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COVER STORY
The Future of e-Sports
Headline News
The rosy future of e-Sports in 2013
- e-Sports starts to regain its vogue
- “That people love competition, and the ability to compete in games, whether casual or hardcore, makes gaming
a whole lot more interesting.”-from Activision
A
s spring comes in Korea, it’s getting warmer and
the flower starts to bloom. So the future of our e-sport
industry is looking very rosy.
According to officials, as the e-sports association
announced the 5th launch, a few big conglomerates are
checking supports to acquire pro-gamer teams. It
seems that e-sports starts to regain its vogue: there are
lots of positive expectation from fans&officials and
from new inauguration of the president who used to be
a congressman. He said “ I consider e-sports as
essential cultural contents for healthy leisure to the
public and shows much interest in the e-sports field,
proposing to increase budgets.”
He added that he tries to his best to start a new proteam. It suggests that regular pro-leagues can be held
as it used to be and more pro-teams can be founded
with other titles. Issues like diversifying titles has been
raised up and new teams like Najin Sword and Azubu
show remarkable activities.
The number of companies outside of Korea who
understand this business model is still very low. Telia
Sweden took their Korean counterpart SK Telecom as
a role model by supporting e-sports in Sweden at the
largest e-sports Festival, Dreamback. With a message
that fits to the target group, the Swedish
Telecommunications operator, wants to follow the
steps of SK Telekom. Telia wants to “Speak the
language of their end customers” (6).
That people love competition, and the ability to compete in
games, whether casual or hardcore, makes gaming a whole
lot more interesting. - the CEO of Activision Eric
Hershberg
Many refer to the bright future of e-sports both at
home and also abroad, including Forbes, Activision ,
Gosugames, Telia Sweden and so on.
Forbes Magazine looks for answers to the question
why competitive gaming should be a part of the 2020
Olympic Summer Games. In an interview Forbes
quotes Daniel Grzelak, CERO of Gamers Institue:
"Given the international popularity of eSports and
the young generation of gamers that embrace huge
events with large cash prizes, the leap to playing
video games for gold medals isn’t as far-fetched as it
may sound."(4). In the mean time, the world of
electronic sports is still on the lookout to create
valuable business models.
The Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) is a governing body of
sports in Asia
IeSF is doing its part: With effort of IeSF, e-sport is
being recognized as one of official sport disciplines by
OCA(Olympic Council of Asia) as an official sports
and it seems to be a stepping stone to enroll Sports
Accord as an official sports organization.
It remains to be seen how well they make some results.
Besides, we can hear interesting news from USA. A
young researcher gets to start to study Korean e-sports.
Stephen Campbell Rea majored in anthropology who
prepares his PHD dissertation of California University
came Korea to study Korean e-sports culture.
“My main interest of my research is about Korean IT
culture, game culture. Korea is well-known around the
world as the center of e-sports, e-sports is both popular
cultural activity and very important part of IT
development and computer history in Korea. And
many fans from overseas want to visit Korea and see
games in Korea.” He said.
News | 2013. 3. 19
by KHgames Sophie
Large Korean enterprises like SK Telecom and
Samsung have been among the first companies
worldwide to understand that sponsoring e-sports can
pay off. Already in 2005 "Samsung Economic
Research" came out with the conclusion that
"Running a e-sports team of professional players is
five times more efficient than a traditional sport team
of professional players." (1). Gosugames states in
their article that this is not just due to the lower salaries
of e-sport games, but mainly due to the fact “We (the
e-sport gamers) happen to be the specific target
market.” (1).
Assuming that e-sports in the United States and
Europe now reaches a comparable level, this outcome
of the Samsung research seems to be applicable in
2013. In the same year SK Telecom claimed that “for
every dollar they spend promoting their "pro-gamer"
team, they obtained back 10 back in revenues,
directly and indirectly from increase sales of their
products. "(2)
The main support in the US and Europe comes from
game publishers who see the value of electronic sports.
In an interview with Forbes, the CEO of Activision
Eric Hershberg, stated “eSports is becoming
increasingly important to the gaming industry. It
helps developing gaming franchises gain traction in
the industry, and it opens new doors and possibilities
for gaming in general” (3)
This statement of Acitivision’s CEO comes from a
strong believe “That people love competition, and the
ability to compete in games, whether casual or
hardcore, makes gaming a whole lot more
interesting." (3)
One reason western based companies struggled to
follow the steps of their Korean counterparts can be a
lack of stability in the e-sports industry. In an article
about the future of e-sports on fanatic.com the wish for
stability has been explained well: “First of all, in
order to create a solid basis, on which the entire
scene can make steps towards the outside, every
instance in the gaming community has to show and
act professional.”(5). The need of an organization,
"which keeps track players, tournaments and the
rules" (5) brings up the comparison to traditional
sports, where organizations like FIFA support stability
and continuity of their sport. With the Player and
Regulations committees this is exactly where the
International eSports Federation (IeSF) started to be
active and provide this stability for e-sports to be more
attractive for larger corporations to invest in the world
of competitive gaming.
Quotes:
(1) & (2) http://www.gosugamers.net/starcraft2/
news/2843-the-future-of-e-sports
(3) http://www.slashgear.com/activision-ceo-erichirshberg-reveals-his-thoughts-on-esports-17269625/
(4) http://www.forbes.com/sites/
johngaudiosi/2012/08/15/league-of-legends-andstarcraft-ii-could-become-olympic-sports-as-earlyas-2020-summer-games/
(5) http://www.fnatic.com/content/95350
(6) http://www.moremobilerelations.com/#/work/show/
telia-at-dreamhack
2
NEWS BOARD
Game & e-Sports News
IGN Cancels IPL6 eSports Tournament
Pro-gamer from the eyes of photographer
By Teemu Hiilinen
By Alex Lim / Editor at IeSF
W
“
e regret to inform you that we
have decided to cancel our next public
competition event, IPL 6.”
After all of the buzz, the cancellation
of the IGN Pro League 6 (IPL6),
scheduled for March 28 through 31 at
the Cosmopolitan in Las Vegas, has
finally been announced.
The event was to feature headlining competitions in Blizzard's Starcraft II:
Wings of Liberty and upcoming expansion Heart of the Swarm, Riot Games's
League of Legends, and Ubisoft's ShootMania Storm.
Cancellation of the event was rumoured for days. According to IPL’s sponsors,
the products they sent over for sponsorship are being returned to them. Korean
eSports-focused network OnGameNet said that the IPL6 League of Legends
Korean qualifiers have been canceled as well due to change in management
policies and financial difficulties. The IPL website has also removed links on
the front page to reserve hotel rooms for the weekend.
Major League Gaming (MLG) CEO Sundance DiGiovanni has already offered
discounted tickets to the MLG Dallas event to those who purchased spectator
passes for IPL6.
P
atrick Wagner and Valeria Schmidt are behind the
professional gamer photograph exhibition. Both Wagner
and Schmidt have been studying in Helsinki at the Finnish
Academy of Fine Arts and the exhibition is graduation
work for Wagner.
The interest for eSports started years back, when Wagner
was reading an article about game research. He was
fascinated about the tactics and mental play of justreleased StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty. After watching the
game, he became more interested about the gamers.
