The World Cyber Games was esports' Olympics for 14 years — then Samsung walked

The World Cyber Games began with the World Cyber Game Challenge at Everland, Yongin, in October 2000: 174 competitors from 17 countries playing for a $200,000 prize pool, financed by Samsung with backing from South Korea's culture and information ministries. Founded by Yoosup Oh's International Cyber Marketing, it became the 'Olympics of esports' — opening ceremonies, mascots, gold, silver and bronze medals for StarCraft, Warcraft III and Counter-Strike champions.

Annual tournaments ran for fourteen years, with nine of the fourteen finals held in Asia and as many as fifty participating countries. But the institution rested on a single sponsor. When Samsung's strategy shifted toward mobile products, a PC-gaming tournament no longer fit; organiser Lin Yuxin said there was 'no way to effectively combine it with Samsung mobile products' in a short time, and Samsung stopped actively supporting the event.

In February 2014 chief executive Brad Lee announced that WCG would cease operations: all tournaments cancelled, including that year's global finals, with partners left to use the brand locally. The organiser's own post-mortem admitted WCG headquarters 'missed the opportunity to find a new avenue for business' during its golden age, and that expansion into unevenly developed markets had 'overdrafted' the brand's value. The trademark passed to Korean publisher Smilegate in March 2017; a revived WCG was held in Xi'an in 2019.