The Intel Extreme Masters (IEM) are a series of international esports tournaments held in countries around the world. These Electronic Sports League (ESL) sanctioned events, sponsored by Intel, include events in Starcraft II, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, Quake Live, League of Legends and Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft. The body that owns the league is Turtle Entertainment. The League has existed for ten seasons as of 2016. The season ten tournament finals took place in Katowice, Poland. Previous events have been held in Chengdu, Dubai, Hanover, and Los Angeles, among other cities.
The Intel Extreme Masters are a product of the ESL. In 2006, when the Intel sponsored European tournament saw room for expansion outside of Europe, especially in North American markets, Intel provided funds for a worldwide tournament, billing it as the Intel Extreme Masters. In 2007, when established, the IEM established a format of many smaller qualifying events, leading up to a large final event that is held at CeBIT. All of the Grand Finals have been held at CeBIT. Starting in 2008, the Tournament was billed as being worldwide, boasting participants from Europe, North America, and Asia. Although Counterstrike 1.6 was the only game offered in the first season, the variety of games has increased greatly, to the four that were offered during Season 5. World of Warcraft was offered during Season 4, but was dropped for Season 5. The Season 5 Finals will be held at CeBIT and will included a US$130,000 prize pool.
Games offered in Intel Extreme Masters: Counter-Strike (Seasons 1–6), Warcraft 3: Reign of Chaos and Warcraft 3: The Frozen Throne (Seasons 1–2, 3: Asian Championship Finals — CS1.6 and Asian Championship Finals — WoW, 4: Global Challenge Chengdu, 5: Global Challenge Shanghai), World of Warcraft (Seasons 2: Global Challenge Dreamhack, 3–4), Quake Live (Seasons 4–5), StarCraft II (Seasons 5–6), League of Legends (LoL) (Seasons 5: World Championship (LoL Invitational), 6)
(Finals: 15–18 March 2007 at CeBIT 2007)
Counter-Strike: Poland's Team PentagramWarcraft III: France's Yoan "ToD" Merlo(Finals: 6–9 March 2008 at CeBIT 2008)
Global Challenge Los Angeles:Counter-Strike: Sweden's FnaticRCWarcraft III: Korea's June "Lyn" ParkWorld Championship:Counter-Strike: Germany's MousesportsWarcraft III: Korea's June "Lyn" Park(World Championship(Finals): 3–8 March 2009 at CeBIT 2009)
Global Challenge Games Convention:World of Warcraft: Germany's Nihilum PlasmaGlobal Challenge Los Angeles:Counter-Strike: Sweden's SK GamingWorld of Warcraft: Spain's x6tenceGlobal Challenge Montreal:Counter-Strike: Sweden's FnaticWorld of Warcraft: the UK's SK GamingGlobal Challenge Dubai:Counter-Strike:Germany's MousesportsAsian Championshiphttp: — WoW:Counter-Strike: Korea's e-STROWorld of Warcraft: Korea's H O NWarCraft III: the Netherlands's Manuel "Grubby" SchenkhuizenEuropean Championship:Counter-Strike: Denmark's mTwWorld of Warcraft: Bulgaria's iNNERFiREAmerican Championship:Counter-Strike: Brazil's Made in BrazilWorld of Warcraft: the United States's Trade ChatAsian Championship: CS1.6:Counter-Strike: China's wNv TeamworkWarCraft III: China's Li "Sky" XiaofengWorld Championship:Counter-Strike: Sweden's fnaticWorld of Warcraft: Korea's H O N(World Championship(Finals): 2–6 March 2010 at CeBIT 2010)
