Ubisoft has announced the acquisition of the development studio Nadeo, creator of the TrackMania series of arcade racing games.

Set up in 2000 in Paris, the Nadeo studio has won acclaim for the quality of its multiplayer technology which has already notched up 10 million registered players. Its flagship game - TrackMania - has 700,000 unique players a month, with community members having created almost 15 million custom tracks since 2008. It is also the first eSport franchise for racing games.

"The acquisition of Nadeo is an important step in our expansion within the on-line gaming sector", said Yves Guillemot, Chief Executive Officer of Ubisoft. “Through Nadeo, Ubisoft will gain an expert team, one of the best on-line technologies around as well as a flagship multiplayer game that enjoys an unrivalled reputation among a loyal and committed community. We are excited about the idea of introducing TrackMania to an ever-wider audience and sharing the expertise of Nadeo's teams with our Group's other developers”.

The World Cyber Games national finals are over, but WCG is offering gamers one more opportunity to participate in this year's Grand Final in Chengdu, China with an online TrackMania Nations Forever competition.

From now through 14 October, players will battle on the internet in TrackMania Nations Forever to determine two Global Preliminary Champions. Each champion will receive an all-expenses-paid trip to Chengdu, China this November to participate in the WCG Grand Finals, "the largest and most prestigious eSports tournament in the world". At that finals event the two champions will take centre stage to race each other for the World Champion title, as well as cash and other prizes.

"Through competitions like this, WCG will continue to explore the vast possibilities that are provided through the Internet," said Hyoung-Seok Kim, World Cyber Games CEO. "WCG will continue to strengthen its online channel WCGZone so that even more people from more countries can enjoy the competition."