This weekend saw the grand finals of this year's Electronic Sports World Cup in France, where players and teams from all over the world were competing for cash prizes in the disciplines of Counter-Strike, Warcraft III, and Unreal Tournament 2003. Around 8,000 spectators watched as 400 competitors from 37 countries did battle for prizes worth up to $20,000 per player.

　　Sweden's Alborz "Heman" Haidarian beat fellow countryman Fredrik "Mad Frog" Johansson to claim the Warcraft III crown, before the Swedish "Team 9" squad beat the North American "Zex" team at Counter-Strike to claim a purse of some $100,000. German Christian "Gitzz" Hock put an end to Sweden's plans for global domination, though, when he defeated "Zulg" in the Unreal Tournament 2003 final.

　　The event's organizers stated that they'd expected a strong showing from European players, but that the performance of players from tournament favorites South Korea--where professional video game players are nothing new--was disappointing on the whole. For more information on the Electronic Sports World Cup, check out the official tournament Web site.