▁in ▁the ▁pre lim inary ▁events , ▁with ▁ 4 5 0 ▁ultimately ▁making ▁it ▁through ▁to ▁the ▁final ▁tournament . ▁ ▁The ▁ 2 0 0 3 ▁tournament , ▁which ▁took ▁place ▁in ▁Se oul ▁again , ▁saw ▁an ▁even ▁bigger ▁prize ▁pool ▁of ▁US $ 2 , 0 0 0 , 0 0 0 , ▁and ▁was ▁the ▁first ▁World ▁Cy ber ▁Games ▁tournament ▁to ▁feature ▁a ▁console ▁based ▁competition , ▁with ▁the ▁game ▁H alo : ▁Com bat ▁E vol ved ▁on ▁the ▁X box . ▁ ▁In ▁ 2 0 0 4 , ▁the ▁World ▁Cy ber ▁Games ▁held ▁a ▁tournament ▁in ▁San ▁Francisco , ▁California , ▁United ▁States , ▁the ▁first ▁tournament ▁outside ▁of ▁its ▁home ▁country . ▁ ▁At ▁this ▁stage , ▁the ▁prize ▁pool ▁was ▁at ▁US $ 2 , 5 0 0 , 0 0 0 ; ▁with ▁ 6 4 2 ▁players ▁compet ing ▁in ▁the ▁grand ▁final . ▁ ▁The ▁tournament ▁has ▁since ▁been ▁hosted ▁in ▁various ▁countries ▁around ▁the ▁world ; ▁including ▁Singapore ▁in ▁ 2 0 0 5 ▁and ▁Mon za , ▁Italy ▁in ▁ 2 0 0 6 ▁- ▁at ▁this ▁time ▁Microsoft ▁became ▁a ▁major ▁spons or ▁to ▁the ▁event , ▁who ▁would ▁provide ▁software ▁and ▁hardware ▁for ▁all ▁the ▁events ▁through ▁to ▁ 2 0 0 8 . ▁ ▁In ▁addition , ▁all ▁games ▁played ▁at ▁the ▁tournament ▁would ▁be ▁based ▁exclus ively ▁on ▁Windows ▁PC ' s ▁or ▁the ▁X box ▁console . ▁ ▁In ▁ 2