StarCraft IIin esports
| Highestgoverning body | Blizzard Entertainment |
|---|---|
| First played | 2010 |
| Characteristics | |
| Type | Video game,eSports |
| Equipment | Computer,mouse,keyboard,headphones |
ProfessionalStarCraft IIcompetitionfeatures professional gamers competing inBlizzard Entertainment'sreal-time strategygameStarCraft II.Professional play began following the game's initial release in 2010, as the game was the sequel toStarCraft,considered one of the firstesportsand the foundation of South Korea's interest and success in competitive gaming.[1]Between 2016 and 2019, competition was centered around theGlobal StarCraft II Leaguein Korea and the World Championship Series Circuit everywhere else, with all Blizzard-sanctioned events being under theStarCraft II World Championship Series(WCS) banner. Since 2020, Blizzard changed the format of WCS by entering into a three-year partnership with esports organizersESLandDreamHack.[2]
History
[edit]Pre-release expectations
[edit]Prior toStarCraft II's release,StarCraft: Brood Warhad been called the most successfulesport,featuring its own ranking system, and it had been referred to as the national pastime in South Korea, where there were two television channels dedicated to broadcasting professionalStarCraftmatches.[3]The series' history with professional competition had brought about the creation of theKorean e-Sports Association(KeSPA) and the professional team league it administered,StarCraft Proleague.As such, the original was considered the founding esport of the country's successful infrastructure and scene.[4]This led to high expectations for the sequel's success as an esport, but also a conflict between KeSPA andBlizzard Entertainment,sparking a three-year long legal battle between them.[5]This meant KeSPA would not be transitioning toStarCraft IIupon its release.
The first largeStarCraft IItournaments occurred during the beta testing phase in the months prior to release, the most notable being the HDH Invitational[6][7]and esports playerSean "Day[9]" Plott's King of the Beta.[8]The success of both viewership and sponsorship of these early events cemented high expectations for professional play of the title going into its July 2010 release.
Early success
[edit]Following its launch,StarCraft IIquickly turned into a successfulesport,becoming the main feature of many leagues and circuits of ongoing tournaments with some of the largest prize pools in professional gaming.[9]Among these, the first large professional events for the game were organized byMajor League GamingandIntel Extreme Mastersin the months following the game's release, withIEM Season V - Global Challenge Cologneand 2010 MLG Pro Circuit Raleigh.[10][11]Soon after, the game's first professional league was formed in Korea, theGlobal StarCraft II League(GSL) organized byGOMTV.The game also became a primary fixture ofDreamhackstarting with a November showing in 2010 andAssemblythat same year.[12][13]The title's early popularity led to the creation of multipleStarCraft II-only competitions outside of Korea as well, with the return ofStarCraftmainstayTeamLiquid's own event, the Team Liquid StarCraft League (TSL),[14]and the creation of the North American Star League (NASL).[15]
Blizzard andGOMTVsigned an agreement on 26 May 2010, allowing the latter to create and broadcast theGSLstarting with a series of three open tournaments, each with a US$170,000 prize pool, in South Korea.[16]This agreement followed the decision from Blizzard to cease negotiations with KeSPA, and it confirmed that Blizzard had decided to work with a different partner to promoteStarCraft IIas an esport in South Korea.[5]The non-profit public interest groupPublic Knowledgemade the following statement regarding the issue: "The Battle.net Terms of Use state that it is a violation of the agreement—and an infringement of Blizzard's copyright in the underlying game—to" use the Service for any 'e-sports' or group competition sponsored, promoted or facilitated by any commercial or non-profit entity without Blizzard's prior written consent. "[5]Following the GSL's transition into a regular league format in 2011 with two tiers of play, Code S and Code A, the first professional Korean team league forStarCraft IIwas started by GOMTV, theGlobal StarCraft II Team League(GSTL). Alongside it, the e-Sports Federation (eSF) was founded to represent the teams participating in the team league.
KeSPA transition and peak
[edit]Late 2011 and 2012 constituted the peak ofStarCraft IIas the largest esport in the world, with the transition of KeSPA and associated tournamentsStarCraft Proleague(SPL) andOngamenet Starleague(OSL) toStarCraft II.[4]2012 saw the founding of the Blizzard-sanctioned and organizedWorld Championship Series(WCS).StarCraft IIremained the most viewed, sponsored, and active esport in the world and, for the first time since its release, clearly took overStarCraft's position in South Korea as all professional teams and both leagues transitioned to it.
