, hotel, meals, transportation and tour at WPF for national winners. Spectators wishing to travel also have accommodation and most expenses covered. [2]

Tournament categories

NOTE: Players can ONLY compete in 1 division!

Speed

Players will achieve the highest score possible. Technical players focus on timing and pattern reading during gameplay, while minimizing combo breaking because combo breaking will disrupt the multiplier. Speed entrants (both in the male and female category) will practice the game on the most difficult songs/highest difficulty levels in an attempt to perfect their scores. The following rounds are as follows:

MENWOMEN
PreliminarySingle 17-19Single 15-17
QuarterfinalSingle 20-23Single 18-20
SemifinalDouble 21-23Double 18-20
Final (Best 2 of 3)Double 24+Double 21-23

Freestyle

Pump players will choose to incorporate complex or flashy techniques into their play movements, and develop intricate dance routines to perform during a song. Freestyle players tend to choose songs on lower difficulty levels or Freestyle-based Performance Charts designed for it, so that the player is not restricted in their movements by large quantities of required steps. [3] Freesylers can choose between performing solo or have a partner involved. This category contains 2 rounds: Preliminary and final (Top 8 or Top 4). The scorecard are as follows:

CategoryPointsNotes
Dance & Skill55Overall performance, including the execution, flow, synchronization, power moves, etc.
Apparel & Makeup20Costume and props.
Machine Score15Letter grade.
CAUTION: An 'F' will result in an auto-Disqualification.
Judge's Evaluation10Miscellaneous. Includes the use of the song in the latest installment, creativity, and crowd reaction.
Total100Total Points

Supporters and clubs

A Supporter is a person who is the main point of contact between their respective country and Andamiro Korea. Any events and tournaments held require a written report with photos/videos sent to Andamiro, in exchange for prizes and recognition of athletes to enter WPF. A Club Leader is the person in charge of their respective club and should use their best efforts to maintain a close relationship with their Supporter. Clubs are normally (but not exclusively) town specific and focus on events in their area. As of 2007 a minimum of 10 officially recognised clubs are required per country to validate them for WPF (150 club members). Excellent club organisers can be designated as jurors in competitions for selecting national team members and also the WPF competition itself. If this is the case, Andamiro pays for all WPF jurors expenses, like WPF athletes. Andamiro gives prize money two times a year to the club's treasurer for club activities. Members who make a forum post, upload a picture/video or high score for the home/arcade versions of the game receive points. These can be exchanged in the online store for T-shirts, Sweatbands, Visors, CD's/DVD's and signed MP3 players by Banya (musical group).

History

World Pump Festival 2005

This was the first year Andamiro hosted its first-ever World Pump Festival. This was hosted in Korea. The primary machine used for this was Pump It Up Exceed 2. The total prize offered was $129,000.

World Pump Festival 2006

World Pump Festival returns to Korea. The primary machine used for this was Pump It Up Zero. Female Speed was introduced to the competition, while removing Battle Station as part of their lineup. The total prize offered was $146,000.

World Pump Festival 2007

The biggest change with World Pump Festival was the move to Mexico. The primary machine used for this was Pump It Up NX. The total prize offered was $148,000. This is the last World Pump Festival to consistently be annual as the next one wasn't until 2011.

World Pump Festival 2011

After a long 3 year Hiatus, in 2010 Andamiro began hinting at WPF 2011, with the new release of "PIU Fiesta EX". Fiesta EX is the official version used in WPF 2011 and used a "Random for WPF" channel ver. WPF2011 was held in China, August 25–27, 2011 / GTI Game Show in Guangzhou. [4]

The biggest change in this event was allowing the use of the bar for all divisions, primarily Male Speed. Previously, bar was prohibited until this event, drastically changing the landscape of the competition. Because Fiesta removed the traditional difficulties (Crazy and Nightmare), they are replaced with actual difficulty numbers, making navigation easier (See Speed above).

