StarCraft II World Championship Series Nordic Nationals Take Place at Annexet in Stockholm July 28

STOCKHOLM, June 25 – DreamHack and Blizzard Entertainment are proud to present the Nordic Nationals in Stockholm, Sweden, which will take place on Saturday July 28 as part of the StarCraft® II World Championship Series 2012. The Nordic region’s best StarCraft II players will fight in epic battles at Globe Arenas Annexet for coveted slots at the Europe Finals and a share of $30,000 in prize money.

The goal of the StarCraft II World Championship Series is to identify a true global champion, as players enter and qualify through open tournaments starting at the national level. The National Championships are designed to allow local heroes to rise to the top and be recognized in their country. The top finishers at each National Championship will earn spots at their continental Finals events, which will be an all-out brawl between neighboring countries to decide who will represent their continent at the Battle.net® World Championship.

$30,000 in prize money and six slots at the Europe Finals up for grabs
The Nordic Nationals event will comprise four separate Nationals tournaments: Sweden, Finland, Denmark and Norway. These tournaments will be played live at Annexet on July 28, with each tournament offering its own prize purse, qualification system and slots in the Europe Finals that will be held in September. All players who qualify for the Nordic Nationals will have their travel and accommodation expenses paid.

World-class eSports show – including official Blizzard presence
The Nordic Nationals will be an eSports event quite unlike anything you have ever experienced before. All the tournaments will be played in double elimination format with the highlighted matches presented live on stage with full media production, similar to recent DreamHack events. Blizzard Entertainment will be present at the Annexet arena with a dedicated area where you can try out their latest games, plus a merchandise store. Food and beverages will also be available, including beer and wine in the BarCraft area for visitors aged 18 and older. Spectator tickets will be available in advance through www.ticnet.se.

Free HD broadcast
All matches played on stage will also be broadcast by DreamHack TV and available for free through our streaming partner Twitch TV in HD (720p). The main stream from the Nordic Nationals will be in English but we will also provide additional streams in Swedish, Norwegian, Danish and Finnish.

StarCraft II World Championship Series Sweden Nationals
Players: 16 (8 via E-sport SM, 8 through online qualifiers)
Europe Finals slots: 3
Prize purse: $15,000

StarCraft II World Championship Series Norway Nationals
Players: 4 (through online qualifiers)
Europe Finals slots: 1
Prize purse: $5,000

StarCraft II World Championship Series Finland Nationals
Players: 4 (through online qualifiers)
Europe Finals slots: 1
Prize purse: $5,000

StarCraft II World Championship Series Denmark Nationals
Players: 4 (through online qualifiers)
Europe Finals slots: 1
Prize purse: $5,000

More news, detailed information about online qualifiers and tickets, will be released soon.
Stay tuned to DreamHack Twitter for instant updates.