Why StarCraft 2 Will Succeed Where Other Games Have Failed
2011 was a boom year in the United States for the growth of the game StarCraft 2 as a spectator sport. Other video games have witnessed dramatic growth over a short period of time as spectator sports. However, their period growth has been followed a sharp decline into obscurity. StarCraft 2 is currently at a tipping point, from here it can either settle into a model of slow sustainable growth, remaining a sustainable business for some time, or it can the go the way of other games, the bubble bursting and StarCraft 2 as an eSports disappearing. StarCraft 2 will not burst like so many other games before it because of a number measures invoked intended to avoid the mistakes of the past as well as new factors that promote the security of StarCraft 2 as a spectator sport.
One of the problems unique to video games when compared to other competitive activities is that they have a shelf life. The constant improvement in technology means it’s impossible for older games to compete with new ones. This is a problem because the majority of people who enjoy watching video games played competitively are those who play the game casually. Spectators want to watch players play the game they are playing now, not a year ago. This is a huge problem for the players, competition organizers, and producers of spectator content. Players have to dedicate an enormous amount of time to a game to be able to play at their peak capacity. If they are constantly switching games, the level of skill will decline, and with it the entertainment value. Tournament organizers have to invest in different hardware that will be able to accommodate the new game. Then they have to secure sponsorships from companies without the benefit of showing the games past popularity. Producers are sent back to the drawing board on how to create content from the game. Methods to show the games to the viewer, to market the players and to produce other consumable content all have to be created from scratch.
StarCraft 2 will have a long shelf life when compared to other video games because of the emergence of franchises as the mainstay of video game developers. Developers prefer to produce sequels to proven titles because of the rising cost to develop a video game. Warcraft 2 when it was created in 1995, only cost $750,000 to create (Taverz). Blizzard Entertainment, the same company that created Warcraft 2 later spent 100 million dollars to create the game World of Warcraft (FacTor-X). The massive investments required to produce a new title means developers do not like to risk capital on unproven concepts. Developers prefer to make sequels to already proven concepts. StarCraft 2 already has two sequels announced and in development. Despite the sequels introducing new elements for players, tournament organizers, and Producers, they are not as significant as those that would come with a completely original game, so the transitional period is not as painful. The constant release of updates to StarCraft 2 will also mean a retention of players that otherwise might move on to another game, as well as an influx of new players. These retention of players and creation of players actively using the game will mean a large potential audience for spectator StarCraft 2 to be marketed towards.
Developers usually design games so that the player enjoys them as much as possible. They have little incentive to make the game appeal to spectators rather than players. If a game takes off as a spectator sport the developer doesn’t receive any benefit. If an event is wildly successful and makes a lot of money, it is irrelevant to the developer because they do not receive any of the profits. The only people that are interested in watching a game that wasn’t created with spectatorship in mind are those who play the game themselves and can relate to the perspective being shown because they have experienced it firsthand. So although a developer gains free advertising for the game they created, it is to audiences that have already purchased the game, rendering the advertising mostly useless. The end result is developers have no incentive to create a game catered towards spectatorship. Most games have, have by their design, a very narrow audience.
StarCraft 2 does not suffer from this flaw. The lead developer for StarCraft 2, Dustin Browder, stated in an interview that “The whole game is designed bottom up as an eSport” (Jackson). Browder’s company Blizzard was able to create StarCraft 2 specifically for sports by fixing the problem of developer not profiting from an event using their game. StarCraft 2 requires an active internet connection for game to be played, even if two players are in the same room. This gives Blizzard a large amount of control over the usage of their game. No event can use StarCraft 2 without Blizzard approving. With this leverage blizzard is able to monetize events it otherwise has no interest in. Any tournament with a prize pool over $5,000 dollars is required to give Blizzard 50% of the advertising revenue. (Biscuit). This gave Blizzard incentive to build StarCraft 2 as a game that can be enjoyed by spectators. This element is unique to StarCraft 2 and will be one of the attributes that will allow it to succeed as a spectator sport where other games have failed.
Other than designing the game for spectators, Blizzard has done other things to ensure the health of competitive StarCraft 2. Since watching StarCraft 2 mostly appeals to people that play it, there is no better way to advertise events then through the game itself. Blizzard does this by putting advertisements for events in the StarCraft 2 menus. Everyone in the world who plays StarCraft 2 is exposed to the fact that there are professional events as soon anytime they want to play. This type of advertisement was never present in other games that grew popular for spectatorship.
