Blizzard Entertainment has signed a deal with KeSPA (Korean e-Sports Association), Ongamenet, and GomTV to facilitate and expand Starcraft II in professional e-sports play in Korea. This is being seen as a triumph for the e-sports community, both in Korea and worldwide, following over two years of debate and misgivings following Blizzard’s announcements regarding Starcraft II‘s lack of LAN capability and their assertion of control over professional competitions for the game.
What does the agreement mean? Specifically, KeSPA now has a license to host and organize StarCraft II Pro League events, while Ongameget can now host, organize, and broadcast StarCraft II Star League events. KeSPA has also added StarCraft II to its lineup of officially sanctioned games! GomTV will continue to broadcast its Global StarCraft League and Global StarCraft Team League as before.
KeSPA has been staging professional Brood War tournaments for nearly a decade, and Blizzard said that they hope that bringing that group of players into Starcraft II competition will “produce a vast array of new e-sports content for viewers and more opportunities for pro players to compete.”
Further, Ongamenet is planning on broadcasting their tournament content internationally, including a new individual Starcraft II league planned to begin in July.