Ubisoft® and the Electronic Sports World Cup (ESWC) today announced their partnership to turn Just Dance into an official ESWC discipline, making it the first casual video game to enter the ESWC line up.
The Electronic Sports World Cup is a worldwide competition that starts locally with national qualifying rounds and culminates in a World Final designed as a live show. Just Dance is the top selling dance game globally and Just Dance 2015, the latest in the franchise, was announced at E3 2014 along with Just Dance Now, the all-new mobile game that allows players to play Just Dance tracks with their smartphones and any Internet-connected screen.
“For the 11th edition of the ESWC, we are very proud to widen the definition of eSport with Ubisoft. Competitive gaming has to welcome all kind of players, has to be developed in partnership with the games publishers, and has to showcase the most advanced technologies which link the body to the game. Just Dance is for ESWC the perfect medium to reach those goals”, said Matthieu Dallon, founder of the ESWC.
Qualifiers for the Just Dance World Cup will take place between June 24th and September 21st online and around the world at gaming events. The competition is open to anyone and there are three ways to qualify:
1. On World Dance Floor, the online multiplayer mode in Just Dance 2014 which allows players to compete against each other’s performances. Qualifying sessions are scheduled for July 13th, July 20th, July 27th, August 3rd, August 31st, September 7th, September 14th and September 21st.
2.Through Just Dance TV players can submit their best dance recording through the in-game Autodance feature.
3.In-person at specific ESWC qualifier events and Ubisoft events to be communicated at a later date.
“As soon as you put Just Dance on a stage the crowd starts dancing spontaneously. This is really inspiring to us and reflects the fact that dancing is a show as much as it brings people together. Competitive gaming shares the same goal, so we decided to partner with ESWC and create an official discipline with a very accessible show for everyone to feel the thrill of eSport,” said Jean-Baptiste Pennes, Senior eSport Manager at Ubisoft.
The top twenty Just Dance players will be flown to Paris Games Week to compete in the Grand Final of the Just Dance World Cup from October 30th to November 1st, 2014. During the Final, performances will be appraised on score and style of the dance by a jury and submitted to online voting. Details about the jury members and the rewards for the winners will be announced soon. With 50 million Just Dance games sold since the debut of the franchise in 2009, Just Dance has become a pop-culture phenomenon played by 100 million of fans all over the world. At the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) on June 9, 2014, Ubisoft revealed the development of Just Dance 2015 and Just Dance Now.
For the latest information on the Just Dance World Cup by ESWC, please visit: www.justdanceworldcup.com. More information on Just Dance is available at www.justdancegame.com. Ubisoft is a leading creator, publisher and distributor of interactive entertainment and services, with a rich portfolio of world-renowned brands, including Assassin’s Creed, Just Dance, Tom Clancy’s video game series, Rayman and Far Cry. The teams throughout Ubisoft’s worldwide network of studios and business offices are committed to delivering original and memorable gaming experiences across all popular platforms, including consoles, mobile phones, tablets and PCs. For the 2013-14 fiscal year Ubisoft generated sales of €1,007 million. To learn more, please visit www.ubisoftgroup.com.
About ESWC
ESWC (www.eswc.com) is a pioneered federative worldwide competition of video games, gathering each year the best players of the planet from selections in over 45 countries. ESWC is the property of OXENT, a company specialized in electronic sports. Oxent designs and organizes competitions, local and global, online and offline, and develop innovative technologies (www.tournament.com) to manage and share video games tournaments. To learn more, please visit www.oxent.net.