There are a lot of costly things that go into producing an event that will draw spectators. A lot of money is also needed to support quality players and pay for them to attend these events. The way these costs were fulfilled in the past is through sponsorships by corporations. Very little revenue was made from people actually watching the event. Having corporate sponsorship as your main and only source of income is risky as they could suddenly withdraw their support. This was the case with the Meet Your Makers professional video game team. When sponsors realized they were getting very little rate of return on their investment in the team they all withdrew their financial support (Doe). Without corporate sponsors, MYM could no longer support the salaries or expenses of their players and quickly became a shadow of its former self. Relying solely on corporate sponsors means that there will always be a great deal of risk in running events and supporting players. With such a great deal of risk, it’s inevitable that entities based around them will collapse.
StarCraft 2 does rely on a great deal of corporate sponsorship in order to cover costs. However emerging sources of revenue have injected much safer monetization into the scene. The first and most important is the technology of streaming. Streaming is when a live event is captured and displayed on the internet in real time. Someone sitting on their home computer can watch an event happening 1000 miles away 5 seconds after it happens. It’s very similar to watching television on your computer. Streaming generates revenue by periodically running advertisements to those watching. Event were previously only able to monetize themselves by charging those who attend the event, or later charging for videos uploaded online after the even was completed. By streaming their event online they reach a broader audience of people, every one of whom generates more profit by viewing advertisement. On a smaller level, streaming helps support players. Players will stream themselves playing StarCraft 2, and fans of those players will watch. The most successful StarCraft 2 steamer is a player named Destiny, who with the revenue earned by streaming, supports himself, an infant son, and a mortgage on a home (Tassi). Players also create revenue by giving lessons. Imagine if you could pay to get batting lessons from Derek Jeter, or Swimming lessons from Michael Phelps. In StarCraft 2 getting a lesson from your favorite player is very feasible. It’s also affordable. Lessons in StarCraft 2 can be given remotely over the internet so there are no travel costs to drive the price up. Lessons are another way players can make a living independent of corporations.
The players are another important part of the success of StarCraft 2. People that play video games are often stereotyped as having a poor appearance, or an abrasive personality. Corporations are hesitant to sponsor players who behave in a way they feel will portray their brand negatively. StarCraft 2 teams are aware of this and actively work to make sure their players present themselves well. The Korea e-sports association representative stated about their players that “we make them into Gentlemen.” (Jin). Prominent players in StarCraft 2 include Tyler "Tyler" Wasieleski, a graduate and track team member of Duke University, and Geoff "iNcontroL" Robinson, a power lifter whose max lifts have come close to breaking world records. StarCraft 2 players defy stereotypes about video game players, making it that much more consumable for larger audiences.
Video games have increased in popularity over time since their introduction. From 1996 -2010 the video game industry quadrupled in sales. (FYI: Video Game Statistics by the Entertainment Software Association). Spending on Video Games is projected to reach 115 Billion dollars in 2015 (Bilton). The increase in the overall popularity can only be good for the growth of StarCraft 2 as a spectator sport. Other games in the past couldn’t achieve the same level of popularity simply because of videogames weren’t quite as popular. 68% of American households play video games (FYI: Video Game Statistics by the Entertainment Software Association) that translates to a lot of potential viewers for StarCraft 2.
Other games failed where StarCraft 2 will succeed. StarCraft 2 has an artificially long shelf life because of the release of sequels that will ensure it remains popularity longer than an average game. StarCraft 2’s Developer, Blizzard, has a vested interest in the games success because they stand to profit. Their support means StarCraft 2 was built with spectators in mind and that new viewers will be constantly gained through in game advertising. StarCraft 2 will not suffer the catastrophic financial failures of other games because there are new more reliable methods of generating profit from StarCraft 2 spectatorship. StarCraft 2 players will not offend viewers and sponsors as players have in the past because of the strict rules imposed on them as well as the examples set by current prominent players. The increasing growth in the popularity of video games means the potential audience base will only get larger and larger. The growth of StarCraft 2 as a sport may look like the bubble growths of other games. However, all of these factors that are unique to StarCraft 2 are enough to ensure that the industry will not burst, but instead grow to stand side by side with other legitimate forms of entertainment.
