The KODE5 is an international gaming circuit that will take place in more than 20 countries worldwide and a grand final in Moscow, Russia. Every year winners of regional events event around the world will earn the right to represent their country in the Grand Final event. The idea of the competition format is to bring the gamers the best experience by setting standards proposed by an advisory board that represent the global community, this is known as The Revolutionary Council. The official games of the 2006 KODE5 are Counter-Strike

Counter-Strike

Counter-Strike is a tactical first-person shooter video game developed by Valve Corporation which originated from a Half-Life modification by Minh "Gooseman" Le and Jess "Cliffe" Cliffe...

, Quake 4

Quake 4

Quake 4 is the fourth title in the series of Quake first-person shooter computer games. The game was developed by Raven Software and published by Activision. Raven Software has collaborated with id Software, the creators and historical developers of preceding Quake games...

 and Warcraft 3. The event is sponsored by Foxconn

Foxconn

The Foxconn Technology Group is a multinational business group anchored by the Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., Ltd. , a Taiwan-registered corporation headquartered in Tucheng, Taiwan...

 and Corsair

Corsair Memory

Corsair Memory is a computer peripherals and hardware company headquartered in Fremont, California. Corsair designs and sells a range of products for computers, including high-speed DRAM modules, ATX power supplies , USB flash drives , CPU and memory cooling solutions, computer cases, solid-state...

. Other attractions include concerts, parties, conferences at regional events and final with mainstream media TV coverage at the grand final and more than $100,000 U.S. Dollars.

KODE5 Launch

This year the event launched itself during the 2006 CeBIT

CeBIT

CeBIT is the world's largest and most international computer expo. CeBIT is held each year on the world's largest fairground in Hanover, Germany, and is a barometer of the state of the art in information technology...

 show at Hannover, Germany

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

 in the Foxconn

Foxconn

The Foxconn Technology Group is a multinational business group anchored by the Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., Ltd. , a Taiwan-registered corporation headquartered in Tucheng, Taiwan...

 booth. The event was broadcast by Team Sportscast Network and GIGA Television

GIGA Television

GIGA was the brand name of a digital TV channel and several German television shows. The channel ceased operations in 2009.-Early Days:...

 and had exhibitions matches of Counter-Strike

Counter-Strike

Counter-Strike is a tactical first-person shooter video game developed by Valve Corporation which originated from a Half-Life modification by Minh "Gooseman" Le and Jess "Cliffe" Cliffe...

 and Quake 4

Quake 4

Quake 4 is the fourth title in the series of Quake first-person shooter computer games. The game was developed by Raven Software and published by Activision. Raven Software has collaborated with id Software, the creators and historical developers of preceding Quake games...

 with teams like MouseSports, Dignitas, a-Losers, Pentagram, mTw and Good-Game, also 1v1 players like James “TooGoood” Harding and Paul “astz!” McGarrity. In the event the launch featured also shootouts with public, KODE5 staff and TsN staff. KODE5 went on to hold many successful qualifying events and finals throughout 2006. In Summer of 2006, the KODE5 USA Grand Finals were held on the G4TV soundstage for Attack of the Show in Los Angeles, CA. Quake 4

Quake 4

Quake 4 is the fourth title in the series of Quake first-person shooter computer games. The game was developed by Raven Software and published by Activision. Raven Software has collaborated with id Software, the creators and historical developers of preceding Quake games...

, Warcraft 3, and Counter-Strike 1.6 were the games played, and Foxconn

Foxconn

The Foxconn Technology Group is a multinational business group anchored by the Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., Ltd. , a Taiwan-registered corporation headquartered in Tucheng, Taiwan...

, Corsair

Corsair

Corsairs were privateers, authorized to conduct raids on shipping of a nation at war with France, on behalf of the French Crown. Seized vessels and cargo were sold at auction, with the corsair captain entitled to a portion of the proceeds...

, and Vigor Gaming

Vigor Gaming

Vigor Gaming was a privately held manufacturer of enthusiast level personal computers based in City of Industry, California. The company was founded in 2004 by several former employees and the former owner of competing company. Vigor Gaming Computers are designed specifically for gaming...

 were the hardware manufacturers present.

KODE5 Revolutionary Council

The revolutionary council is a group of individuals that will help shape KODE5 and that will represent the gaming community, and the very foundations of e-sports event management. The council members are:

• Kenny Fu, graduated from Tsinghua University, and is now the External Cooperation Director and Vice-Managing Editor of China Electronic Athletics Magazine. Kenny has a good understanding of e-sports and always reports on all kinds of e-sports media in China. He also frequently consults with many e-sports tournaments, and hopes to help KODE5 in any way that he can.

