Leoben WTC Information Hub

We have created this webpage in order to communicate some very exciting information on the location, venue and Leoben in general to the players.

DATES
40K Event – 05-10 August 2025
X-Wing – Kill Team & Other Events – 31 July – 03 August 2025

WTC AUSTRIA EVENT MANAGER

In order to make sure WTC is still the event we love, Kevin Zoellinger will be moving into the role of WTC Austria Event Manager. He has already been involved and helping out with WTC in the last few years on an advisory role and volunteering during the event, but for Leoben he would be the one handling on the ground operations and preparations throughout the year.

Kevin has created Alpine Cup along with Isik for the last 4 years and has been delivering on a great event already. And he has proven himself to be smart, attentive and always ready for a Plan B in case something goes wrong.

He is a lawyer by trade; has been and will be a great asset to WTC.

Of course Kev will not be alone, Tom and Isik will continue their work as normal.

ARRIVING TO LEOBEN

Addendum: We also arranged transportation with busses directly from the aiports. These busses will pick up the players from the airport and take them to their hotels.
Vienne to Leoben: 1h 45min
Graz to Leoben: 50min

ACCOMODATION

We have arranged special deals for WTC players where you will be be able to stay in a few accommodations near the event venue. WTC will be making the room reservation itself so rooms for players are guaranteed. The rooms will be available from the WTC website and not from a third party at reduced rates.

1. Living Campus is a hotel with 200 people capacity, its only 20 minutes walking away from city center and has been a great place for Alpine Cup Players for the last 3 years. This hotel comes with many meeting rooms and relaxing oppurtunities for players.
   
2. Hotel Kongress is a hotel with 130 people capacity. It is located in the city center itself. The hotel comes with seminar rooms that can be reserved ahead of time.
   
3. Hotel Kindler is a hotel with 110 people capacity. It is located in the city center along with Hotel Kongress.

From all of the options above we will arrange shuttle busses (SHUTTLE ROUTE 1 – SHUTTLE ROUTE 2) that players can take each morning and after the games are over.

It is also possible to arrange private apartments that allow that each allow 6 to 8 people to stay at once. WTC can connect the players with the apartments for convenience.

In addition, there are more than a dozen other hotels in Leoben for players to choose from. Such as the luxurious Asia Hotel & Spa along with many other options. (LINK)

Living Campus

Hotel Kongress

Hotel Kindler

EATING AND GASTRONOMY

Considering its population size, Leoben has a lot of restaurants and bars in its central square. We can also arrange any of these restaurants each night to keep open their kitchens longer or to have semi-official gatherings.
(Note: In Leoben restaurants have winter and summer opening hours. In winter most restaurants close their kitchen by 21:00, but in summer kitchens are open at least until 22:00, this can be extended even further by the news of a 4-500 person coming to town. We will of course work to make sure that every player has a wide selection of options both lunch and dinner.)

• San Marco – Italian
• Arkadenhof – Austrian Traditional
• Schwarzer Hund – Austrian Traditional
• Zur Sonne – Chinese

(These are not the only restaurants available, just 4 that we think are the best.)

Along with many other restaurants and eateries. (LINK)

The following media are from a late August 2024 Leoben event, we can coordinate the city management to organise similar events with food trucks in the town center during WTC.

For evenings, there are several cafes and bars within the town center, ranging from rooftop cocktail bars to dance bars.

• Bodega – Dance Bar
• Shake – Rock Bar
• Pub’o’cino – Metal Bar
• Bellini – Rooftop Cocktail Bar

The above listed are just some of the favourites, there are many other options for entertainment and chilling available. (LINK)

GATHERINGS

All of the linked above restaurants and bars are located within a few hundred metres of each other. So imagine all the WTC coming together in just one area every evening for a week, wherever you look you see other players in a restaurant or bar as far as you can see.

We can designate one of these places for each evening as a gathering spot, making sure everyone is aware of where to be for any given night.

Leoben Center
Video

„The bar Segafredo already granted us space everyday for both inside and outside for gatherings and specials for us“

Mon- Thu until 00:00
Fri – Sun open end

VENUE

WTC Leoben Venue would be hosted in the P2 Tennis Center. This venue has already hosted an event with 360 40K players in April of 2024 with Alpine Cup. By the time WTC 2025 happens, it will have hosted at least 2 more such events, Alpine Cup 2025 (400 players) and AoS Worlds 2025 (250 players).

AIR CONDITIONING:
Mobile AC trucks will be rented to connect to the existing ventilation system of the venue. Such an arrangement will be tested beforehand at Leoben 40K – Alpine Cup in April 2025 and will be perfected for WTC.