World Pump Festival 2016

Upon the release of Pump It Up Prime, World Pump Festival was announced both in the pamphlet and credits in the machine. The year of the festival was changed from 2015 to 2016.

On February 23, Andamiro released the official ruleset for the upcoming WPF. [5]

A video on April 18, 2016, confirmed that World Pump Festival will take place at Bali, Indonesia on July 23, 2016. [6]

Andamiro has released full details of WPF 2016: [7]

Announced at this WPF was Pump It Up PRIME 2, scheduled for a November 2016 release.

Results

2016 Finals Details

Results:

Winning Country: Flag of Mexico.svg Mexico
RankSPEED MaleSPEED FemaleFREESTYLENotes
Med 1.png 1st Flag of Mexico.svg Mexico
Luis Angel Remigio Garcia (Angel de Toluca)
Flag of Peru.svg Peru
Lizeth Carolina Sánchez Blas (LIZZZZZY)
Flag of Japan.svg Japan
Kyoko TAKAMOTO (RIRI)
Shingo TAKAMOTO (PANDA)
-Panda-san team-
TBA
Med 2.png 2nd Bandera de Bolivia (Estado).svg Bolivia
Santos Colque Guarachi (Anitamor)
Flag of Mexico.svg Mexico
Surya Salgado Camarena (Sury)
Flag of Indonesia.svg Indonesia
Zegha Brasesa Budhy (K4ZEMURA)
Muhammad Hafidz Alfikri (NU7TYRYU)
TBA
Med 3.png | 3rd Flag of South Korea.svg South Korea
Yoon Sang Yeon (FEFEMZ)
Bandera de Bolivia (Estado).svg Bolivia
Dora Lavinia Rojas Llampara (ldanger)
Flag of Indonesia.svg Indonesia
Nugraha Arianto Putra (RAHADIAN)
TBA

4th Place and everything else TBA.

Entries List:

Winning Country: TBD
CountrySPEED MaleSPEED FemaleFREESTYLE
Flag of South Korea.svg South KoreaYoon Sang Yeon (FEFEMZ)Kim Da Young (PENGUIN)N/A
Flag of Indonesia.svg IndonesiaChrist Yeremias KondoruraInes BestariNugraha Arianto Putra
Budi HermawanCharissa OliviaZegha Brasesa Budhy
Muhammad Hafidz Alfikri
Adhe Kresna PustiadiYohanes Grady Irawan
Aditya Satriadi
Flag of Japan.svg JapanYudai Tsujino (YUDAI_JP)N/AKyoko TAKAMOTO (RIRI)
Shingo TAKAMOTO (PANDA)
-Panda-san team-
Flag of the United States.svg U.S.A.jboy (JBOY)Lara Gardner (PIGGYPIG)Melvin Soliman Rubio (Rubio)
Tony Teon Dortch (Paraboi2)
Flag of Mexico.svg MexicoLuis Angel Remigio Garcia (Angel de Toluca)Surya Salgado Camarena (Sury)Emmanuel Lopez Arteaga (Zhaydragon)
Lissette Vásquez Sánchez (Kasumi)
Flag of Thailand.svg ThailandNutchapon Thonoi (ICEKUNGX)Sompong Lerkpichai (AIMMILY)Kawin Suksathan (NNEWW)
Kanch Kruasuwan (SONATAR)
Wachirawit Chatwiriyacharoen (CONAN)
Bandera de Bolivia (Estado).svg BoliviaSantos Colque Guarachi (Anitamor)Dora Lavinia Rojas Llampara (ldanger)Juan Pablo Laime Apaza (JP RAY)
José Georgino Laime Apaza (GEORG1NO)
Flag of Malaysia.svg MalaysiaChin Yun Wei (NextCrazy)N/AN/A
Flag of the Philippines.svg PhilippinesN/APatricia De Guia (HIKARI27)N/A
Flag of Peru.svg PeruJunior Harold Ninalaya Espejo (PKOO)Lizeth Carolina Sánchez Blas (LIZZZZZY)David Eloy Villafuerte Sosa (Nando)
Jorge Luis Rivera Euchiaga (Buho)

Note: All sections listed as "N/A" did not meet minimum requirements to qualify for WPF or did not manage to travel for WPF.