Bibliography Bilton, Nick. http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/07/05/video-game-industry-continues-major-growth-gartner-says/. 5 July 2011. Biscuit, Total. Teamliquid.net. 24 July 2011. <http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/viewmessage.php?topic_id=247210>. Doe, John "eSports". SK Gaming. 6 April 2009. <http://www.sk-gaming.com/content/23348-Dont_panic__Why_there_is_no_ESport_crisis>. FacTor-X. Pixel Smashers. 2010 23 July. <http://pixelsmashers.com/?p=3905>. FYI: Video Game Statistics by the Entertainment Software Association. 6 April 2010. <https://depts.washington.edu/critgame/wordpress/2010/04/fyi-video-game-statistics-by-the-entertainment-software-association/>. Jackson, Leah. G4tv. 12 February 2011. <http://www.g4tv.com/thefeed/blog/post/710301/eSports-interview-with-StarCraft 2-2-game-director-dustin-browder-and-senior-eSports-manager-joong-kim/>. Jin, Dal Yong. Korea's online gaming Empire. Boston : Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2010. Tassi, Paul. Forbes.com. 19 4 2011. <http://www.forbes.com/sites/insertcoin/2011/04/19/StarCraft 2s-destiny-talks-eSports-and-gaming-for-a-living/>. Taverz, Greg. How much does it cost to make a game? 11 November 200. <http://games.greggman.com/game/how_much_does_it_cost_to_make_a_game_/>.
What I gathered from this essay is that Blizzard is good at making money, not why SC2 is (going) to be a sport. Isn't the entire franchising thing implying that SC2 dies as soon as SC3 is released?
SC2 atm is only a spectator sport for us nerds. Every game except BW in South Korea is as such, while BW in Korea is a spectator sport for the masses. If and when Kespa converts Korean BW to SC2, then SC2 will will become a spectator sport in this regard.
Otherwise, I love your essay. Very well done. However, I must make the criticism that the essay seems to explain more of "Why Blizzard sold a shitton of copies of SC2" than "Why SC2 will succeed as a spectator sport". :S
I laughed really hard at the MLA formatting- so formal! Cool essay though, I like that you wrote it in a way that anyone could get a grasp of what you're talking about, not just SC2 guys. Keep up the great work!
Spectator sport who cant even pass 100k viewers from all over the world? I think not.....
Its just a good game that sparks interest from its big player fanbase right now. There is absolutely no viewers that watch SC2 that arent associated with SC2 or BW .
On December 18 2011 06:37 SkelA wrote: Spectator sport who cant even pass 100k viewers from all over the world? I think not.....
Its just a good game that sparks interest from its big player fanbase right now. There is absolutely no viewers that watch SC2 that arent associated with SC2 or BW .
I agree with you when you mention the 100k viewers point, League of Legends for example crushes that regularly.
However, you are entirely wrong on your second point. Many, many casters and players (Day9, Husky, HD, Incontrol etc.,) regularly mention how they get e-mails or messages (via. other websites) from people who say that they don't play the game and never have but love to watch it.
hell ive been watching starcraft 2 since beta but have never played this game(shitty pc )and i must say i really love it. love the game, love the community, love the drama it's like watching football for me(but better)
On December 18 2011 06:37 SkelA wrote: Spectator sport who cant even pass 100k viewers from all over the world? I think not.....
Its just a good game that sparks interest from its big player fanbase right now. There is absolutely no viewers that watch SC2 that arent associated with SC2 or BW .
I agree with you when you mention the 100k viewers point, League of Legends for example crushes that regularly.
However, you are entirely wrong on your second point. Many, many casters and players (Day9, Husky, HD, Incontrol etc.,) regularly mention how they get e-mails or messages (via. other websites) from people who say that they don't play the game and never have but love to watch it.
LoL crushes 100k easily but very very few of those people are just spectators, 99.9% of LoL viewers are players. With SC2, there is a far more significant number of non player spectators. Not to mention LoL is free to play and much simpler to play than sc2 and its player base is accordingly larger.
On December 18 2011 06:37 SkelA wrote: Spectator sport who cant even pass 100k viewers from all over the world? I think not.....
Its just a good game that sparks interest from its big player fanbase right now. There is absolutely no viewers that watch SC2 that arent associated with SC2 or BW .
I agree.
SC2 needs real new fans. All the fans are actually existing fans.
For any business to succeed, there has to be new blood
You forgot to indent your paragraphs. No, in all seriousness, well written, and, to be honest, the fact that you cited your sources is good news! I haven't seen many other people do that, and they really should.
Well written, good read. Thanks for taking the time to write it.
So far there is no proof that SC2 is bringing in more viewers outside its fan base. The increase in viewers as of late with recent tournaments can be due to the storylines/new players drawing in a greater crowd from its original fan base. It's still in a niche, and until there's some solid evidence of it bringing in new viewers, then I don't think I could ever see SC2 becoming like BW was in Korea.