• Hui-Chul “Garfield” Jung was born in 1985 in Germany. Since 2005, Hui-Chul has been the Head Manager of Korean gaming team Lunatic-Hai. Since joining the e-sports community in 2001, Hui-Chul has witnessed e-sports become more professional, more interesting, and more prestigious. He sees the development of e-sports as a very positive and valuable experience. By joining the Revolutionary Council and helping to develop and improve the structures in e-sport, he hopes that everyone else is able to enjoy the same great experiences he did.

• Hunter Luisi acts as both the Chief Operating Officer and head of technical development for the Team Sportscast Network. From providing key strategic vision, to spending countless hours refining TsN's website, servers and front end interfaces, Hunter has helped shape and define TsN into what it is today. Hunter's career started as a producer in the gaming industry. Hunter's broad and far-reaching experience in the video game industry gives TsN a level of knowledge and expertise unparalleled by most media organizations.

• Sam Mathews, the founder and creator of Fnatic Pty Ltd, has been involved within the competitive gaming community since 1999. He first started as a gamer himself in Quake 3, but for the last few years he has been heavily involved with the management and business side of the scene. Creating Fnatic in July 2004, he has been the primary driving force behind Fnatic’s growth to a fully fledged Multi-gaming powerhouse. Sam is representing G7 within the Council and therefore will speak not only for Fnatic, but also NiP-Gaming, 4Kings, Made in Brasil, Team 3D and Mousesports.

• Alexander T. Mueller-Rodic has been able to collect an immense range of expertise in the section of eSports due to his former position as Marketing and Sales Director with one of the most successful service providers in eSports, Turtle Entertainment GmbH. The company is provider of one of the biggest and most successful computer gaming leagues in Europe. Furthermore, Alexander T. Mueller-Rodic is the Managing Director with the most successful eSports clan worldwide, SK-Gaming. Alex is also representing G7 on the Council.

• Michael “ODEE” O’Dell comes from England and has been gaming for 20+ years. After suffering a serious sporting injury in 1999, Michael started with PC Gaming, and was eventually selected for the UK National team. Currently Michael is the Managing Director of the Multi-gaming organisation, Team Dignitas which he helped to form in 2003. Team Dignitas has players in over 15 countries and they compete at the highest level attending gaming events around the world. Michael is delighted to be a part of the KODE5 Revolutionary Council.

• As one of the oldest members of the Counter-Strike community, Trevor “Midway” Schmidt has been a part of GotFrag.com since the beginning helping to build the sites content. From the creation of Midway's Melee to the Playbook series, Trevor has continued to push the horizon of eSports coverage. Like many others his first exposure to First-Person Shooters was the console game Goldeneye, which led to the initial beta of Counter-Strike that he has been playing ever since. Trevor is now the Strategic Brand Director for GotFrag.com.

• As the fearless leader of FiringSquad.com for the last 5 years, Dan Turner has led the charge to continue the fine tradition of bringing the most important news and reviews to the hardcore gamer. As an early gamer, Dan started with the classics, like the FPS classics Doom and Quake. Dan has been intimately involved in organizing, promoting and running gaming tournaments for over 3 years, including International tournaments for Warcraft 3, Counterstrike, Medal of Honor and Battlefield 1942 to name a few.

• Meng “RocketBoy” Yang was born in ChengDu, China, and is one of the top first-person shooter (FPS) gamers in China. In his 7-year professional gaming career, he has attended numerous international tournaments, and has taken no less than six 1st place finishes. One of his most notable accomplishments was defeating Fatal1ty on the Great Wall of China in 2004 and taking home RMB 1,000,000.

KODE5 2006 Regional Circuit

The KODE5 has announced that the regional circuit will have a total of 16 main regional events with a total of more than 20 countries participating at the event and a finals event held in an undisclosed location. The regional qualifiers will be operated in co-operation with a series of local operators.

Germany

The first KODE5 regional event is the KODE5 Germany qualifiers that are going to take place in a season of seven weeks that will consist of a series of on- and off-line tournaments. The finalists from each of the KODE5 German qualifiers will meet at the KODE5 German Finals, which are taking place July 14 to 16 at the Potsdamer Place Cinestar in Berlin. With partner Freaks4U, KODE5 Germany will bring the excitement of competitive gaming to the silver screen.