2011 Results

Winning Country: Flag of South Korea.svg South Korea
RankSPEED MaleSPEED FemaleFREESTYLE
Med 1.png 1st Flag of South Korea.svg South Korea
Sooseck Ryoo
Flag of Peru.svg Peru
Lizeth Sánchez (LIZZZZZY)
Flag of Korea (1899).svg Korea
Daecheon Kim
Kisuk Kim
Med 2.png 2nd Flag of Chile.svg Chile
Alejandro Daniel Rios Ortiz (Xuma)
Flag of Ecuador.svg Ecuador
Rafaela Calderón
Flag of Brazil.svg Brazil
Fabricio Rangel Velloso Orsolin (Faber)
Lucas Rodrigues de Souza Barros (Legal)
Med 3.png | 3rd Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg China
Yi Qiu
Flag of Mexico.svg Mexico
Priscilla Sánchez (Priska)
Flag of Ecuador.svg Ecuador
Alberto Gil Gutierrez
Gia Alexandra Gil Gutierrez
4th Flag of Indonesia.svg Indonesia
Ryoku Hafiz Lazuardi
Flag of Korea (1899).svg Korea
Hee Jung Jang
Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg China
Lei Liang Zhang
Peng Zhou

2007 Results

Winning Country: Flag of South Korea.svg South Korea
RankSPEED MaleSPEED FemaleFREESTYLE
Med 1.png 1st Flag of Chile.svg Chile
Alejandro Daniel Rios Ortiz (Xuma)
Flag of the Republic of China.svg Taiwan
Shen Shiou-Hwa (Amy Shen)
Flag of Korea (1899).svg Korea
Dae Cheon Kim
Go Seok
Med 2.png 2nd Flag of Ecuador.svg Ecuador
Carlos Enrique Monar Ormeño (Kike)
Flag of Mexico.svg Mexico
Rosario Nayeli Garcia Aragon (Nayeli)
Flag of Korea (1899).svg Korea
Kyeong Seok Seo
Kyungho Kim (Lee Cein)
Med 3.png | 3rd Flag of the United States.svg USA
jboy
Flag of Chile.svg Chile
Celia Margarita Escudero Castillo (Celia)
Flag of Ecuador.svg Ecuador
Los Garotos
4th Flag of El Salvador.svg El Salvador
Walner Manuel Hernandez
Flag of Argentina.svg Argentina
Daniela Mohamed (Danielita)
Flag of El Salvador.svg El Salvador
Walner
José Luis
5th Flag of Mexico.svg Mexico
Armando Zamudio Verduzco (El Wero)
Flag of the United States.svg USA

Lara Gardner (PIGGYPIG)

Flag of Colombia.svg Colombia
Aura Sofía (Sophie)
Luis Alberto (Jam)
6th Flag of the Republic of China.svg Taiwan
Yiang Shu Cheng
Flag of Mexico.svg Mexico
Priscilla Sánchez (Priska)
Flag of Italy.svg Italy
Rocco Mendola (Geko)
7th Flag of Italy.svg Italy
Roberto Pedroni (Lion)
Flag of Mexico.svg Mexico
Carmen Torres
Flag of Chile.svg Chile
Kuest
Palta
8th Flag of Spain.svg Spain
Christian Cruselles Castaño (Yota)
Flag of Korea (1899).svg Korea
Heejung Jang
Flag of Mexico.svg Mexico
Marco Antonio Burgos
Jesus Alberto
9th Flag of Korea (1899).svg Korea
Chang Lee
Flag of Argentina.svg Argentina
Leandro Manuel González
Gastón Lasarte
10th Flag of Colombia.svg Colombia
Diego Castro Vargas (Degok)
Flag of Brazil.svg Brazil
RKW

