Euskal Encounter offers 22500 euros for the best Counter Strike player

The State''s biggest party celebrating information technology - Euskal Encounter - kicks off at the BEC in Barakaldo on Friday July 22nd.

Over four days, more than 6,000 techno-fans will pack into the BEC''s 35,000 square metres to enjoy the latest in digital art, free software, computer games and competitions.

In this year''s edition, the Gamegune section will bring together twenty-four teams from more 15 countries across three different continents in a tournament of professional players of the video game Counter Strike 1.6.

The participants, professionals in their field, will battle it out for the opportunity to win 22,500 euros in prize money.

Last year''s champions, a team from Sweden called Fnatic, will be joined by teams from all over the world, including two from the United Arab Emirates, competing for the first time ever at, the 19th edition of Euskal Encounter.

Counter Strike is one of the world''s most popular internet video games requiring strategy, synchronization and fast reflexes. The players within one team must act in perfect coordination and with great speed in order to fulfil the objectives of their mission: either to plant a bomb in a strategic position, or uncover said bomb and diffuse it (depending on their assignment).