E-sports on the ropes

Forgive me if I crow a little bit.  The New York Times recently published an article that questioned the sustainability of e-sports in North America. The article notes that Rupert Mordoch’s News Corporation and DirecTV unexpectedly shut down the Championship Gaming Series and that several major e-sports tournaments have been canceled citing the bad economy and lack of sponsorship. Read more

Do eSports have a future?

I read on WoW Insider a while ago about H O N, a team from Korea, winning the Electronic Sports League’s Intel Extreme Masters Global tournament. Before I read the article, I’ve never heard of H O N, or for that matter, either the Electronic Sports League or the Extreme Masters Global tournament. I have heard of Intel.

Apparently, the tournament was a big deal. The winning team of three took home $30,000 prize money. It’s a novelty for me because it’s the first time I’ve heard about a tournament based on the World of Warcraft. I’m out of touch, I know. World of Warcraft based tournaments have been going on for sometime. Read more

Starcraft nears one decade

Starcraft will be 10 years old in March of this year. While it was a popular game when it released, I think no one would have predicted that people would still be playing it nearly a decade after its release. Who would have thought that it would evolve into the top e-sport medium in the world? Even today in Korea, 11 professional teams, in a league compromising of over 300 pro players compete for millions of dollars of prizes.  Further, the ranks of amateur leagues and tournaments are packed with eager young players. Yes, Korea isn’t the entire world, but you can’t dismiss the influence of that country in today’s professional gaming scene. Read more