Hey guys I just want to note I'm not trying to claim star2 will become a new entertainment behemoth with 3 tv channels, just that it will not flame out and die like other esports that have gotten big ^_^
On December 18 2011 09:12 Rinny wrote: Hey guys I just want to note I'm not trying to claim star2 will become a new entertainment behemoth with 3 tv channels, just that it will not flame out and die like other esports that have gotten big ^_^
How do you account for the fact that Blizz actively tried to kill the broodwar scene when SC2 came out? What's to stop blizz from killing sc2 when sc3 comes out?
Well Blizzard didnt have any interest in broodwar because all the money went to kespa not them. Since they make money of Star 2, they will probably try to make the transition from star 2 to war 4 or star 3 as smooth as possible.
On December 18 2011 09:23 Rinny wrote: Well Blizzard didnt have any interest in broodwar because all the money went to kespa not them. Since they make money of Star 2, they will probably try to make the transition from star 2 to war 4 or star 3 as smooth as possible.
Thats the point exactly... you don't even try to contest that there will be a transition....
On December 18 2011 09:23 Rinny wrote: Well Blizzard didnt have any interest in broodwar because all the money went to kespa not them. Since they make money of Star 2, they will probably try to make the transition from star 2 to war 4 or star 3 as smooth as possible.
Thats the point exactly... you don't even try to contest that there will be a transition....
Right there will be a transition, but it will come after 6-7 years, and it will be to a similar game. This is good because sc2 will be able to create strong infrastructure that can be applied to future starcraft sequels.
Wow, bibliography and everything. I will admit I did not read in detail, but just seeing the work that you put into this made me give you a high rating. Good effort.
If you take bw in to comparison , bw is a much more successful sport in korea, housewifes , childrens,grandpa and grandma are watching the game even without playing it .My question is will sc2 reach this level of spectator-ship ?or will it exclusively be for gamers and only for gamers .
On December 18 2011 10:15 Sawamura wrote: If you take bw in to comparison , bw is a much more successful sport in korea, housewifes , childrens,grandpa and grandma are watching the game even without playing it .My question is will sc2 reach this level of spectator-ship ?or will it exclusively be for gamers and only for gamers .
My mom back in 2007-ish: Hey I know who that guy is... was his name Im Yo Hwan? The BW Progamer, right?
On December 18 2011 10:15 Sawamura wrote: If you take bw in to comparison , bw is a much more successful sport in korea, housewifes , childrens,grandpa and grandma are watching the game even without playing it .My question is will sc2 reach this level of spectator-ship ?or will it exclusively be for gamers and only for gamers .
I think the reason BW has such a wide appeal among different demographics is because of the way it was market. Basically they market players in korea like pop idols. I think there rational is BW fans are going to watch the games no matter what, so fuck them lets cater to those who wouldn't normally watch. I think that type of approach is gimicky and will result in bubble growth. To suppourt that, BW has experienced a sharp decline in korea, with the loss of sponsers and the closing of 3 teams. I don't think the decline is due solely to Star 2, because star2 isnt very popular in korea.
I think Star 2 should focus on slow substainable growth, as opposed to doing gimmicks like they did in BW to produce short term growth.
On December 18 2011 10:15 Sawamura wrote: If you take bw in to comparison , bw is a much more successful sport in korea, housewifes , childrens,grandpa and grandma are watching the game even without playing it .My question is will sc2 reach this level of spectator-ship ?or will it exclusively be for gamers and only for gamers .
I think the reason BW has such a wide appeal among different demographics is because of the way it was market. Basically they market players in korea like pop idols. I think there rational is BW fans are going to watch the games no matter what, so fuck them lets cater to those who wouldn't normally watch. I think that type of approach is gimicky and will result in bubble growth. To suppourt that, BW has experienced a sharp decline in korea, with the loss of sponsers and the closing of 3 teams. I don't think the decline is due solely to Star 2, because star2 isnt very popular in korea.
I think Star 2 should focus on slow substainable growth, as opposed to doing gimmicks like they did in BW to produce short term growth.
What's so gimmicky about players being like super stars ? Xellos, Boxer , Gorush were all followed by a legion of crazy girls fan and when the managers realized that not only they can get gamers to watch the sports and even casual fans because of the pro gamers looks it's a win win situation and with that they have been successful .
I find it hard to find sc2 to ever reach the same level of fans as they did in broodwar , no where do you find fan's (girls ) especially creating banners for their favourite player and even not taking that in to account casual viewers like i mention above even supernovamaniac mom know's the existent of lim yo hwan . Too bad I don't think casual viewers outside of korea will ever embrace the same way bw had it's impact .
