As promised yesterday, the ESL is announcing the first game of the 2006 European Nations Championship today. This game being a part of the ENC 2006 probably isn't that big of a surprise.

It has been the biggest e-sports game for years now and has been part of all big gaming events over the last years. The game is of course:

Counter-Strike has been a part of the European Nations Championship for two years already. Europe's first champion in 2004 was team Sweden, which convincingly beat the Austrian national team in the grand final 16:4. The third place of the ENC 2004 went to Germany, with Finland coming in as unlucky fourth.

The results of the European Nations Championship 2005 were those of 2004 turned arround with one exception: team Sweden didn't participate, leaving the window wide open for other aspiring esports nations. In the end it was 2004's third Germany, who came out on top of the ranking ahead of the surprisingly strong Bulgarians and 2004's finalist Austria. The fourth place in 2005 went to a largely improved France - France didn't make it out of the group stage in 2004.

The total prize money for Counter-Strike is € 30,000.

Look out for the announcement of the other two games in the next days.