''Beyond the Game'' is a 2008

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

documentary film about the world of professional video gaming, particularly of the game '' Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne'' featuring world champion players Chinese Xiaofeng "Sky" Li, Dutch

Manuel "Grubby" Schenkhuizen Manuel Schenkhuizen (), better known as Grubby, is a Dutch real-time strategy gamer and former professional esports player. He competed in the RTS games ''Warcraft III'' (WC3), '' Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne'' and ''Starcraft II''. Grubby ...

and Swede Fredrik "MaDFroG" Johansson prominently. It is directed by award-winning Dutch documentary filmmaker

Jos de Putter Jos de Putter ( Terneuzen, 1959) is a Dutch film director, film critic and screenwriter who primarily makes Dutch documentary films. He studied political science and literature at the University of Leiden, and was a member of the editorial staff ...

. Filming took place in

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

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The Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

and

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

. Languages spoken in the documentary include

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French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

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Standard Chinese Standard Chinese ()—in linguistics Standard Northern Mandarin or Standard Beijing Mandarin, in common speech simply Mandarin, better qualified as Standard Mandarin, Modern Standard Mandarin or Standard Mandarin Chinese—is a modern Standar ...

and

Korean Korean may refer to: People and culture * Koreans, ethnic group originating in the Korean Peninsula * Korean cuisine * Korean culture * Korean language **Korean alphabet, known as Hangul or Chosŏn'gŭl **Korean dialects and the Jeju language ** ...

. Beyond the Game is the motto of the

World Cyber Games The World Cyber Games (WCG) is an international esports competition with multi-game titles in which hundreds of esports athletes from around the world participate in a variety of competitions also known as Esports Olympics. WCG events attempt to e ...

, which is central to the documentary as the main characters compete to defend or regain the event's championship title at the global finals of the 2007 World Cyber Games in

Seattle, Washington Seattle ( ) is a port, seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the county seat, seat of King County, Washington, King County, Washington (state), Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in bo ...

. It has premiered at the

International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam The International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA) is the world's largest documentary film festival held annually since 1988 in Amsterdam. Over a period of twelve days, it has screened more than 300 films and sold more than 250,000 tic ...

in Pathé de Munt, and had the cinema premiere in Pathé Tuschinski, and has now been released in cinemas throughout The Netherlands.

Historical background

In 2002 the videogame '' Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos'' is released which sells millions of copies and quickly becomes a leading title in the world of competitive gaming. It was followed in 2003 by an expansion, '' Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne''. A 17-year-old Swede by the name of Fredrik Johansson devotes himself to this new sport and rises to become the runner-up of the

2003 Electronic Sports World Cup The Electronic Sports World Convention (ESWC) (formerly known as Electronic Sports World Cup) is an international professional gaming championship. Every year, winners of national qualifier events around the world earn the right to represent the ...

and becomes widely regarded as the strongest non-Asian player. He is subsequently invited to become a full-time professional gamer in

Seoul Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) as stated iArticle 103 ...

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

where competitive gaming is an advanced subculture and many players make a living playing games. During his eleven-month stay there he wins the

Blizzard Worldwide Invitational BlizzCon is an annual gaming convention held by Blizzard Entertainment to promote its major franchises including ''Warcraft'', ''StarCraft'', '' Diablo'', ''Hearthstone'', ''Heroes of the Storm,'' and ''Overwatch''. The first BlizzCon was held ...

and is recognized as the world's most successful gamer. After his return to Sweden he becomes runner-up of the Electronic Sports World Cup 2004 again, but subsequently loses his motivation for the sport and qualifies for one more event in the 2004 World Cyber Games before retiring a few months later. There he is defeated prematurely and a new European star takes over from him as 16-year-old

Manuel Schenkhuizen Manuel Schenkhuizen (), better known as Grubby, is a Dutch real-time strategy gamer and former professional esports player. He competed in the RTS games ''Warcraft III'' (WC3), '' Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne'' and ''Starcraft II''. Grubby ...

wins the event. Dutchman Schenkhuizen was staying in Seoul at the time and a few months after the event he returns home and remains a dominating player. During this period his in-game race of choice,

Orc An Orc (or Ork) is a fictional humanoid monster like a goblin. Orcs were brought into modern usage by the fantasy writings of J. R. R. Tolkien, especially ''The Lord of the Rings''. In Tolkien's works, Orcs are a brutish, aggressive, ugly, a ...

, is considered disadvantaged in competition but he nevertheless is successful, winning the

Electronic Sports World Cup 2005 The Electronic Sports World Convention (ESWC) (formerly known as Electronic Sports World Cup) is an international professional gaming championship. Every year, winners of national qualifier events around the world earn the right to represent the ...

. He gains the nickname 'King of Orcs' in televised competition, similar to the nickname 'Terran Emperor' for twofold StarCraft world champion

Lim Yo-Hwan Lim Yo-hwan (), known by the ID SlayerS_`BoxeR` (usually shortened to BoxeR), is a former professional player of the real-time strategy computer game ''StarCraft''. He is often referred to as The Terran Emperor (), or simply "The Emperor", and ...

(Boxer). He is considered a favorite to defend his World Cyber Games title at the 2005 global finals in Suntec City, Singapore and cement his name as the best player ever; but is defeated at the event by Dennis "Shortround-" Chan, a 22-year-old in college semi retired pro gamer. Throughout the next year both players are frequent participants in the same international competitions. Schenkhuizen is successful enough to be honored as the Player of the Year in all of competitive gaming like Johansson two years before him. The award most important to both players however is that of World Cyber Games champion as the two qualify for the 2006 global finals in

Monza, Italy Monza (, ; lmo, label=Lombard language, Lombard, Monça, locally ; lat, Modoetia) is a city and ''comune'' on the River Lambro, a tributary of the Po River, Po in the Lombardy region of Italy, about north-northeast of Milan. It is the capit ...

and meet in the quarter-finals. Winning a second title would mean inclusion in the World Cyber Games Hall of Fame for either of them. This clash is observed by documentary filmmaker Jos de Putter who senses the deep emotions involved in the encounter, not only by the players but also by the spectators. Afterwards the filmmaker decides to follow both players on their way to their next World Cyber Games encounter, where one player will try to defend and the other to regain the World Cyber Games title, and portray this new world. To provide insight in the background of the gaming scene and the mind of competitors he also contacts Fredrik Johansson who is developing a new life in Sweden and is now regarded as a legend in the world of competitive gaming.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Beyond The Game 2008 films Dutch documentary films Esports films 2008 documentary films Documentary films about video games Dutch sports films