Years after negotiations had ended, Blizzard andKeSPAonce again renewed conversation which resulted in KeSPA receiving a license from Blizzard in 2012 andOngamenetannouncingStarCraft IIcompetitions starting in the summer of 2012.[17]This brought them into direct competition with the GSL and GSTL and led to a team league split which had eSF teams playing in GSTL and KeSPA teams playing in SPL. The WCS featured over 30 LAN events and culminated in the largestStarCraft IIevent until then in China as part of the Battle.net World Championship Series Global Finals.[18]
Decline and end of Proleague
[edit]Starting with the release ofHeart of the Swarmin early 2013, the WCS transitioned into a league format as Blizzard strengthened its hold on professionalStarCraft IIcompetition with the introduction of WCS points that decided who would qualify for the year's biggest tournament, the WCS Global Finals. This led to fewer non-WCS events yearly as 2014 markedMajor League Gaming's lastStarCraft IIevent, the second large blow to the North American scene following the last NASL event in late 2012. Non-Korean competition quickly became focused almost exclusively on WCS events, unlike the largely decentralized competitive circuits of the years prior.[4]
In Korea with the peak of the eSF and KeSPA rivalry, KeSPA came out on top for team competition as theGSTLended its second season of 2013 and its last. Teams that remained from the eSF after the end of GSTL transitioned toProleaguethrough the 2014 and 2015 seasons. However, the KeSPA-backed individual leagueOSLfolded in 2013 following its second overallStarCraft IIseason and its only one that year.[4]The only individual league that remained for 2014 was theGSL.Throughout the following years the GSL was joined by theStarCraft II StarLeague(SSL), while Proleague folded following its first and onlyLegacy of the Voidseason in 2016 following a matchfi xing scandal that saw one of the game's most successful players,Lee "Life" Seung-Hyun,permanently banned from competing. The end of team competition in Korea marked the low point of the game's scene in the country and was accompanied by a resurgence in interest inStarCraft: Brood Warprofessional competition.[1]
Resurgence
[edit]In late 2017 theStarCraft IIWarchest was introduced, featuring cosmetic rewards and an unlocking system to accompany them.[19]For each purchase 25% of sales went to fundingStarCraft IIesports, and the funding target forBlizzCon 2017,a crowdfunding of $200,000, was reached within the first of three stages of the crowdfunding. The rest of the funds gained went into funding other events throughout the following months and year.[1]New War Chests were released for both theIEM World Championship 2018,raising the prize pool by the targeted $150,000 within the first stage again, andBlizzCon 2018,raising the prize pool by the targeted $200,000 within the first stage once more.[20]
DuringBlizzCon 2017,Blizzard Entertainmentannounced thatStarCraft IIwould become free-to-play starting 14 November 2017. This included theWings of Libertycampaign, fullLegacy of the Voidmultiplayer and co-op access, and the custom games section called the Arcade, for everyone.[21]This led to a resurgence in interest and player base asStarCraft IIviewership surged in 2018, with many events showing great improvements, some over double their 2017 viewership.[1]This included theGSL vs. the World 2018tournament, the first GSL event to be won by a non-Korean, Finnish playerJoona "Serral" Sotala.It became the highest-viewed Korean tournament outside of Korea forStarCraft II.[22]Television network viewership has not been available for domestic comparison.
StarCraft IIalso saw growth and recognition as an international competitive sport, as it was featured at an exhibition tournament prior to the2018 Winter Olympicsat theIntel-sponsoredIEM PyeongChang,which was won by Canada'sSasha "Scarlett" Hostyn,and the game was also featured as part of the2018 Asian Gamesesports exhibition, an event won by South Korea's Cho "Maru" Seong-ju.[23]
Change to ESL/DreamHack
[edit]Since 2020, Blizzard partnered with esports organizersESLandDreamHackfor a period of three years, where tournament qualification format would change to weekly cups, and the global finals would no longer be held atBlizzCon,rather theIntel Extreme Mastersevent would serve that purpose.[2]This new system is denominatedESL Pro Tour.[24]
List of StarCraft II World Champions
[edit]
International competition
[edit]Asian Games
[edit]Starcraft IIwas part of an electronic sports demonstration event during theAsian Games 2018held in Indonesia. Eight countries participated after qualifying from their respective regions with Indonesia automatically qualifying as host.[25]
| Year | Gold | Silver | Bronze |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 Jakarta-Palembang | Cho "Maru" Seong-ju South Korea
|
Huang "Nice" Yu-hsiang Chinese Taipei
|
Trần "MeomaikA" Hồng Phúc Vietnam
|
Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games
[edit]Starcraft IIhas been part of the electronic sports event at theAsian Indoor and Martial Arts Gamessince 2013. The 2017 event in Turkmenistan was boycotted by some countries including the previous winner South Korea. Electronic sports in the 2017 event were also no longer recognized as an official sport and became a demonstration sport instead, to accompany electronic sports' status at theAsian Games.[26][27]
| Year (Version) | Gold | Silver | Bronze |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2013(Heart of the Swarm) | Kim Yoo-jinSouth Korea
|
Lee Young-hoSouth Korea
|
Li Junfeng China
|
| 2017(Legacy of the Void) | Zhou HangChina
|
Wang LeiChina
|
Bataagiin Ononbat Mongolia
|
Notes
[edit]- ^Life's 2014 WCS championship was later revoked due to 2016 match fi xing scandal.