2006 Results

Winning Country: Flag of Mexico.svg Mexico
RankSPEED MaleSPEED FemaleFREESTYLE
Med 1.png 1st Flag of Mexico.svg Mexico
Armando Zamudio Verduzco (El Wero)
Flag of Mexico.svg Mexico
Rosario Nayeli Garcia Aragon (Nayeli)
Flag of Korea (1899).svg Korea
Lee Cein
Suo Kyoung Suk
Med 2.png 2nd Flag of Mexico.svg Mexico
Victor Lara Perez (El Gorras)
Flag of Argentina.svg Argentina
Daniela Mohamed (Danielita)
Flag of Brazil.svg Brazil
Fabricio Rangel Velloso (Faber) Orsolin
Lucas Rodrigues (Legal)
Med 3.png | 3rd Flag of Korea (1899).svg Korea
Chang Lee
Flag of Korea (1899).svg Korea
Kim Mi Hee
Flag of Colombia.svg Colombia
Diego Castro Vargas (Degok)
Kaori Sanmiguel (Kaori)
4th Flag of South Korea.svg South Korea
Choi Kwon Sik (Windforce)
Flag of Brazil.svg Brazil
Sabrina Freire (Sabruta)
Flag of Mexico.svg Mexico
Flor Amelia Carrera Villabazo
Omar Hatzel Salazar (Simba)
5th Flag of Chile.svg Chile
Alejandro Daniel Rios Ortiz (Xuma)
Flag of Chile.svg Chile
Celia Margarita Escudero Castillo (Celia)
Flag of Malaysia.svg Malaysia
Tan Kean Kiat
Tan Yew Seng
6th Flag of Argentina.svg Argentina
Ignacio Julian Veliz Martin (Nacho)
Flag of the Republic of China.svg Taiwan
Shen Shiou-Hwa (Amy Shen)
Flag of the United States.svg USA
James DeVito (Smidget)
Rick Huber (Redviper)
7th Flag of Ecuador.svg Ecuador
Carlos Monar
Flag of Peru.svg Peru
Gisella Tolentino Diestro
Flag of Ecuador.svg Ecuador
Andres Rivadeneira
8th Flag of the United States.svg USA
jboy
Flag of Korea (1899).svg Korea
Lee Hyang Jin
Flag of Italy.svg Italy
Matteo Favarelli
Mouhcine Elkhanfari
9th Flag of Brazil.svg Brazil
Saka

2005 Results

Winning Country: Flag of Mexico.svg Mexico [8]
RankSPEEDBATTLE STATIONFREESTYLE
Med 1.png 1st Flag of Korea (1899).svg Korea
Chang Lee
Flag of Mexico.svg Mexico
Erik Kyre
Flag of Mexico.svg Mexico
Flor Amelia Carrera Villabazo
Omar Hatzel Salazar (Simba)
Med 2.png 2nd Flag of Mexico.svg Mexico
Armando Zamudio Verduzco (El Wero)
Flag of Argentina.svg Argentina
Raul Jimenez
Flag of Brazil.svg Brazil
Lucas Rodrigues
Souza Barros (Legal)
Med 3.png | 3rdTIE

Flag of the United States.svg USA

Rick Huber (Redviper)

Flag of Mexico.svg Mexico
Miguel Martinez Lugo (Prey)

Flag of Korea (1899).svg Korea
Ye-Won Song (Yuri-Yuki)
Hyo-Jeong Kim (Yuki-Yuri)
9th Flag of Brazil.svg Brazil

Jorge Vergueiro Machado (Takahashi)

Flag of Brazil.svg Brazil
Thiago Ferreira de Campos (Black)

