Challenge Online Games, Inc., developer of the massively multi-player online fantasy game Duels, announces today the 2009 World Duels Championship (WDC). Beginning May 12, 2009 at 12:00pm CDT/8pm GMT fans the world over will begin competing in a week-long tournament ladder, with the festivities culminating on May 24, 2009 when one Duelist will be crowned World Duels Champion and receive his or her share of thousands of dollars in cash and prizes.

The Championship is open to all Duels players. The event begins as a ladder due to the large number of participants. At the end of the ladder, the 256 players who have the highest ladder rating will be placed in the WDC Semi-Final Tournament. These top 256 duelists will then compete for the two exclusive spots in the WDC finals where, on May 24 one will emerge victorious as the 2009 World Duels Champion. Prizes will be awarded to players placing 1st through 128th so there are opportunities for lots of players to take home some loot. The Championship will also have plenty going on for the casual player and online spectators – the WDC Gift Shop has special in-game items only available during the WDC, as well as quests for the adventurous sort.

With half a million players worldwide, Duels is an online strategic fantasy RPG where players build powerful characters based on physical attributes, battle experience, special abilities and collectible items, and may upgrade their characters using in-game currency. Unlike many online RPGs which require hours of grinding play to achieve player power and status, Duels is designed to provide compelling in-depth PVP, head-to-head game play in 10 to 30 minute increments, attracting both hardcore and casual gamers for quick-fix gaming.

Complete details regarding the tournament rules are available at www.duels.com