“Gamers are the ones who are behind this phenomenon. They are really interesting
personalities. At start it was really hard to get into eSports, but now when you
know the players, you know the people behind the events, the world has opened for
us,” says Wagner.
Schmidt didn’t know anything about eSports before she was first brought to
ASSEMBLY Winter at 2012. She decided to use old 19th Century technique for
photographs.
“By going old school, players were forced to sit very still up to five minutes. We
took the players straight off the stage and in front of the camera. There is some
special magic in the pictures because of this. You could never get this kind of
pictures, which has so much soul in them, in the studio settings. These images are
really special because of this,” Schmidt explains.
According to IGN’s official announcement, the reason for the cancellation
appears to be that IGN was not ready to adapt and host an independent event in
the current clilmate where game publishers are holding their own competing
events. IGN announced that they are working on finding a new home for the IPL
team and will continue to broadcast partner tournaments in the future.
Wagner and Schmidt will continue working with this project in future and they are
now expanding from StarCraft to other games as well: “The world of eSports has
really opened for us. Now we see what happens backstage as well, and it really is
addicting.”
Potential buyers for the IPL brand are said to have reached a wide range of
options, from other leagues to game publishers and developers.
You can see some of the photographs from the homepages of these two artists:
http://www.valerieschmidt.de/index.php?/projects/starcraft2-soldiers/
http://nymphomation.de/
Fnatic Welcomes SaSe
By Alex Lim / Editor at IeSF
T
eam Fnatic promised a while back that they would be adding more players to
their StarCraft II division. As of March 3, Fnatic is adding Kim "SaSe" Hammar to
their Professional StarCraft II squad.
SaSe was a member of Fnatic during his time playing WarCraft 3, and now he is
back for StarCraft II. SaSe has been at the forefront of Protoss innovation in the
first expansion of StarCraft II and has been working hard to improve himself for
the upcoming release of the Heart of the Swarm expansion.
Patrik 'cArn' Sättermon, Fnatic Chief Gaming Officer stated, “We have had our
eyes on Kim for quite some time now, and with the recent reconstruction of our
Starcraft 2 division we feel that the Swedish Protoss star is a perfect match for our
ambitions and goals in 2013.” Fans will not need to wait long to see SaSe's first
official match representing Fnatic since SaSe will be one of the foreign players to
participate in the Taiwan e-Sports League.
Hammar expressed his feeling for joining the squad, saying “I am really happy to
have found such a stable team in Fnatic. Now I feel like I don't have to worry
anymore and can focus one hundred percent on improving my play. I hope as the
year goes by I can show a lot of great games and performances. Heart of the
Swarm is being released soon and it is time to release the new SaSe as well.”
Sase’s addition is expected to boost Fnatics division’s strength in team leagues and
it is also rising people’s expectation for his performance in upcoming events, such
as MLG Dallas in mid-March.
News | 2013. 3. 19
World of Tanks Starts Professional
eSports League
By Alex Lim / Editor at IeSF
Wargaming has jumped into the popular competitive gaming sector by
establishing a professional World of Tanks eSports league, the “WARGAMING.
NET League”. The Wargaming.net league is scheduled to launch in the 1st quarter
of 2013 and will feature regular regional tournaments and playoffs leading up to a
grand finals event. Wargaming announced that this competitive league will offer a
prize pool of $2.5 million during 2013.
Mr. Jonghyuk Baak, global eSports director at Wargaming says, "The scale and
popularity of competitive gaming has been skyrocketing over the last couple of
years, and we have now reached the point where we can focus significant effort on
advancing World of Tanks on to the global eSports scene. Wargaming.net League
is a groundbreaking step in our quest to bring the game's eSports potential into the
international spotlight."
Running Wargaming.net league is expected to focus on making World of Tanks
not only a compelling and challenging eSports discipline, but also one that's
incredibly entertaining for spectators.
Wargaming also announced, "Now we have a sustainable tool to broaden our
global eSports involvement in an unprecedented way: stimulate the growth of the
competitive community, organise bigger and better tournaments with larger prize
pools than ever, and provide our best pro gamers with completely viable career
opportunities."
World of Tanks debuted at the World Cyber Games Grand Finals last year.
3
NEWS BOARD
Game & e-Sports News
World’s Best Video Gamers Take Home $170,000 at
Major League Gaming Winter Championship in Dallas
Champions include:
Call of Duty®: Black Ops II on Xbox 360® - Fariko Impact– Top Eight Also Earn Trips to Compete for Their Share of $1
million at Call of Duty Championship
League of Legends – North American - Cloud 9; International Exhibition - KT Rolster B
StarCraft® II: Heart of the Swarm™ - Life – back to back MLG Champion
V
ideo game fans around the globe tuned in this weekend to watch the Major League
Gaming (MLG) Winter Championship in Dallas, Texas from March 15-17. Nearly
1,000 of the world’s best players competed for $170,000 in prizes and at the end of the
intense, three-day competition, the following players and teams proved victorious:
Call of Duty®: Black Ops II on Xbox 360®: $50,000 in prizes; First place - $20,000
In addition to cash prizes, the top eight Call of Duty: Black Ops II teams earned trips to
Hollywood, CA to compete for their share of a $1 million total tournament purse in the
Call of Duty® Championship April 5-7.
• 1st = $20,000 - Fariko Impact
• 2nd = $12,000 - Unite
• 3rd = $7,000 - vVv Gaming
• 4th = $4,000 - CompLexity
• 5th and 6th = $2,300 - EnVyUs and OpTic Gaming
• 7th and 8th = $1,200 - Elgato SoaR and Quantic Gaming
League of Legends: $45,000 in Prizes
• North American Summer Promotion Qualifier
• 1st = $20,000 and a spot in the May Promotion Tournament into Riot’s LCS - Cloud 9
• 2nd = $5,000 - Velocity eSports
• 3rd and 4th = $2,500 - Curse, Dignitas
• International Exhibition Tournament
• 1st = $10,000 - KT Rolster B
• 2nd = $5,000 - Gambit Gaming
StarCraft® II: Heart of the Swarm™: $75,000 in prizes; First place - $25,000
• 1st = $25,000 –Life – back to back MLG StarCraft II Champion
Fall Championship 2012 and Winter Championship 2013
• 2nd = $15,000 -Flash
• 3rd = $9,000 – Innovation
• 4th = $6,000 - MC
• 5th = $3,000 - Last
• 5th = $3,000 – Bomber
• 5th = $3,000 - Parting
• 5th = $3,000 – Rain
Photos are available at www.dropbox.com. Login – [email protected]; Password –
mlgprocircuit – MLG Winter Championship folder. VOD of the tournament is available
at www.majorleaguegaming.com.
The Pro Circuit will continue with the MLG Spring Championship in Anaheim, CA,
from June 28-30.