References
[edit]- ^abcdPartin, Will (13 July 2018)."'StarCraft II': How Blizzard Brought the King of Esports Back From the Dead ".
- ^ab"Blizzard cuts esports deal with ESL, DreamHack around StarCraft II, Warcraft III: Reforged".Washington Post.7 January 2020.Retrieved15 June2020.
- ^Bellos, Alex (29 June 2007)."Rise of the e-sports superstars".BBC.Retrieved7 August2010.
- ^abcd"A Brief History of Starcraft, Part 1".teamliquid.net.
- ^abc"Blizzard: StarCraft II tournaments are copyright infringement".Public Knowledge.Retrieved29 January2011.
- ^Pennycook, Jeremy (29 July 2010)."Video Games And Their Evolution Into A New Breed Of Spectator Sport".NPR.Retrieved7 August2010.
- ^Droniac (29 May 2010)."HDH Invitational Concludes With a Shocker Finale".Retrieved7 August2010.
- ^JDMojo (16 July 2010)."Who Will Be Crowned King?".StarCraft II Tournaments. Archived fromthe originalon 27 August 2011.Retrieved7 August2010.
- ^supernovamaniac."GOM TV/Blizzard Sign Exclusive Broadcast Agreement".Team Liquid.Retrieved13 October2011.
- ^"StarCraft 2 Added to 2010 MLG Pro Circuit".
- ^ESL."Intel Extreme Masters".en.intelextrememasters.
- ^"StarCraft II".Dreamhack.Retrieved13 October2011.
- ^"ASSEMBLY Winter: SteelSeries Challenge".Assembly. Archived fromthe originalon 23 August 2011.Retrieved13 October2011.
- ^"TeamLiquid StarCraft League".Retrieved13 October2011.
- ^"North American Star League".North American Star League.Retrieved13 October2011.
- ^"GOM TV/Blizzard Sign Exclusive Broadcast Agreement".Team Liquid. 26 May 2010.Retrieved29 January2011.
- ^"StarCraft II eSports Transition Conference".Teamliquid.net. 2 May 2012.Retrieved6 February2014.
- ^Gaudiosi, John (21 June 2012)."Blizzard Entertainment Expands StarCraft II World Championship Series With Electronic Sports League".Forbes.Retrieved26 December2012.
- ^"Blizzard's War Chest to crowdfund 'StarCraft II' world championship prize pool".18 July 2017.
- ^"Blizzard is celebrating StarCraft II's eighth birthday with cake and double XP".
- ^Haywald, Justin (4 November 2017)."Starcraft 2 Dev On The Effects Of Going Free-To-Play".Gamespot.Retrieved4 November2017.
- ^Partin, Will (3 August 2018)."Inside the Battle to Take" StarCraft II "Back From Its Korean Overlords".
- ^Allen, Eric Van."Scarlett Is Currently Dominating StarCraft, One Match At A Time".
- ^"ESL Pro Tour StarCraft II".eslgaming.Retrieved18 September2020.
- ^"AESF Game Result"(PDF).Asian Electronic Sports Federation. 11 July 2018.Retrieved11 July2018.
- ^Ashton, Graham (14 June 2017)."Australia Is the Latest Country to Back Out of the 2017 AIMAG Esports Event".The eSport Observer.Retrieved7 September2017.
- ^"The second day of the AIMAG 2017 eSports event review".The 5th Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games.26 September 2017.Retrieved28 September2017.
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| StarCraft IIvideo games | |
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