SOFT FLOORING:
P2 Tenniscenter, as you might discern from the name, is a tennishall. So the floor of the venue is soft for walking on. Granules will be vacuumed away before WTC starts.

FLOOR PLAN:
Currently Venue Floor Plan would look like the following for x44 40K teams;

This plan is to scale of the 2400 sqm area of the playing hall. In addition to this venue has inside and outside eating areas that can easily accomodate all the players in a spacious backyard.

BARS:
There would be a bar setup in the tournament hall itself. In addition there is also a permanent bar set up in the venue that is only 15 metres away in the same building.

There would also be temporary bar setup in the front of the venue for rush hours and also Table Service will be available, where drinks would be taken to the players during the matches so they won’t have to leave their tables.

View of the backyard of the venue. For WTC big umbrellas would be added.

GETTING TO THE VENUE:
Complimentary Shuttle busses will be arranged from both the center of Leoben and from Living Campus Hotel (SHUTTLE ROUTE 1 – SHUTTLE ROUTE 2) , each morning before games start and each evening after games are over. Additionally there are over 100+ parking spots available in the venue for teams arriving with their cars. (Already implemented with great success in April 2024.)

PLAYER COST / FINANCES

Players

For players, the following costs will be different.

Accomodation: Since WTC will make all the hotel bookings, we can negotiate great prices. Prices are guaranteed starting from 40€ per person in a “Double-Bed Room”, and 60-65€ in a single room with breakfast included. (LINK)
For teams, a private suite where each player sleeps in a seperate room can be as low as 45€ with breakfast included.
(These prices apply to all the rooms, from first reservation to last.)
WTC can also connect players to private Airbnb-like apartments that are more even affordable.

Eating & Drinking: All restaurant prices will be in Leoben are quite affordable. A full meal will run you around 15-20€ with drinks included.

For eating and drinking at the venue would be options for the players. Club Sandwiches would be around 2-3€ per pair, schnitzel sandwiches around 6€ with catered food options being around 15€ on site.

Water fountain will still be available just like in Mechelen.

Tournament Tickets: WTC can reduce its ticket prices by 15-20% for attendees because of lower cost of organization.

Parking: Parking would be FREE in venue for players. Venue has enough parking for 140 cars.

Travel: Getting to Leoben initially would cost more because of the extra travel step to Leoben. But after getting to your hotel there wouldn’t be any travel costs thanks to the complimentary shuttles.

Organization

For organization, the following costs will be lower.

Financial Outlook & Venue: We expect the total cost of venue to be about 25-30000€ lower for the organization because of Kevin’s special long term connection with the venue.

Subsidies: Because of Leoben’s smaller size , WTC is much of an interest to local and state authorities. This means WTC can be given considerable subsidies. Such subsidies could be used to support certain teams to make their journey to WTC possible.

Local Assistance: We can hire local help, reducing the strain on our international volunteers. Such help would be experienced in what they do because of past experience on Alpine Cup. There was in total 18 non-referee help in April 2024 to assist the build-up and pack up of Alpine Cup, and arrangements have only been improved.
This way our referees can focus on the gaming instead of carrying tables around.

Operating Costs: There is already an extensive network for services established by Alpine Cup such as storage, rental of vehicles or other amenities such as water fountains or table rentals, we can operate the core WTC on a smaller budget along with a leaner organisation structure.

Reduced Organisation Strain: We can rely on local authorities more for support, reducing things we have to do as WTC organisation. That way more focus can be given on improving the quality of life of the players.

If you have any questions you can also submit them here and we can answer them on this page or directly to you.

-WTC Event Managers
Isik, Kev and Tom

Questions & Answers

Q: What will happen to the non 40K events?
A: Non-40K Events will take place during the week of 31 July – 03 August. We will also be working on adding other games, such as Age of Sigmar, Old World. (AoS Worlds will be held at the same venue earlier that year.)
For both weeks we expect to reach 400 players each week for a total of 800 players!

Q: Is Vienna Airport difficult to get to for non European players?
A: Not at all. There are direct flights from Chicago, Boston, New York, Washington, Montreal and Toronto for players from North America. On top of that there are direct flights from Shanghai, Shenzen, Bangkok and Taipei as well.
Vienna Airport is also very well connected to several airline hubs, there are several flights from Istanbul and more than 10 flights from Frankfurt everyday. There are also direct flights from Dubai and Doha twice a day each.
(PS: From Frankfurt flying to Graz might be a better option depening on your schedule. Graz to Leoben is a journey that takes less than an hour.)