News | 2013. 3. 19
4
GAME LIFE
Jay’s Game Analysis
Jay’s Game Analysis in March
Jay’s Game in March : FIFA Online Series
My game selection for March is the FIFA Online series, which is especially popular in
Korea and other Asian countries. Although FIFA Online is not well known globally, it has
driven a high level of interest more than the FIFA package series in Korea. The newest
version, FIFA Online 3, was launched in Korea last December. FIFA Online 3 was
developed by EA Seoul Studio, the Korean branch of EA, and published by NEXON, one
of the massive game publishers in Korea. Some readers might be curious why Jay deals
with the FIFA Online series instead of FIFA 13, which is known more globally. Here is my
answer:
By Jay Shin / Editor at IeSF
F
eatures of the FIFA Online :Possibility of being an eSports title
Let’s have a look at the difference between the FIFA Online series and FIFA
package series. One of the biggest differences is related to the eSports factor.
Electronic Arts, who has all kinds of licenses on the FIFA series, focuses only
on a few eSports events that they hosts such as the FIFA Interactive World
Cup and has little interest in other eSports events. In fact, FIFA Interactive
World Cup is very large in scale, which other events cannot compete with (it
is famous for being recognized in the Guinness Book of World Records).
However, in Korea, where eSports has been well invigorated based on a high
quality of eSports infrastructure, FIFA Online tournaments have been held
more than the FIFA Package series. Indeed, FIFA Online 2 excited many
eSports and soccer fans by being featuring in various eSports competitions
such as the IeSF World Championship and Hyundai FIFA Online 2 Global
Championship league.
In other words, FIFA package is well known as a game, but the FIFA Online
series shows overwhelming power as an eSports title. Actually, FIFA Online
has a weakness in its base that covers only Korea and Asia. As the publisher
of FIFA Online 3, however, NEXON pursues a goal of global expansion. I
am sure that FIFA Online 3 will be positioned as one of the representative
titles in the eSports genre.
Licensing of soccer player data. FIFA Online 3 has information of about 15,000 players
in 40 countries who belong to 30 leagues.
In addition, FIFA package, which is based on a console platform, cannot
avoid lag issues, even though it supports network competition. On the other
hands, FIFA Online is operated on PCs, which allows users to play in an
optimized eSports environment.
Licensing of soccer player data
FIFA Online has never missed the 1st rank among online soccer games in
Korea, not only because of the factors explained above, but because FIFA
Online has much more soccer player licensing than the FIFA package series.
FIFA Online 3 has information of about 15,000 players in 40 countries who
belong to 30 leagues. It means that FIFA Online 3 has a possibility to attract
gamers as well as normal sports fans.
Games | 2013. 3. 19
5
GAME LIFE
Jay’s Game Analysis
FIFA Online 3 Game Types
1) League Match
Single player mode. Players can be compensated after finishing one season in
the game and start a new season. There are five levels of difficulty: Amateur,
Semi-pro, Professional, World Class and Legend. Players have to clear the
amateur level first to move on to the next class.
Until the professional level, players can clear modes with two or three skills.
But starting from world class, the AI seems harder than ordinary players so that
players will find themselves challenged.
2) Friendly Match
Multiplayer mode. In Friendly matches, player can enjoy two types of games.
Player vs. Random mode has players meet opponents who are nearly equal in
their skill according to players’ records. In Player vs. Friend mode, users can
compete with people they know. FIFA Online 3 supports not only one-on-one
matches but up to five-on-five team matches in Friendly Matches.
3) Ranking Match
Ranking Matches were added in January 2013. Users start the game with 1500
points. Ranking matches also support max up to five-on-five team matches like
Friendly Matches.
Users are sorted to five classes: Amateur, Semi-pro, Professional, World Class
and Legend, like league matches according to their record, and they can
compete only with opponents in the same class as them. In ranking matches,
there is no draw and players must fight to the finish with injury time and penalty
shoot-out, unlike other modes. Also, conditions of players such as injuries,
records of yellow or red cards in the game have influence in successive matches.
Expectation for FIFA Online 3
Not long after FIFA Online 3 was launched, it was necessary to establish an
exclusive client for eSports. Normal mode cannot guarantee a fair match
because of the gap of ability between players according to nurturing players in
the game, so it is currently difficult for FIFA Online 3 to be selected as an
eSports title yet. NEXON recognizes this issue and is in progress of setting up
the client.
I hope that the development of an eSports client keeps pace with its global
adoption. Unlike the package series, FIFA Online 3 has a lower barrier to entry
for users, not pushing them to purchase the game and support smooth network
service. As FIFA Online 3 has already acquired the ability to attract players, I
believe that FIFA Online 3 will show its worth as a great eSports title to users
all around the world.
Games | 2013. 3. 19
6
GAME LIFE
PC / Online Game Zone
DK Online, Voted in the Top 10 Games of North
America by Gamespot
-Localized and Stable service, Customized contents and Intriguing characters
-Starting Global Service from North America, Entering Europe and Thailand in the first half of 2013
D
K Online(Dragon Knights), developed by PRG
Factory, Operated by SG Internet and published by
Aeria Games in North America, was voted in the Top
10 Games of North America. Aeria Games famous for
a global publisher having 45 million users has started
the game service since January.
There are four races in the game: Humans (Male),
Elves (Female, Lycans (Male) and the Felynx
(Female). These are gender locked and this is the same
with classes as well. Sorceress is locked to Elves,
Shadowmage to Felynx, Warrior to all and Paladin to
Humans and Lycans.
DK Online is the latest offering from free-to-play
publishing giant Aeria Games: Imagine and even
Battlefield Heroes. Billing itself as a heavily PvPoriented world, with large guild battles and castle
sieges.
Jumping straight into the game, combat is traditional,
right click to attack, with skills binded to the number
keys. The action certainly looks good, along with the
colorful skills adding to it. Character progression is
handled through a point-spending talent tree; each
class has two different trees. Additionally a significant
spell is gained every level milestone; these buffs stay
casted until cancelled and significantly improve stats
such as attack speed or spell power.
Gamespot, a professional game webzine having high
webtraffic, ranked DK online as the third in PC games
and the sixth in the latest games of PC online, video,
console and mobile games.
The reason why DK Online gets popular in North
America is due to qualified localization and stable
service, customized quests and contents and intriguing
characters etc…
DK Online is a well-crafted game and the UI is very
easy to navigate and is similar to TERA. It’s full of
color and creativity in its design. When players log
right into the game, met by flashy character creation
and colorful artwork.
Games | 2013. 3. 19
by KHgames Sophie
DK online is aiming at entering Europe and Thailand
in the first half of 2013.
They also conducted a survey through their website
about user preference of game characters: The results
show that users like most of characters evenly with
figures like Warrior(31.9%), Shadowmage(28.3%),
Paladin(22.7%) and Sorceress(17.1%).
SG Internet in charge of game business said that it’s
meaningful for us to enter North American market for
the first time and we try to our best to continue
popularity of our games.
7
GAME LIFE
Mobile Game Zone
Sonic Dash, How far can the world’s
fastest hedgehog run?
by Pocketgamer.co.uk
M
odern Sonic games have never been big on player agency. Sonic Adventure,
often heralded as the last great escapade of the spiky speed freak, was to all intents
and purposes a game about pushing 'up' on a joypad for five hours before helping a
cat catch some fish.
The precision platforming of the classic 16-bit games has long since been
abandoned for the illusion of speed, and Sonic Dash is the ultimate outcome of that
shift. Here's a game where you don't even have to push forwards any more.
