Participation In Big Bucks Championship Qualifiers Shatters Records

CHICAGO -- There are now 5,000-plus players trying to qualify for the upcoming eighth annual Big Buck World Championship, according to Play Mechanix, the videogame company that organizes the event. That number is a big jump over the 1,500 videogamers who took part in last year's qualification matches.

Qualifying contests end on Sept. 27, after which 64 of the best virtual shooters will have a chance to become the world champion four weeks later. The 2015 Big Buck World Championship will take place on Oct. 23 and 24 at Chicago's Hard Rock Café.

Visit bigbuckhd.com for latest news about this year's qualifying tournaments.

The Windy City's Hard Rock is the largest venue to date for the coin-op videogame tournament. This year's competition is sponsored by the Moosehead Lager brewery and sausage-maker Old Wisconsin. The competition will be covered by Twitch TV, an online videogame streaming service.

The first Big Buck World Championship was held in 2008 at Chicago's Excalibur Night Club. It had a field of 24 players.