Global Challenge Gamescom:Counter-Strike: Germany's MousesportsQuake Live: the United States's Shane "rapha" HendrixsonWorld of Warcraft: the United Arab Emirates's EnsidiaGlobal Challenge Chengdu:Counter-Strike: Sweden's SK GamingDotA: China's For The Dream (ex-LGD)Warcraft III: China's Lu "Fly100%" WeiliangGlobal Challenge Dubai:Counter-Strike: Sweden's FnaticQuake Live: the United States's Shane "rapha" HendrixsonEuropean Championship:Counter-Strike: Germany's MousesportsQuake Live: Bulgaria's Alexey "Cypher" YanushevskyWorld of Warcraft: Germany's SK Gaming SansibarAmerican Championship:Counter Strike: the United States's compLexityQuake Live: the United States's Tim "DaHanG" FogartyWorld of Warcraft: the United States's compLexity BlackAsian Championship:Counter Strike: Korea's WeMade FOXQuake Live: China's Fan "Jibo" ZhiboWorld of Warcraft: Korea's Button BashersWorld Championship:Counter-Strike: Ukraine's Natus VincereQuake Live: the United States's Shane "rapha" HendrixsonWorld of Warcraft: the United States's Evil Geniuses(World Championship(Finals): 1–5 March 2011 at CeBIT 2011)
Global Challenge Shanghai:Counter-Strike: Sweden's fnaticWarcraft III: The Frozen Throne: Korea's June "Lyn" ParkDotA: China's: EHOMEGlobal Challenge Cologne:StarCraft II: Sweden's Stefan "MorroW" Andersson — MousesportsQuake Live: Germany's k1llsenAmerican Championship:Counter Strike: Brazil's compLexityQuake Live: the United States's Shane "rapha" HendrixsonStarCraft II: Peru's Jian "Fenix" Morayra Alejo — fnaticEuropean Championship:Counter-Strike: Sweden's fnaticQuake Live: Russia's Anton "Cooller" SingovStarCraft II: Sweden's Jeffrey "SjoW" Brusi — Team DignitasWorld Championship:Counter-Strike: Ukraine's Natus VincereQuake Live: the United States's Shane "rapha" HendrixsonStarCraft II: Korea's Jung "AcE" Woo-Seo — Team StarTaleLoL Invitational: Germany's myRevenge(World Championship(Finals): 6–10 March 2012 at CeBIT 2012)
Global Challenge Cologne:LoL: the United States's Counter Logic GamingStarCraft II: Korea's Lee "PuMa" Ho-Joon — Evil GeniusesGlobal Challenge Guangzhou:LoL: China's World EliteStarCraft II: the United States's Greg "IdrA" Fields — Evil GeniusesCounter-Strike: Sweden's fnaticGlobal Challenge New York:LoL: the European Union's fnaticStarCraft II: Korea's Park "DongRaeGu" Soo-Ho — Complexity Gaming & Team MvPCounter-Strike: Sweden's SK GamingGlobal Challenge Kiev:LoL: Russia's Moscow 5StarCraft II: Korea's Moon "MMA" Sung-Won — Team SlayerSCounter-Strike: Ukraine's Natus VincereGlobal Challenge São Paulo:StarCraft II: Korea's Kim "viOLet" Dong-Hwan — Team EmpireWorld Championship:LoL: Russia's Moscow 5StarCraft II: Korea's Jang "MC" Min-Chul— SK GamingCounter-Strike: Poland's ESC GamingGlobal Challenge Gamescom:LoL: Russia's Moscow FiveStarCraft II: Korea's Jung "Mvp" Jong-Hyun — Incredible MiracleGlobal Challenge Singapore:LoL: the European Union's MeetYourMakersStarCraft II: Korea's Ju "Sting" Hoon — Western WolvesGlobal Challenge Cologne:LoL: Korea's SK Telecom T1Global Challenge Katowice:LoL: Russia's Gambit Gaming (ex-M5)StarCraft II: Korea's Kang "First" Hyun-Woo — Incredible MiracleGlobal Challenge Brazil:LoL: Korea's Incredible MiracleWorld Championship:LoL: Korea's CJ Entus BlazeStarCraft II: Korea's Choi "YoDa" Byung-Hyun — Incredible MiracleIEM utilizes a fair number of offline qualifiers. During Season 5, qualifiers were held for North America, Europe, and Southeast Asia regions. Those who qualify for the finals are placed into two groups of six, of which the top two advance. The first place member of each group goes directly to the semifinals, and the second and third place members go into the quarterfinals.
The Intel Extreme Masters are run by the ESL which is owned by Turtle Entertainment GmbH. Turtle Entertainment is based in Cologne, Germany.