The result is an endless-runner with some of the charm of early Sonic titles and a
handful of fondly remembered tunes. It won't change anyone's opinion of Sega's
fading mascot, but will probably keep you entertained anyway.
Ring it through
The rings you collect are no longer for extra lives, although they do still act as a
barrier against death from enemies and spikes. Instead, they're used to purchase
boosts and bonuses from an in-game store.
Bumpers at the end of each section of the game bounce you into the air, letting you
either bank the rings you've already collected or perform a series of quick swipes to
shift to a different part of the world.
Red rings, which are collected for completing challenges or beating friends, can be
spent on revival pills and new characters, but they're given out rarely in the game,
so if you're desperate to play as Tails or Knuckles you'll have to spend some cash.
Green spinning hills
Sonic Dash eschews the tilting formula of Temple Run and opts for a three lane
track which you swipe yourself across. Swiping 'down' puts Sonic in one of his
trademark buzzing spins, and swiping 'up' makes him leap over obstacles.
Advertisement
The monetisation is a little uncomfortable, mainly because this is a game with a
£1.49 price tag already. You can play without spending anything extra, but in a
game that focuses on one-upping friends on the leaderboard the purchases do feel a
bit pay-to-win.
Ever moving forward
You'll pelt along runways made up of familiar Sonic-themed sights. The green
rolling hills, crab-shaped enemies, heavenly blue skies, and massive number of gold
rings are all here. There's no room for innovation in the landscape - you're sprinting
across childhood memories like Sonic 4 never happened.
And as you sprint, spinning into enemies, grabbing handfuls of rings, and leaping
over the various spikes and pits, you're building up your 'Dash Meter'. This sits at
the bottom right of the screen and when it's full you can unleash a burst of speed.
This isn't Sonic at his finest, then, but it's by no means Sonic at his most dismal
either. There's fun to be had creeping up the leaderboard, and the speed the game
plays at means it's a more trying test than a lot of other endless-runners out there.
While Sonic Dash might represent another nail in the coffin of the inspired
platforming of the Mega Drive days, for most that isn't going to matter. Nowadays,
Sonic is all about speeding forwards, even if that means leaving his best years
behind.
Once you do that you don't even have to steer for a bit. Sonic will zoom off in a
blur of podgy spikes, smashing through anything that gets in his way, until the bar
is empty, the screen flashes, and you're back making sure he doesn't run into walls.
Games | 2013. 3. 19
8
WORLD REPORT
South Africa & Turkey
StarCraft II®: Heart of the Swarm
Invitational Tournament Proudly Hosted:
Including an IeSF Accredited Test Match featuring
South Africa vs. Romania
By Colin Webster/ the president of Mind Sports South Africa
J
ohannesburg, South Africa Wednesday, 27 February 2013 - Megarom
Interactive (Pty) Ltd., South Africa's leading importer and distributor of interactive
video games, today announced that together with Internet Solutions will be hosting a
StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm Invitational Tournament on the 16th of March, 2013.
Following the success of Megarom’s previous StarCraft II®: Wings of Liberty event
held at The Sound Room in 2011, Megarom hopes to double its effort for this year’s
StarCraft II®: Heart of the Swarm event. The tournament itself will play host to 12 of
South Africa’s best players to compete for a share in R35,000 in cash prizes. Also
entering the tournament is Silviu “NightEnD” Lazar from Romania who plays for
Fnatic. Lazar has proven his skill at StarCraft II again and again.
All the competitions are accredited by Mind Sports South Africa.
Included in the day's event will be an official test match between South Africa and
Romania. Spectators will get to watch Rob "PandaTank" Botha (South Africa) take
on Silviu "NightEnD" Lazar (Romania) in the first-ever such test match to take place
on South African soil.
The event will be held at The Forum, Bryanston, in Johannesburg courtesy of Internet
Solutions. The Forum features a 500-seat auditorium fitted with 3 HD projectors for
all to see every move the players make. Additionally, Internet Solutions is providing a
solid fibre optic connection to the venue, guaranteeing speeds of 92-95Mbps and
average latency of 2 milliseconds local. “Internet Solutions has a proven track record
as a leading broadband partner and have gone above and beyond expectations at
previous events. “IS is a highly valued partner as its network is respected by the
gaming community. This network quality has allowed us to elevate these events to an
international level, making them attractive to top South African gamers. We’re
privileged to have a broadband partner of Internet Solutions calibre and we’re
extremely excited to be working alongside them in this epic event,” says Jason Borea,
Marketing Director at Megarom Interactive.
Sameer Parker, programme manager at IS Gaming, says Internet Solutions is
committed to making a tangible difference to the South African gaming
community. “Of all the obstacles influencing our gamers, access to reliable, robust,
low-latency bandwidth is the most pressing. Internet Solutions understands that
gamers are the least forgiving and most sensitive consumers of bandwidth. By
providing a service that allows them to be globally competitive, we will be assured
that our networks have been given the thumbs up by the industry’s harshest
critics.”
The current line-up of players includes the following:
•Dean “=ASF=Nibby” Loots
•Travis “bvd.Shase” Weedon
•Duncan “bvd.Skiblet” Frickel
•Magiel “DvG.enjoy” de Lange
•Radhe “DvG.MorningSTAR” Stringer
•Silviu “NightEnD” Lazar
•Rob “PandaTank” Botha
•Mark “VnR|Gummie” Reynolds
•Nathan “VnR|StatiC” Anderson
Additionally a Wild Card tournament will be held by PolarFluke (www.polarfluke.
co.za) to determine the final three placements for players still wanting a chance to
compete in the Invitational.
AMD has supplied PCs for the players to play on during the day and will have PCs
available for the public to test out on the day. “Players require reliable equipment
and AMD is here to provide them with that performance” said Jaco Laubscher,
Channel Manager AMD.
The event will be one of the biggest held for a game launch in South Africa, and
we invite the public to register to attend the event on the 16th March 2013. Details
can be found at the following address – www.megarom.co.za/SC2HOTS.
February’s Turkish eSports Highlight
By Furkan Faruk AKINCI
League of Legends Saturday Night Tournaments
Conventional Tournament format repeats itself every 15 days on Saturdays. In
February only one has been held on the 16th of February.
Point Blank Turkey 1st National Tournament Finals
The final has taken place on the 3rd of March. The Winner, Dark Passage Group,
has been awarded 2.000 TL anf gaming peripherals. The group will represent
Turkey at the PBIC as well.
Counter-Strike
14. Traditional 4Fun Cs Tournament
Held on 24th February at Gameekstra. The winning team was Destiny Reach.
8.Traditional Bronze Soldiers Tournament
Held on 17 February at Gameekstra. The wining team was Kentacdiz! The team
received some gifts from Razer.
News | 2013. 3. 19
9
WORLD REPORT
Finland & Romania
ASSEMBLY Winter 2013 is
about Getting Together
By Teemu Hiilinen
A
s the winter continues here in Finland (-25o C, 1-1.5m of snow) and there was nothing else to do
than sit inside with our computers. At that point we knew it was time for other LAN event –
ASSEMBLY Winter 2013.