Q: Does the Leoben venue have enough facilities? Will WTC be the same quality event that we are used to?
A: Yes, the same venue already hosted a 360 player 40K event this April, and by the time WTC happens Kev and Isik will have at least 2 more events hosted in that same venue to make sure everything will be as good as possible. (Leoben 40K – Alpine Cup and AoS Worlds)

Q: Floor plan only shows one bar, will we have to wait the entire break period to get drinks/food?
A: Of course not, there is a permanent bar right in the next room of the playing hall. So there will be at least 2 bars serving drinks at any given time. There is also a bar planned in the frontyard with table service being a thing during the games.

Permanent bar that is only 15 metre away from the main hall.

Q: Are you sure shuttle busses will be enough to get the players to the venue and back? Will there be any shuttles for us, and will we have to wait for all games to be over to be able to get back to hotels?
A: Yes, We will have two shuttle busses doing rings for several hours in the morning to make sure all players arrive in venue on time. And shuttle service from venue back to town will start before all the games are over, so if your games end early you can get back to town without waiting.
This specifically applies for the first week of WTC where non-40K games don’t start and end at the same time. Shuttle service will run frequent (every 20 min from each venue/hotel) enough to make sure each player has several oppurtunities to get to the venue and back.

Q: I heard that there is nowhere to eat in Leoben but a McDonald’s in the evening, is that true?
A: That is certainly not the case, specially during the summer. In summer the kitchens of the restaurants are open until 22:00 and we will make sure that there is always a place to eat for each gaming day. We can ask the restaurants to stay open for even longer and they would gladly extend their times by an hour.
In addition venue will also have food available to order in the evenings in the attached restaurant.

Q: Will there have to be less streamers because of the smaller venue?
A: Not necessarily, we are confident that we can still supply enough space and infrastructure for several streamers in Leoben. WTC will again be the most streamed event of the year without a question!

Q: What happens if the weather is bad? Will we be stuck in the hall?
A: We will be setting up big tents both in the front and the back of the venue to make sure people have outside chill-out areas. We already have an area reserved for dedicated team tables. So even with the worst possible weather players will have ample space to relax between games.

Q: Will spreading the event into two weeks not reduce the big event factor? Can you make sure the event is run properly for the whole 10+ days?
A: We are aware the events maximum player number will be limited at 500 at any given time, but we are sure WTC will still be a great event. And now that the event is spread out over two weeks, it means players who are willing can attend multiple events!
And when it comes to two weeks event running, only a handful of people would need to be there all the time. We are confident that we can make sure with the local help on site we will make the event work just fine.

Q: Leoben seems difficult and expensive to get to, will WTC in Leoben cost players a lot?
A: No, Leoben is a very affordable and accessible town. From continental Europe it is easy to get to by train and car. For flights there are two airports that you can go which has rail terminals to take trains to Leoben.
And after getting to Leoben you will notice it is very easy to get around, with the town center being less than 20 minute walking from even the farthest accomodations; with food and drink prices being very affordable.
If you come with a car, after your arrival you most likely won’t need it until the event ends thanks to the proximity of everything and the shuttle busses.

Q: What about our companions that are not interested in gaming? Will they have things to do throughout the week?
A: Yes, we actually have this list of “Things to do in Leoben” already done.
General List of Attractions
Beer Museum and Brewery Tour
Asian Spa Leoben
Hiking Oppurtunities
Open Pit Mine Tour
European wonder Green Lake
In addition to these, we can also connect willing players/companions with guided tours that are offered by city management of Leoben. We have done this already in 2024 April.

SUMMARY

Pros: When WTC moves to Leoben in 2025 it will be able to provide a fully encompassing event that is accessible to more teams. Nations such as Croatia, Slovenia, Hungary and Serbia will be able to attend.

The town municipality being in good standing with WTC would also help us alleviate stress from the players when it comes to logistical matters such as transportation during the tournament itself by providing busses from hotels.

Total event cost will be cheaper for all the parties involved, and WTC will do more things with players paying less. Food served at the venue will be better and more varied, with eating outside in the backyard being a valid option just as much as inside.

The compact nature of the Leoben will allow greater socialising oppurtunities, instead of every team just doing their own thing in their own island. All the players can gather in the town center in the myriad of restaurants and bars to come together and continue to socalise if they wish so.

Cons: Maximum amount of players that this hall can host is about 500 players.

In addition the “non-40K” part of the event would need to be hosted one week earlier because of the limited capacity. This means the event would need to span across 2 weeks, which is not an organisational issue since except for one or two people nobody has to be there for all the time, it just means at any given time maximum amount of people would be limited. (However this also means anybody who wants to attend the both weeks of the event can do so.)

Leoben will be more difficult to get to than Mechelen for some of the players and easier for others, although this can be mitigated with correct guidance and transfer services substantially, it will still be an issue.