eSports Entertainment and Gameplay Analysis Evolves With First Ever Red Bull Training Grounds

SANTA MONICA, CA--(Marketwired - Jun 14, 2013) - eSports fans: watch and learn. The first ever Red Bull Training Grounds will give eight invited eSports athletes -- and fans tuning in to the live digital broadcast from around the world -- the opportunity to elevate their play in a weekend of intense match-ups and expert analysis. This first-of-the-season event, taking place June 21^st - 23^rd at Red Bull North America Headquarters in Santa Monica, will spotlight Blizzard Entertainment's award winning real-time strategy game, StarCraft® II, with $8K in prize money on the line to keep the competition more than friendly. Beloved eSports personality and legend Sean "Day[9]" Plott and fan favorites Mike "Husky" Lamond and Ben "MrBitter" Nichol will serve as commentators and inquisitors, calling the action as it happens, as well as interviewing each player to analyze their performance and up their game.

The eight participating players, invited from the cream of the eSports crop of European and North American pros, will scrimmage in a series of round-robin matches over the course of the first two days, giving each athlete the opportunity to experience one another's signature tactics and evasive rebuttals. At the completion of each scrimmage, players head to the analysis booth to discuss and critique their performance, giving the audience at home a bleacher seat to the training regimes and techniques of top players, gaining strategic insight right alongside the pros.

Day three of Red Bull Training Grounds culminates in a tournament with the four players still standing. Reconvening for a final day of competitive play, the winner will walk away with the top prize purse -- and an invitation to a future high stakes tournament.

The following weekend, Red Bull Training Grounds alumni head to MLG Anaheim, to put their training weekend to the test on the global competitive tournament circuit, facing the best players from around the world. eSports aficionados and amateurs can get a sneak peek into tournament day preparation, watching these pro players refine and hone strategies, witnessing in action the strengths that could put them on top -- and their work to triumph over their weaknesses. Tune in daily throughout the weekend, from 2PMPST / 5PMEST/ 10PM GMT to 9PM PST / 12AM EST / 5AM GMT to catch all the action and every word of analysis.

Redbull.com/eSports will be the home for all news and information for Red Bull Training Grounds, and source for the live digital broadcast June 21^st - 23^rd. Spotlighting the personalities of eSports, interviews with athletes, coverage of events, breaking news and video features, Redbull.com/eSports is the newly launched source of information and interaction for the eSports community.

Visit Redbull.com/eSports next week for news of who the lucky eight initiates will be in this first Red Bull Training Grounds. Follow @redbullESPORTS on Twitter, #traininggrounds. 

About RedBull.com/eSports

Redbull.com/eSports is the digital source for the latest news, tournament coverage, interviews, video features and live digital broadcasts for the eSports community. Giving fans in-depth access to eSports scenes, Redbull.com/eSports provides the competitive gaming audience a venue to connect with personalities and players of the sport, as well as one another.

About Blizzard Entertainment, Inc.

Best known for blockbuster hits including World of Warcraft^® and the Warcraft^®, StarCraft^®, and Diablo^® franchises, Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. (www.blizzard.com), a division of Activision Blizzard (NASDAQ: ATVI), is a premier developer and publisher of entertainment software renowned for creating some of the industry's most critically acclaimed games. Blizzard Entertainment's track record includes sixteen #1-selling games and multiple Game of the Year awards. The company's online-gaming service, Battle.net^®, is one of the largest in the world, with millions of active players.