ASSEMBLY Winter is the second largest LAN event in Finland, which is held every year in Helsinki.
ASSEMBLY isn’t just gaming. It is coming together with friends and spending time with them. As
Finland is a really big country, it can take over 16 hours to drive from southern end to northern end.
For this reason, it is not so common to meet your online friends in real life. ASSEMBLY is an answer
for this.
The results from the tournament:
StarCraft II
1.
Vesa “Welmu” Hovinen (750 €)
2.
Santeri “Naama” Lahtinen (500 €)
3.
Samuli “elfi” Sihvonen (250 €)
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive
1.
TOOMUCHVIDEOGAMES (1500 €)
2.
from roihuvuori hoods (1000 €)
3.
partyastronauts (Norway) (500 €)
This year the gaming competition has taken a small step backward as there wasn’t any major
international tournament. Last year we had a luxury to host the ASUS ROG StarCraft II Tournament
with over 1.5 million people watching the show from various streams. This year we ended up
streaming from four streams in Finnish.
Tekken Tag Tournament II
1.
The_Emperor (600 €)
2.
killerdoll (300 €)
While the tournament itself was a little bit smaller this year, the atmosphere inside the LAN was
superb. We made our very own Harlem Shake. The Internet police Marko “Fobba” Forss also attended
the LAN and spent time with the visitors. We also had a luxury to watch the best Finnish movie ever
made, Iron Sky, from the big screen. Overall ASSEMBLY Winter was success for us all.
League of Legends
1.
Negative Attitude (1200 €)
2.
one for one v2 (800 €)
3.
64 North (500 €)
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive Starts
Off Strong in the Romanian eSport
Championship Season 3
Vlad Rosca / Editor at Professional Gamers League Romania
D
espite some talks that Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO) was “too
young” to replace the venerable Counter-Strike 1.6 in the Romanian eSport
scene, the third season of the Romanian eSport Championship has proven
without a doubt that professional players can adapt very quickly to change.
Over forty teams wanted to participate in the inaugural stage of the CS: GO
Championship, with only 32 making the cut.
That didn’t stem the tide of new teams who expressed their interest in the new
season, though, and PGL ultimately had to raise the maximum number of teams
to 48 for the fourth stage.
News | 2013. 3. 19
However, even this might prove to be insufficient as over 30 teams enlisted in
just the first two days of open registration, leaving many to wonder what the
final tally will be at the end of the week. The same situation applies for Dota 2
as well, where the number of teams that registered for a stage has become
almost twice as big as the number of available slots.
Naturally, with all the newcomers wanting to prove their worth, the established
hierarchies from Season 2 have been shaken quite a bit. Nevertheless, the
established names in the Romanian Counter-Strike scene—EQ, IGG or neXt
Please—have no intention of riding off into the sunset and have already started
to recruit new blood into their lineups to give their opponents a good run for
their money.
10
WORLD REPORT
Vietnam
VEC – The Most Professional eSport
Tournament in Vietnam
VEC 2012 was seen as an illustration of the success and impression VTC Game is
making in eSports, which is currently a rapidly developing field in Vietnam.
By Vietnam Recreational eSport Association
Focus on Strengths
VEC, which stands for the Vietnam eSport Championship, has certainly made
itself known in the four years since 2008. Aiming at organizing the largest-scale
tournament in Southeast Asia, VTC Game made use of all of their human
resources and previous experience in organizing for the VEC 2012.
Poster of VEC Tournament 2012
Along with two other mainstreams in game, VEC 2012, on the basis of VTC
Game’s understanding about taste and community, consists of seven competitive
titles: FIFA Online 2, Crossfire, Space Cowboy Online, Age of Empires, DotA, and
the newest, World of Tanks, which has been released for more than five months.
The Basis of Arbitration and Community
A training plan for arbitration has been set in order to prepare for the tournament.
With two experts from the International e-Sports Federation (IeSF) and the Korean
e-Sports Association (KeSPA), masters from VIRESA have employed more than
100 participants who have had significant contributions to national eSport
tournaments. Forty referees, who met the requirements for the tournament, were
finally selected through the training course.
National referee training course
Simultaneously, VEC 2012 was seen as the first tournament that the issue of health
care and fitness for participants was addressed. In the final round, apart from being
subsidized for T-shirts and living costs, taking the health check was compulsory
for each eSport competitor. In so doing, the participants could have their own
health guides during the competition, which they seemed quite impressed about.
Success in both scale and internationality
With more than ten thousand registrations and more than three thousand official
participants, VEC 2012 took place at an arena with 200 modern computers and live
streaming systems in order to serve thousands of domestic viewers. The success of
the tournament is apparent when examining these figures.
VEC 2012 has been successful
In order to fulfill their mission, the VEC 2012 became the bridge that connected
the most worldwide prestigious eSport competition–World Cyber Game (WCG)
2012.
The winners in the WCG qualifying round in Vietnam had to take play-off matches
against the champions of VEC 2012 in order to select the team to compete in the
WCG Finals held in China.
News | 2013. 3. 19
That could have been a second chance for those who desired to compete in the
international round, as the qualifying round for WCG in Vietnam was held in only
two days, whereas the VEC 2012 was held over eight months.
A glorious return
As a result of VTC Game’s efforts and the expectation of millions of eSport
followers, two Vietnamese national teams have won the most glorious ever
achievements in the history of Vietnamese eSports. The World of Tanks team,
Anubis Empire, reached the semi-final round and was deeply impressed by the
organizers as well as the audience. Moreover, Freedom, the Crossfire team, won
runner-up and a prize of $10,000.
Crossfire team Freedom returning home gloriously.
Apart from WCG 2012, VTC Game also took the responsibility to take other teams
to compete in One Asia Cup 2012 (OAC) and Game and Game World
Championship (GNGWC) 2012. In OAC, the national Fifa Online 2 teams not only
successful in defending the championship but also had an absolutely victorious
tournament with three of the highest ranks in OAC 2012.
For Space Cowboy Online competition, three members of the Vietnamese national
team who had advanced from VEC 2012 also achieved the runner-up title and a
$3,000 awards.
Overwhelmingly, VTC Game has shown their capability in the orientation,
organization and raising of homegrown talent which are seen as the most crucial
issues in any sport, particularly eSports.
11
INTERVIEW
e-Sports Star of March
e-Sports Star of March
Finnish SC2 Specialist, Samuli “Elfi” Sihvonen
Interviewed by Jarmo Keto / Chairman of Finnish e-Sports Federation
O
ne location in Finland is renowned above any
others when it comes to eSports and especially
StarCraft 2. You’d expect this to be a place of bustling
high tech industry or something similar, but in this
place you are more likely to run into a cow than a PC.
Of course we are talking about the village of
Teuroinen in the municipality of Kouvola, which is the
hometown of StarCraft 2 (SC2) player Samuli “Elfi”
Sihvonen, who is often referred to as the “knight of
Teuroinen” after his childhood home village.
This SC2 specialist is widely known as being a very
difficult person to interview. Setting up an interview
was relatively easy, but getting thorough answers was
not. The interior of Elfi's current flat in Helsinki tells
all about the person living here: the walls are covered
with certificates and prizes from different
tournaments. This is definitely the home to a very
successful professional player.