So what if few sponsors decide to pull out of the pro gaming scene ? does that mean bw is in the decline ? This year sk proleague show us that there is still lot's of fans and sponsors are still interested in the scene . There's nothing gimmicky in anything broodwar is done at all . In fact it has been successful in many ways than you can imagine , bw is the original e sport and yet it doesn't need to be promoted every time like it's successor do " E-sport this , E- sport that " it's getting pretty stale in my opinion .
On December 18 2011 10:15 Sawamura wrote: If you take bw in to comparison , bw is a much more successful sport in korea, housewifes , childrens,grandpa and grandma are watching the game even without playing it .My question is will sc2 reach this level of spectator-ship ?or will it exclusively be for gamers and only for gamers .
I think the reason BW has such a wide appeal among different demographics is because of the way it was market. Basically they market players in korea like pop idols. I think there rational is BW fans are going to watch the games no matter what, so fuck them lets cater to those who wouldn't normally watch. I think that type of approach is gimicky and will result in bubble growth. To suppourt that, BW has experienced a sharp decline in korea, with the loss of sponsers and the closing of 3 teams. I don't think the decline is due solely to Star 2, because star2 isnt very popular in korea.
I think Star 2 should focus on slow substainable growth, as opposed to doing gimmicks like they did in BW to produce short term growth.
On December 18 2011 07:39 emythrel wrote: Not to mention LoL is free to play and much simpler to play than sc2 and its player base is accordingly larger.
SC2 is easier to play then BW. Also, Blizzard should make SC2 the expansions free. In fact, make SC2 free. It'll bring in more players. Just do Pay to Look Cool type stuff, like LoL does.
What's so gimmicky about players being like super stars ? Xellos, Boxer , Gorush were all followed by a legion of crazy girls fan and when the managers realized that not only they can get gamers to watch the sports and even casual fans because of the pro gamers looks it's a win win situation and with that they have been successful .
I find it hard to find sc2 to ever reach the same level of fans as they did in broodwar , no where do you find fan's (girls ) especially creating banners for their favourite player and even not taking that in to account casual viewers like i mention above even supernovamaniac mom know's the existent of lim yo hwan . Too bad I don't think casual viewers outside of korea will ever embrace the same way bw had it's impact .
So what if few sponsors decide to pull out of the pro gaming scene ? does that mean bw is in the decline ? This year sk proleague show us that there is still lot's of fans and sponsors are still interested in the scene . There's nothing gimmicky in anything broodwar is done at all . In fact it has been successful in many ways than you can imagine , bw is the original e sport and yet it doesn't need to be promoted every time like it's successor do " E-sport this , E- sport that " it's getting pretty stale in my opinion .
Well I think marketing players to audiences like fan girls, who like players because of their appearance or interviews, is by definition going to neglect your core fanbase, people who like the players because of their gameplay. I don't think its possible to have it both ways. Would you rather star2 be super popular for 3 years then not at all, or have it be slightly popular for a long time?
I also think its silly to compare the popularity of BW in korea to that of Star2 in the US. The social economic and cultural aspects of the two countries are incredibly different.
By definition losing sponsers and teams is a decline. Im not trying to argue that Star 2 is better than bw, just that star2 should try to avoid some of the mistakes bw made.
I find all the drama around Starcraft 2 a huge turn off. That's why I respect the Korean SC2 scene (Gom) way more than the NA scene. They are true professionals over there and not doing random shit just to get "hype" (ie EG, Naniwa, etc).
Are you kidding me? 11 years into proBW and you are going to call the business model gimmicky? A point of comparison. Yesterdays BW matches the studio was jam packed beyond max capacity. Regular proleague matches, it's been this way since the start of the season. On the other hand the Blizzcup finals could barely fill two thirds capacity. Real eSports stands on the same platform as conventional sports with a very strong proper casual demographic. Casual in BW means people who do not play the game, the same as it does in 'regular' sports. SC2 has no such demographic noobs do not count.
Edit: Gimmiky would be the hype and stranglehold bnet2.0 has on the scene. Real community centric growth in SC2 is stifled.
Ok well my argument is that star2 should avoid the mistakes that other eSports in the USA has made. I don't think BW is relevant because Korea is so different.
On December 18 2011 13:09 a176 wrote: I liked the part where you didnt talk about how boring most sc2 games are to the spectator
I liked how you think everybody thinks its boring to watch as a spectator. Love it you know what youa re talking about! Not you don't speak for everybody but yourself.
EPT
)and i must say i really love it. love the game, love the community, love the drama it's like watching football for me(but better)
No, in all seriousness, well written, and, to be honest, the fact that you cited your sources is good news! I haven't seen many other people do that, and they really should.
