StarCraft II in esports
Highest eSports | |
---|---|
Equipment | Computer, mouse, keyboard, headphones |
Professional StarCraft II competition features professional gamers competing in Blizzard Entertainment's real-time strategy game StarCraft II. Professional play began following the game's initial release in 2010, as the game was the sequel to StarCraft, considered one of the first esports and the foundation of South Korea's interest and success in competitive gaming.[1] Between 2016 and 2019, competition was centered around the Global StarCraft II League in Korea and the World Championship Series Circuit everywhere else, with all Blizzard-sanctioned events being under the StarCraft II World Championship Series (WCS) banner. Since 2020, Blizzard changed the format of WCS by entering into a three-year partnership with esports organizers ESL and DreamHack.[2]
History
Pre-release expectations
Prior to
The first large StarCraft II tournaments occurred during the beta testing phase in the months prior to release, the most notable being the HDH Invitational[6][7] and esports player Sean "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
Following its launch, StarCraft II quickly turned into a successful
Blizzard and
KeSPA transition and peak
Late 2011 and 2012 constituted the peak of StarCraft II as the largest esport in the world, with the transition of KeSPA and associated tournaments
Years after negotiations had ended, Blizzard and
Decline and end of Proleague
Starting with the release of
In Korea with the peak of the eSF and KeSPA rivalry, KeSPA came out on top for team competition as the
Resurgence
In late 2017 the StarCraft II Warchest was introduced, featuring cosmetic rewards and an unlocking system to accompany them.
During
StarCraft II also saw growth and recognition as an international competitive sport, as it was featured at an exhibition tournament prior to the
Change to ESL/DreamHack
Since 2020, Blizzard partnered with esports organizers
List of StarCraft II World Champions
Year | Host | Winner | Score | Runner-up |
---|---|---|---|---|
World Championship Series Era | ||||
2012 Details |
Shanghai | (P) South Korea
|
4–2 | Jang "Creator" Hyun-woo (P) South Korea
|
2013 Details |
Anaheim
|
(P) South Korea
|
4–1 | (Z) South Korea
|
2014 Details |
(Z) South Korea
|
4–1 | Mun "MMA" Seong-won (T) South Korea
| |
2015 Details |
(P) South Korea
|
4–3 | (Z) South Korea
| |
2016 Details |
Byun "ByuN" Hyun-woo (T) South Korea
|
4–2 | Park "Dark" Ryung-woo (Z) South Korea
| |
2017 Details |
Lee "Rogue" Byung-ryul (Z) South Korea
|
4–2 | Eo "soO" Yoon-su (Z) South Korea
| |
2018 Details |
(Z) Finland
|
4–2 | Kim "Stats" Dae-yeob (P) South Korea
| |
2019 Details |
Park "Dark" Ryung-woo (Z) South Korea
|
4-1 | Riccardo "Reynor" Romiti (Z) Italy
| |
ESL Pro Tour Era | ||||
2021 Details |
Katowice | Riccardo "Reynor" Romiti (Z) Italy
|
4-2 | Joo "Zest" Sung-wook (P) South Korea
|
2022 Details |
(Z) Finland
|
4-3 | Riccardo "Reynor" Romiti (Z) Italy
| |
2023 Details |
Li "Oliveira" Peinan (T) China
|
4-1 | Cho "Maru" Seong-ju (T) South Korea
| |
2024 Details
|
Riyadh |
International competition
Asian Games
Starcraft II was part of an electronic sports demonstration event during the
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
Starcraft II has been part of the electronic sports event at the Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games since 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 the Asian Games.[26][27]
Year (Version) | Gold | Silver | Bronze |
---|---|---|---|
2013 (Heart of the Swarm) | Li Junfeng China | ||
2017 (Legacy of the Void) | Zhou Hang China |
Wang Lei China |
Bataagiin Ononbat Mongolia |
Notes
- ^ Life's 2014 WCS championship was later revoked due to 2016 match fixing scandal.
References
- ^ a b c d Partin, Will (13 July 2018). "'StarCraft II': How Blizzard Brought the King of Esports Back From the Dead".
- ^ Washington Post. 7 January 2020. Retrieved 15 June 2020.
- ^ Bellos, Alex (29 June 2007). "Rise of the e-sports superstars". BBC. Retrieved 7 August 2010.
- ^ a b c d "A Brief History of Starcraft, Part 1". www.teamliquid.net.
- ^ a b c "Blizzard: StarCraft II tournaments are copyright infringement". Public Knowledge. Retrieved 29 January 2011.
- ^ Pennycook, Jeremy (29 July 2010). "Video Games And Their Evolution Into A New Breed Of Spectator Sport". NPR. Retrieved 7 August 2010.
- ^ Droniac (29 May 2010). "HDH Invitational Concludes With a Shocker Finale". Retrieved 7 August 2010.
- ^ JDMojo (16 July 2010). "Who Will Be Crowned King?". StarCraft II Tournaments. Archived from the original on 27 August 2011. Retrieved 7 August 2010.
- ^ supernovamaniac. "GOM TV/Blizzard Sign Exclusive Broadcast Agreement". Team Liquid. Retrieved 13 October 2011.
- ^ "StarCraft 2 Added to 2010 MLG Pro Circuit".
- ^ ESL. "Intel Extreme Masters". en.intelextrememasters.com.
- ^ "StarCraft II". Dreamhack. Retrieved 13 October 2011.
- ^ "ASSEMBLY Winter: SteelSeries Challenge". Assembly. Archived from the original on 23 August 2011. Retrieved 13 October 2011.
- ^ "TeamLiquid StarCraft League". Retrieved 13 October 2011.
- ^ "North American Star League". North American Star League. Retrieved 13 October 2011.
- ^ "GOM TV/Blizzard Sign Exclusive Broadcast Agreement". Team Liquid. 26 May 2010. Retrieved 29 January 2011.
- ^ "StarCraft II eSports Transition Conference". Teamliquid.net. 2 May 2012. Retrieved 6 February 2014.
- ^ Gaudiosi, John (21 June 2012). "Blizzard Entertainment Expands StarCraft II World Championship Series With Electronic Sports League". Forbes. Retrieved 26 December 2012.
- ^ "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. Retrieved 4 November 2017.
- ^ 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". www.eslgaming.com. Retrieved 18 September 2020.
- ^ "AESF Game Result" (PDF). Asian Electronic Sports Federation. 11 July 2018. Retrieved 11 July 2018.
- ^ Ashton, Graham (14 June 2017). "Australia Is the Latest Country to Back Out of the 2017 AIMAG Esports Event". The eSport Observer. Retrieved 7 September 2017.
- ^ "The second day of the AIMAG 2017 eSports event review". The 5th Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games. 26 September 2017. Retrieved 28 September 2017.