How does a person grow up to become a professional
player in Finland? I try to dig up as many details as
possible from Elfi's childhood and youth back in rural
Teuroinen. As Elfi is obviously more interested in
talking about the game than himself, this turns out to
be quite difficult—as I had expected.
Being blessed with a competitive mindset, Elfi spent
his youth playing football for nearly six years. Slowly
but surely, he managed a swift and smooth transition
from regular sports to electronic ones.
First, casual gaming with PlayStation and then a slow
shift to gaming as a Warcraft 3 semi-pro. His good
start was interrupted by a diminishing Warcraft 3
scene and the beginning of compulsory civilian
service.
That civilian service duty ended one evening as Elfi's
car made a close encounter with a truck, resulting in
an impact that hospitalized the champion for over a
month.
Interview | 2013. 3. 19
A crash that usually ends in a loss of life was not
enough to stop this determined young man. During a
long recovery period, a new title was released:
StarCraft 2 came out and both Elfi and the real time
strategy (RTS) scene started to show signs of life once
again. The rest is history.
Elfi is of course known for his quiet nature and
modesty, but above all for his love of cats. So we end
up talking about cats. Do you know any player who
prepares for a tough match by doing something
completely irrelevant just seconds before the big
moment? Because Elfi does that: he watches videos of
cats even on stage. I suspect this has something to do
with mind games, which Elfi denies: he just happens
to be fond of cats.
Despite this handicap, he won one of the favourites in
the group phase, lost to a nearly unknown player and
was forced to drop out by map score. After this huge
disappointment, he went back home only to find an
invasion of cockroaches in his luggage.
DH Bucharest is only few months back but in a short
time there has been a collapse in tournament success.
The reason seems quite obvious: lack of training. Elfi
does not deny his loss of motivation but does not see it
as an issue. “Motivation comes and goes,” he notes.
Currently, he’s waiting for the Heart of Swarm
expansion and wants to take it easy for a while. He is
very determined in continuing as a professional player
for at least one more year and does not hide his
enthusiasm.
As if by fate something black rushes through the room
—a cat! Being badly allergic to cats, I’m somewhat
happy that this one, called Pekka, does not seem to
love me too much. There are still a lot more interesting
topics I want to bring up, but Pekka—the cat—has
stolen the attention for the moment. Pekka was
salvaged from an animal shelter and Samuli does not
even himself know very much about the cat. I don’t
want to bug Elfi about his personal life too much, so
I’ll give him a break and get back to eSports. I ask for
his most memorable eSports event ever—either good
or bad.
In the past few months Elfi has dropped out from all
the major tournaments and is far from being the top
player in Finland at the moment. However, Elfi’s long
career, past achievements, natural mind game
capability and unique character have made him an icon
in the Finnish eSports scene.
Surprisingly, the same tournament takes the top
podium in both categories: Dreamhack Bucharest
2012. Elfi arrived with a bad flu and pumped up with
painkillers. Despite this handicap, he won one of the
favourites in the group phase, lost to a nearly unknown
player and was forced to drop out by map score. After
this huge disappointment, he went back home only to
find an invasion of cockroaches in his luggage.
I think about all the strange habits I’ve witnessed:
drinking cognac with pancakes, steaming everyone
else out of a sauna by excessive water tossing—and
the cats: don’t get me started. At least he is exotic: a
true character and no one else but himself.
Surprisingly, the same tournament takes the top
podium in both categories: Dreamhack Bucharest
2012. Elfi arrived with a bad flu and pumped up with
painkillers.
Upon leaving the interview Samuli wants to show me
some more pictures of cats. This one has a towel on its
head. I leave the flat with mixed feelings. I’m not sure
whether I’ve been trolled for the whole time or if Elfi
really is as bizarre as he seems.
It is a common practice in Finland that the hope city
will donate a house to a successful athlete to thank
them for their contribution to the city’s image and
prestige. The coming years will tell if we see the
municipality of Kouvola do the same for Elfi. Or they
can always just build a statue.
13
INTERVIEW
Zoom In e-Sports
Visited World Cyber Games
Beyond the Game, World Cyber Games
By Matthew Byun / Manager at IeSF
F
or March’s Zoom-in interview, we have visited
World Cyber Games (WCG) who has been walking
over the same eSports road for more than ten years.
the nuclear attack to Bertrand provided fans somewhat
catharsis, which is still recorded as the best match in
the history.
After its foundation in 2000, with its motto “Beyond
the Game,” WCG started Grand Finals with 37 nations
participating in Korea in 2001.
In the history of WCG for over 13 years, many things
remains in the memory of fans, but the most
memorable thing may be the players.
As it moved around to the USA in 2004, Singapore in
2005, Italy in 2006, Germany in 2008, and China in
2009, it has been giving strong impressions to eSports
fans in Asia, Europe and North America.
For these players, WCG prepared the ‘Hall of Fame”.
(http://www.wcg.com/renew/history/halloffame/
hall_main.asp) We can easily find the names of
Manuel Schenkhuizen (Grubby) and Xiao Feng Li
(Sky) for Warcraft, and Yohwan Lim (Slayers_BoxeR)
for Starcraft, which fans are familiar with.
Especially, in 2008, as 800 players from 78 nations
participating in the Grand Finals, it recorded as the
biggest eSports event.
Also, during 2007, as 1.5 million players from 74
nations participated in its Grand Final and national
qualifiers, it is listed in the Guinness Book as the
“World Biggest Video Game Tournament.”
In 2001, since it was the initial tournament, both
domestic and international attention was focused on
the even. Reflecting this enthusiasm, VIPs from in and
out of the country attended the event, and it came to
the staff as a somewhat heavy responsibility due to
lack of experience and knowledge at the beginning.
The part of the WCG 2001 Grand Finals that is
stamped on fans’ memories is perhaps the final match
between Bertrand and Yohwan Lim (Slayers_BoxeR)
who were the greatest players of the time. Then,
Bertrand was bringing up the rage of Korean fans with
his ridiculing other players.
2012 may be the unforgettable year for WCG.
According the manager of WCG, 110 thousands of
people visited the venue of WCG event in Kunshan,
which is a small city 50 km from Shanghai. Nobody
ever expected it could gather that many people in such
small city.
Especially, for WarCraft III, the match between
Chinese WarCraft III hero Xiao Fend Li (Sky) and Jae
Ho Jang (Moon) from Korea aroused the enthusiastic
pep rallies of fans.
For the fans in the world who could not visit the
venue, WCG 2012 provided live streaming on its
website as well as Ongamenet, Twitch.tv, Daum TV,
Gom TV, Neo TV and others, and the matches were
broadcasted in Korean and English as well as Chinese,
Russian and Spanish.
For example, he tended to do an ‘SCV Rush’ or
‘Nuclear Attack’ in the matches almost over to
humiliate the losing player.
WCG is planning to establish a broadcasting system in
which broadcasters, casters and users can shape it as
they want by operating an International Broadcasting
Center, the broadcasting format of mega sports event
such as the Olympic Games, in the future.