• Strategic Partner: Freaks4U

Online Qualifier 1

• Dates: May 19 – May 21
• Tournaments: Counter-Strike 1.6, Warcraft III: TFT, Quake 4
• Counter-Strike: 32 teams maximum
• Warcraft III: 64 players maximum
• Quake 4: 64 players maximum
• First place advances to KODE5 Germany Finals (one slot per game)

Online Qualifier 2

• Dates: June 9 - June 11
• Tournaments: Counter-Strike 1.6, Warcraft III: TFT, Quake 4
• Counter-Strike: 32 teams maximum
• Warcraft III: 64 players maximum
• Quake 4: 64 players maximum
• First place advances to KODE5 Germany Finals (one slot per game)

Online Qualifier 3

• June 16 – June 18
• Tournaments: Counter-Strike 1.6, Warcraft III: TFT, Quake 4
• Counter-Strike: 32 teams maximum
• Warcraft III: 64 players maximum
• Quake 4: 64 players maximum
• First place advances to KODE5 Germany Finals (one slot per game)

Online Qualifier 4

• June 23 – June 25
• Tournaments: Warcraft III: TFT, Quake 4
• Warcraft III: 64 players maximum
• Quake 4: 64 players maximum
• First place advances to KODE5 Germany Finals (one slot per game)

Offline Qualifier 1

• May 26 – May 28
• Event: Leaving the Reality XI
• Tournaments: Counter-Strike 1.6, Warcraft III: TFT, Quake 4
• Website: www.npffo.de
• Location: Frankfurt (Oder)
• Maximum Participants: 600
• First and Second place advances to KODE5 Germany Finals (two slots per game)

Offline Qualifier 2

• June 2 – June 4
• Event: BK(XX)L 3
• Tournaments: Counter-Strike 1.6, Warcraft III: TFT, Quake 4
• Website: www.bk-xxl.de
• Location: Bad Kreuznach
• Maximum Participants: 500
• First and Second place advance to KODE5 Germany Finals (two slots per game)

Taiwan

The second announced KODE5 regional event is the KODE5 Taiwan qualifiers that are going to take place in one qualifier event and a final event with a great mainstream attraction. The finalists will meet at the Computex show, one of the biggest IT trade shows of the planet that will take place from June 6 to June 10.

• Strategic Partner: Aztec Internet Café

Offline Qualifier 1

• Dates: May 27 – May 28
• Tournaments: Counter-Strike 1.6, Warcraft III: TFT, Quake 4
• Location: Aztec Internet Café, ChungShiao YenJi Branch, Taipei
• Top 4 teams/players advance to KODE5 Taiwan Finals (four slots per game)

Latin America

The third KODE5 regional event launched is the KODE5 Latin America that are going to take place from April to June with a series of on- and off-line tournaments. The finalists from each country will battle for the global finals slot at the KODE5 Latin American Finals, which are taking place July 28 to July 30 at the Expo-Center Espacio Riesco, in Santiago, Chile

Santiago, Chile

Santiago , also known as Santiago de Chile, is the capital and largest city of Chile, and the center of its largest conurbation . It is located in the country's central valley, at an elevation of above mean sea level...

. In addition to the official KODE5 Latin American tournaments, the event will feature music concerts, conferences, shootouts, PC clinics, PC DIY contests, and a 500-seat BYOC with space for up to 200 onsite spectators.

• Strategic Partner: ProGamer Consultores/Integradores Expertos SAC

Offline/Online Qualifier 1

• Country:
  
  Chile
• Dates to be announced
• Tournaments: Counter-Strike 1.6, Warcraft III: TFT, Quake 4

Offline/Online Qualifier 2

• Country:
  
  Paraguay
• Dates to be announced
• Tournaments: Counter-Strike 1.6

Offline/Online Qualifier 3

• Country:
  
  Venezuela
• Dates to be announced
• Tournaments: Counter-Strike 1.6, Quake 4

Offline/Online Qualifier 4

• Country:
  
  Brazil
• Dates to be announced
• Tournaments: Counter-Strike 1.6, Warcraft III: TFT

Offline/Online Qualifier 5

• Country:
  
  Peru
• Dates to be announced
• Tournaments: Counter-Strike 1.6, Warcraft III: TFT, Quake 4

Offline/Online Qualifier 6

• Country:
  
  Argentina
• Dates to be announced
• Tournaments: Counter-Strike 1.6