See also

References and notes

  1. "Gamesindustry.Biz article". Archived from the original on December 31, 2007. Retrieved November 17, 2007.
  2. "Andamiro USA – WPF announcement" . Retrieved November 17, 2007.
  3. "Gamezone article" . Retrieved November 17, 2007.
  4. "FIRE GAME – WPF announcement" . Retrieved December 30, 2010.
  5. "Official Ruleset for WPF" . Retrieved February 23, 2016.
  6. "Andamiro's YouTube WPF 2016 Video" . Retrieved April 18, 2016.
  7. "World Pump Festival 2016" . Retrieved June 25, 2016.
  8. *::*:...:* Pump It Up World Festival 2005 *::*:...:*::*:...:*

Related Research Articles

Dance Dance Revolution (DDR) is a music video game series produced by Konami. Introduced in Japan in 1998 as part of the Bemani series, and released in North America and Europe in 1999, Dance Dance Revolution is the pioneering series of the rhythm and dance genre in video games. Players stand on a "dance platform" or stage and hit colored arrows laid out in a cross with their feet to musical and visual cues. Players are judged by how well they time their dance to the patterns presented to them and are allowed to choose more music to play to if they receive a passing score.

Freestyle skiing is a skiing discipline comprising aerials, moguls, cross, half-pipe, slopestyle and big air as part of the Winter Olympics. It can consist of a skier performing aerial flips and spins and can include skiers sliding rails and boxes on their skis. Known as "hot-dogging" in the early 1970s, it is also commonly referred to as freeskiing, jibbing, as well as many other names, around the world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">World Cyber Games</span> International video game esport event

The World Cyber Games (WCG) is an international esports competition with multi-game titles in which hundreds of esports athletes from around the world participate in a variety of competitions also known as Esports Olympics. WCG events attempt to emulate a traditional sporting tournament, such as the Olympic Games; events included an official opening ceremony, and players from various countries competing for gold, silver, and bronze medals. WCG are held every year in other cities around the world. The WCG 2020 competition received nearly 650 million views worldwide.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Disc dog</span> Dog sport

Disc dog is a dog sport. In disc dog competitions, dogs and their human flying disc throwers compete in events such as distance catching and somewhat choreographed freestyle catching. The sport celebrates the bond between handler and dog, by allowing them to work together. The term "disc" is preferred because "Frisbee" is a trademark for a brand of flying disc.

<i>Pump It Up</i> (video game series) 1999 video game

Pump It Up is a music video game series developed and published by Andamiro, a Korean arcade game producer. The game is similar to Dance Dance Revolution, except that it has five arrow panels as opposed to four, and is typically played on a dance pad with five arrow panels: the top-left, top-right, bottom-left, bottom-right, and a center. Additional gameplay modes may utilize two five-panel pads side by side. These panels are pressed using the player's feet, in response to arrows that appear on the screen in front of the player. The arrows are synchronized to the general rhythm or beat of a chosen song, and success is dependent on the player's ability to time and position their steps accordingly.

<i>In the Groove</i> (video game) 2004 video game

In the Groove is a rhythm game developed & published by Roxor Games, and is the first game in the In the Groove series. The game was shown in an official beta-testing preview on July 9, 2004, and was officially released in arcades around August 30, 2004. A PlayStation 2 port of In the Groove was released on June 17, 2005, by RedOctane.

BanYa (반야), sometimes spelled BANYA or Banya, was the South Korean arcade game company Andamiro's musical group responsible for creating original songs for Pump It Up. The style of its music varies greatly, from hip hop to electronic, from rock to classical crossovers.

<i>In the Groove 2</i> 2005 video game

In the Groove 2 is the sequel to Roxor Games' 2004 arcade game In the Groove. It was released to arcades officially on June 18, 2005. It was available as an upgrade kit and as a dedicated cabinet developed by Andamiro. The price for a dedicated cabinet was $9,999 USD and the upgrade kit was US$2,999.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kendama</span> Japanese cup and ball game

The kendama is a traditional Japanese skill toy. It consists of a handle (ken), a pair of cups (sarado), and a ball (tama) that are all connected together by a string. On one end of the ken is a cup, while the other end of ken is narrowed down, forming a spike (kensaki) that fits into the hole (ana) of the tama. The kendama is the Japanese version of the classic cup-and-ball game, and is also a variant of the French cup-and-ball game bilboquet. Kendama can be held in different grips, and many tricks and combinations can be performed. The game is played by tossing the ball into the air and attempting to catch it on the stick point.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Breakdancing</span> Style of street dance