Then, at the Final match, Yohwan Lim beat Bertrand
with the score of 2:0 with great control and
performance, and the scene that Yohwan pour down
Perhaps it is the reason why world eSports fans love
WCG that they keep showing efforts to create and
develop new and better things.
Interview | 2013. 3. 19
Every year, WCG has invited promotional booths in
which fans can directly participate and enjoy matches.
In 2012, Publisher Booths such as Nexon, Valve,
Wargaming and QQ Speed were presented as well as
IT Company Booths such as Samsung, NVIDIA,
Razor, DX racer and Seagate. Moreover, F&B booths
such as Burger King and Paris Baguette were built to
feed visitors.
The Companies newly participated in the event
mentioned that they were satisfied with the results of
promotion and would like to participate in 2013 again.
WCG 2013 is planned to be held on 28th of
November.
The manager of WCG, Brian So says, “Currently,
global eSports tournaments are being restructured as
game company-driven. In this moment, existing
organizers and game companies need to cooperate
closely. Since they are events for eSports fans, we need
to think in a user-focused manner, and to endeavor to
provide more various attractions.”
Many people predict that mobile will dominate in the
future eSports. It is because that it is easy to access and
performance of its hardware and software is improved
as PC level. Also, unified operating systems such as
Android and iOS support mobile companies to develop
smartphone games more easily. WCG has also put
much interest and investment in mobile titles since
2008. Through the WCG Samsung Mobile Challenge,
they attempt to provide opportunities to mobile game
users to participate in the tournament events.
Starting with the announcement of official titles this
April, WCG national qualifier will start again until
October. It is expected that many gamers will
participate in the event just as last year. Brian added,
“We really appreciate all the support and cherish our
fans, and will keep endeavoring to develop new things
for making the events better. We can’t wait till 28
November, and hope to see all of you at the Grand
Final in Kunshan, China.”
14
IeSF NEWS
International e-Sports Federation
2013 IeSF News
Election of New President of IeSF
by Alex Lim / Editor at International e-Sports Federation
A
s the former President of International e-Sports
Federation, Mr. Hyung Hee Lee, has resigned from his
position due to personal issue, Mr. Won Suk Oh, the
Secretary General currently has performed as the
acting President.
In order to execute voting for electing new president
without any delay, according to IeSF Statutes, Article
36, Mr. Oh convened Extraordinary General Meeting
(EGM) and sent out Notification of Convocation to all
respectful members of IeSF on 15 February.
As responding to the convocation, recommendations
from 16 member nations of IeSF which is over onethirds of its 42 members have been sent to IeSF
Secretariat.
With those recommendations from the member
countries (Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Canada, Finland,
France, Israel, Korea, Mexico, Mongolia, Norway,
Philippines, Romania, Russia, Singapore, South Africa
and Switzerland), Mr. Byung Hun Jun, the president of
Korea e-Sports Association (KeSPA) was nominated
as the candidate for new president.
On 19th of March, with the general consent of
attendees to the EGM, Mr. Byung Hun Jun was elected
as the president of IeSF.
Besides, for efficient operation of 5 committees
(Competition, Certification, Player, Referee and Title),
election of the chairs of the committees was added to
the agenda of EGM. Mr. Colin Andrew Webster, the
president of Mind Sports South Africa (MSSA) was
elected as the chairman of Player Committee.
Also, Mr. Silviu Stroie, the President of Professional
Gamers League Romania (PGL) was elected as the
chairman of Referee Committee, and Mr. Constantine
Surkont, the General Secretary of Russian e-Sports
Federation (RESF) was elected as the chairman of
Competition Committee.
For the Certification Committee, Mr. Herman NG was
elected as the chairman. Hereafter, these chairmen of
committees will lead the Board of IeSF as the Board
Members as supporting the new President.
With the new leadership, it is expected that IeSF may
take new leap forward to driving e-sports field into the
international sports society. Also, as starting full
throttle for operation of IeSF’s sub committees, the
result of researches which IeSF has been endeavoring
is expected to be applied to the reality including IeSF
World Championship and other e-sports tournament
within mega-sport event hosted by Olympic
Committees.
IeSF opinion /\" "New Era for Korean eSports
by Alex Lim / Editor at International e-Sports Federation
The Korean eSports market has seized an opportunity for a new leap forward as well
as the momentum to burst negative perception toward games. It is a change derived
from an organic connection between the gaming and eSports markets.
Last month, Mr. Byung Hun Jun, a member of the Korean National Assembly, was
assigned to the position as the 5th president of the Korean e-Sports Association
(KeSPA). Since the foundation of KeSPA, businessmen have taken the presidency
(HanbitSoft took the 1st presidency, and SK telecom took 2nd to 4th presidency),
and it is unprecedented to invite a politician to the presidency. In the case of other
sports governing bodies, many of congressmen have been assigned to the
presidency, but it is unheard in the eSports field. It is an indication that the status of
eSports has increased so much.
As a reflection of the prestige eSports is gaining in Korea, at the presidential
inauguration the Vice-Speaker of the National Assembly, the Minister of Culture,
Sports and Tourism, the President of the Korea Olympic Committee (KOC) and
many other members of the National Assembly attended and delivered
congratulatory messages. It is also the first time that VIPs from the government and
the political world attend KeSPA’s presidential inauguration. In particular,
attendance of the KOC’s president connotes significant meaning as eSports is in the
process of being an official KOC sport discipline.
Of course, having a president from the political world still contains several risk
components with regard to stability. However, it is time for a political person who
can play a role in communicating with government and influencing legislative
activities for the game industry.
Moreover, Mr. Jun, as a congressman running for a third term, has been an opinion
leader who has been key in promoting game and eSports industries as standing for
increase of eSports budget, revocation of a ‘shutdown’ system, etc. Mr. Jun says,
“The game industry is driven into a corner of unilateral setdown even beyond
prejudice. Now, we need the support of the government and political worlds. I will
work as a bridge between the industry and government.”
News | 2013. 3. 19
Also, he claims, “It is time to change the structure of Korean eSports which fell into
crisis. We need to restructure it, and support systematically. We will carry on good
things, and break down negative old customs.”
As his new motto, “Next eSports,” it is time for Korean eSports to create its own
ecosystem. First of all, communication with fans and the market in general should
be vitalized. Thus, a consultative body which can collect opinions from diverse
parties should be established. Second, in order to develop eSports as an official
sports discipline, the amateur realm of eSports should be developed to extend its
influence to the general public. Mr. Jun also announced that KeSPA will take over
the authority of “Presidential National eSports Tournament” from the government,
and based on this business, they will achieve a foundation of branches in cities
nationwide.
So far, KeSPA has successfully been controlling the professional dimension of
eSports, but has shown limitation for supporting the amateur dimension. This is why
Mr. Jun has set forth a balanced development between amateur and pro as the core
task.
Stable securement of resources is also an essential task. Operation of eSports teams
or sponsorship should be perceived not as a somewhat simple return to society but
as a long-term reinvestment into the industry. This kind of virtuous circle is
necessary.
Mr. Yong-Sung Park, the President of KOC states, “eSports is being operated within
Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games as an official sport discipline. If KeSPA can
maintain the competitiveness of eSports, a fine sport discipline which can represent
Korea will step forward to the people of the world.”