Breaking, also called b-boying, b-girling or breakdancing, is an athletic style of street dance originating from the African American and later Puerto Rican communities in New York City, United States. While diverse in the amount of variation available in the dance, breakdancing mainly consists of four kinds of movement: toprock, downrock, power moves and freezes. Breakdancing is typically set to songs containing drum breaks, especially in funk, soul music and hip-hop music, although modern trends allow for much wider varieties of music along certain ranges of tempo and beat patterns.

WPF may refer to:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Flying disc sports</span> Types of sport (developed1948)

Flying disc sports are sports or games played with discs, often called by the trademarked name Frisbees. Ultimate and disc golf are sports with substantial international followings.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sport in North Korea</span>

Historically, North Korea's participation in international sporting events has been hindered by the relations with South Korea. Until the 1990s, North Korea used to host up to 14 international events every year, albeit in small scale. Since the early 1990s, the amount was reduced to just one, the Paektusan Prize International Figure Skating Festival. More recently, since the 2000s, North Korea both participates in and hosts more international competitions.

Kim Hong-Yul, better known by his stage name Hong 10, is a Korean b-boy. He is part of the Korean crew Flow XL, 7Commandoz worldwide and represents the Red Bull BC One All Stars.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Philippine International Hot Air Balloon Fiesta</span>

The Philippine International Hot Air Balloon Fiesta is an annual four-day air-sporting event held each year between January and February at the Clark Freeport Zone in Pampanga. It is one of the longest-running aviation sports events in the Philippines.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aliwan Fiesta</span> Filipino fesitival

Aliwan Fiesta is an annual event that gathers different cultural festivals of the Philippines in Star City Complex in Pasay wherein contingents compete in dance parade and float competitions. Organized by Manila Broadcasting Company (MBC) together with Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP) and the cities of Manila and Pasay, the event is dubbed as "the Philippines' Grandest Fiesta," with prizes totaling P3 million. Aliwan Fiesta, which began in 2003, aims to showcase the different Filipino cultures and heritage not only to the people in Metro Manila but also to the rest of the world. The contingents, meanwhile, aim to promote their respective regions both economically and tourism-wise. It was originally organized as a visual extravaganza for the Christmas season, but it has since been held during the summer months of either April or May. Aliwan is a Tagalog word for "entertainment" or "amusement." Aliwan Fiesta festivities are covered live on DZRH News Television annually.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">K-Pop World Festival</span> Annual K-pop talent competition

The K-POP World Festival is an annual K-pop talent competition organized by South Korea's Ministry of Foreign Affairs with the support of numerous government agencies. After going through a few preliminary rounds, fans of K-pop are invited by the South Korean government to take part in the final round of the competition held every year in Changwon, South Korea.

<i>StarCraft II</i> World Championship Series Defunct professional esports circuit

The StarCraft II World Championship Series (WCS) was a StarCraft II professional tournament series organized and sanctioned by Blizzard Entertainment that ran from 2012 to 2019. For all but its first year of operation, it was the highest tier of professional StarCraft II competition. Its longest-running iteration featured two regions, World Championship Series Korea and World Championship Series Circuit, with World Championship Series Global events featuring players from both regions. Grand finals were held annually at BlizzCon in Anaheim, California, except for the first year of competition, when the finals were held in Shanghai, China. WCS Circuit events were streamed on Twitch while WCS Korea events were available on Twitch, YouTube, and afreecaTV.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Overwatch World Cup</span> Annual esports tournament

The Overwatch World Cup (OWWC) is an annual international Overwatch esports tournament organized by Blizzard Entertainment, the game's developer, with the first edition taking place in 2016. The tournament ran every year until 2019; after a three-year hiatus, the OWWC returned in 2023.