During this upcoming new era of Korean eSports with the new president of KeSPA,
I hope that KeSPA can position gaming as a sport culture content that all
generations can enjoy.
16
OPINION
e-Sports & Games
eSports, From the Eyes of a Game Publisher (Part 2)
I hope our readers might find something interesting from my previous
column about content production for PLC extension. To continue, I
would like to talk about the global market in this part of the column.
As the current game market is gradually globalized, cases where global
publishers service local games are increasing.
Therefore, global eSports tournaments that influence marketing
activities in each country are beneficial. Even if hosting a global
eSports tournament does not immediately impact on sales, they are
providing the global publisher additional content for the game as well
as marketing value.
In these cases, global publishers directly control the businesses in the
countries where they publish games. Since the local game companies
hand over the authority for global publication, they cannot intervene in
the global business but only support game content and technical knowhow for successful publication of global editions.
Likewise, eSports becomes an effective marketing tool in the online
game market. Also, for the future of relations between online game
publishers and eSports, which is different from packaged games,
eSports in the online game scene should involve the online game
publisher as well as the eSports organizer.
It is because each country has a different game consumption culture
that it is hard to advise on marketing. Also, it is not easy to handle
global marketing when each country is so different in business
practices.
Game publishers are beginning to take a stake in eSports. League of
Legends publisher Riot Games is deeply concerned with eSports, and
Blizzard jumped into the eSports scene with StarCraft 2 although they
had not been involved in the StarCraft: Brood War eSports scene.
However, global eSports tournaments are one good solution for this
difficulty of globally integrated marketing. By being involved in an
international eSports tournament, a game company often has the
opportunity to have national qualifiers in many different countries,
which is an effective marketing opportunity. This allows game
companies to provide users uniform content throughout the
international eSports tournament.
Most global publishers understand the importance of eSports: Riot,
Blizzard and even Tencent have task force teams for eSports. By the
way, it is a pity that Korean game companies do not perceive the
importance of it. For most of them, game marketers operate eSports
businesses, and it seems that they do not really care about it. I do not
mean to slight them, but it is still sad that they do not have much of
understand on of eSports, and it as simple offline promotion or
marketing.
Furthermore, since the international tournament is one activity where
only a game company with main publication rights can operate, it is
very important in the manner of right and authority. Global publishers
only focus on sales within the countries relevant to their business since
sales in unrelated countries does not impact at all on the success of their
businesses. However, for the companies with main publication rights, it
is best that the game succeeds in all countries since they receive the
royalty from each country’s sales return.
Byoung-Ho Yeo / eBy Byoung Ho Yeo
e-Sports Team Manager
at Smilegate
Nevertheless, it is a positive sign that the number of people with
eSports experience increases within game companies, and that their
perception toward eSports evolves. There are many global game
companies in Korea and many of them insist that the root of eSports
was born out of Korea. I hope that they may put more effort into
eSports, and that it may take more roles in this market.
THE BEAUTIFUL GAMING PLAGUE
Someone will wonder how a plague can be beautiful, but we have all
heard of beautiful disaster monsters among other weird things. I will
tell you how a plague can be beautiful and still earn the name plague.
This is my third article in the Opinion column of G&E, and for the last
two articles, I greatly despised the situation at hand within my region;
however, the situation has intensified to Category 7. Yes, that is always
the worst category in any disastrous scenario; however, it is a good
Category 7. Oddly, it is and here is how.
By Joe Kratos /
Kampala, Uganda /
Sales Executive at
Cybernet
Computer Systems
We have five to ten Game Parlors, Shops or Stations in my
neighborhood alone. These are for only PlayStation 2 games being
played on 14-, 19- and rarely 21-inch TV screens. This has driven out
the few PC Gaming and Internet cafes out of business as the young and
teen customers have resorted to video games other than Facebook.
Opinion | 2013. 3. 19
You see, the PlayStation 2 console is popular mainly because it is easy
for owners to access the accessories here. Memory cards, controllers
and games are easily accessible anywhere at decent prices. But I have
actually noticed that the higher demand gets the higher prices for
consoles. This does not affect the gamers directly but rather hit hard at
the Game Station owners and proprietors (US).
The demand for PlayStation 2 and gaming services is high, and so is the
rent. Electricity bills among other fluctuating factors within the local
economy. I hate this part where I have to wish upon a better tomorrow,
and also hope for the government and ICT sector to acknowledge what
is going on in the local Gamers community.
But until this is cleared, we can say everything is up and running. Then,
I will claim satisfaction for the whole gamer community in Uganda.
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OPINION
e-Sports & Games
Woman power
By Kim Dong-wook
khgames Chief Editor
“Woman holds up the half of the world” as the world starts, women
and men have played their role in the society. But I think women are
less likely to show off their achievements in front of others and in the
history even though there were lots of great women in our history.
Women tend to do their best and sacrifice herself for someone of her
family and it’s because of warm motherhood every woman has.
Every woman is a living heroine throughout our history whether she
left a big achievement or not as she tries her best to fulfill her
responsibility.
Gabrielle Toledano, a vice president of EA, said "Sexism is an
unfortunate reality of our times, but as women we must seek the power
and ability in ourselves to change the dynamic.
According to Toledano, blaming men for "not creating an attractive
work environment" for women is a "cop-out." Instead, she put the onus
on women to be proactive about recognizing their place in the industry
and forging a path for themselves.
She emphasizes these three things as below.
In 2000, NewYork Times chose Queen ElizabethⅠas the greatest leader
over 1000years on behalf of great men leaders. It’s kind of proof that
women have a higher status and respect.
UK has been a leading country with remarkable development since
ElizabethⅠdominated. She repelled The Spanish Armada and ruled the
sea in Europe and established a new route to the New World. She
improved the confused situation to make religion and the council stable
based on The Church of England. Especially, many artists and writers
appeared in the UK and led renaissance period for England Culture.
Once she told that she wouldn’t replace Shakespeare with India,
William Shakespeare was also one of writers in this period.
ElizabethⅠliving alone all her life sacrificed herself for her country
with continuous self-examination and careful policies, developing UK
as one of rich countries.
Likewise, Womanpower is quite strong. However, what’s the reason
that we hardly find womanpower in our game industry?
Some companies in North America complained that there is lots of
sexual discrimination toward women in the company and most games
are male-oriented etc.
First, "Nearly half of all gamers are female and yet I still continue to
hear on a weekly basis that 'the only people playing games are boys in
their basements.' It's just not true," she said
Second, game industry needs to hire women to maintain its innovation
and development and is seeking women to hire
Third, In our industry and the technology world at large, we need to
support educational institutions that are working so aggressively to
encourage women to pursue STEM [science, technology, engineering
and mathematics] careers.
Part of Toledano's job as EA's executive vice president and chief talent
officer involves serving as the company's head of human resources over
15 years. She said “Entertainment and game is the most rewarding area
and Game is in the historic turnaround.
"We'd love to hire more women but we can't find enough of them to
hire and Game jobs are perfectly suitable for women"
Sooner or later, we are looking forward to seeing the great woman in
our game industry like Elizabeth.
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Opinion | 2013. 3. 19
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