It's not over -- KeSPA plays for keeps - Page 5

On September 05 2012 15:36 Talack wrote:
I think that blizzard will take a far more active role in sc2 than they did with BW in regards to legislating/negotiating terms of use of their game.

This will probably be for the best of all players and organizations.

On September 04 2012 22:24 Chef wrote:
Unless you are a huge fan of GOM, there's no much reason to want to stop it from happening. SC2 stands to gain a lot from a focused scene. This is KeSPA saying we want to do things right instead of letting GOM fuck up everything. Still KeSPA has the recognize at least for now that they need GOM players to legitimize the talents of their own. Once it becomes clear KeSPA pros are competeting at or above the level of Code S, they'll do what they can to fix the scene if Blizzard doesn't get in the way.

On September 05 2012 10:39 zakmaa wrote:
The people with the real leverage here, are the players. Let's not forget that spectators watch SC2 to watch them.

On September 05 2012 06:43 Megiddosc wrote:
What I have seen of OSL so far has not impressed. How is it that people were able to take a competition seriously when it comes down to round robin Best of 1s? In a team league (all-kill format, not proleague format) that is understandable. But in what is purported to be a serious competition/tournament? It's ridiculous. There's a reason GSL went away from that round robin best of 1 format they had with code S awhile ago.

And I don't think I'm alone. All the time I heard from BW fans about how awesome the production for OSL/Proleague is, but I don't see it. It's on par, if not below with the presentation of production of the GSL. Maybe the production values on the actual TV feed going out to Korea is amazing, but not what I've seen on the twitch stream. If It does come down to KeSPA vs ESF or OSL/PL vs. GSL/GSTL then I think by a wide margin that the international community will back ESF/GSL. And considering that SC2 is absolutely nowhere near BW-levels of fandom in Korea, both need the international audience.

On September 06 2012 01:34 ShatterZer0 wrote:


This is generally wrong in my opinion.

Kespa sees no reason for foreigners to be a part of SC at all. The vast majority of the market is in Korean BW fans anyways, as long as they transition Kespa is happy. Foreign (non-Korea/China) fans are just a side salad.

On September 05 2012 00:55 sAsImre wrote:
Gomtv is already providing an inferior product (quality wise) with an inferior media in Korea and ppl want them to succeed?

On September 04 2012 13:34 babylon wrote:
Sometimes I wonder if the effort put into promoting SC2 in Korea is worth it. I almost feel as if Blizzard is fighting a losing battle there against a population that's bitter about the death of its "national sport" -- honestly, I'm not convinced KeSPA forcing a switch can revitalize the scene -- and that their efforts are better spent promoting their product elsewhere (i.e. China). Sure, they would be competing with massively popular games, but tbh, they'll be competing with LoL and DotA (2) everywhere they go in the future as well. Might as well try to exploit China's massive potential while you're at it and not have to fight with KeSPA.

Not saying the Chinese scene doesn't also have its own problems, but certainly it's preferable to trying to keep KeSPA on a leash and hoping against hope that the GSL doesn't go under from the pressure.

On September 08 2012 21:01 B.I.G. wrote:

If it died out, its obviously nowhere near a "national sport". I don't think the lack of SC2 succes in Korea is due to some bitter BW players. Heck, not even the pro players themselves are too bitter to switch to SC2.

But apart from that I think the community should snap Kespa's neck now that they're at their weakest, or I'm pretty damn sure they will drag down this entire thing we built down with their greed.

On September 08 2012 21:10 Shady Sands wrote:

If you read the OP more closely, you'll see that KeSPA is basically the Korean corporates. The best players are Korean. Kill KeSPA and they'll just figure out a way to dominate Korean players in some other way. For example, I wouldn't put it past Korea launch an investigation into "match-fixing" if a foreign house tries to muscle its way into acquiring the top Korean pros; I wouldn't be surprised if an online astroturfing campaign was launched the sully the names of one of TBLS if they dared switch to a foreign house. And so long as the top talent is monopolized by Korean houses, then eSports is owned by the Koreans.

It's a similar phenomenon to how the mob controls the New Jersey/New York real estate market--they don't finance development; they just control the construction unions, which means that not a single square of concrete can be laid without mob approval, or else the entire project just grinds to a halt with go-slow work tactics and sabotage. The same thing will eventually happen to any non-Korean-controlled top league: while the corporates might be happy now to see foreigners make money off Korean players, once those leagues have gained enough visibility overseas, they'll twist some arms to own the leagues again. And the really sad thing is, foreign fans can't do anything about it.

On September 09 2012 01:19 B.I.G. wrote:

I know what the deal is, and I still think we should (try to) kill Kespa.
Seems to me like its all up to the Kespa players. Only they have the power to give Kespa the finger and abondon ship.

On September 09 2012 01:19 B.I.G. wrote:
Seems to me like its all up to the Kespa players. Only they have the power to give Kespa the finger and abondon ship.

On September 09 2012 01:19 B.I.G. wrote:

I know what the deal is, and I still think we should (try to) kill Kespa.
Seems to me like its all up to the Kespa players. Only they have the power to give Kespa the finger and abondon ship.

On September 04 2012 12:59 motbob wrote:
Note: This blog is quite late. I had the idea to write this right after the "KeSPA will send players to GSL" announcement was made, but because of work and The International 2, I never got around to it.

---

I haven't heard anything about the KeSPA vs GOM conflict since KeSPA seemingly caved last week. For those who have forgotten what happened, KeSPA originally stated that they would not send players to GSL 4 (the one that just started) or GSL 5. A group of GSL players led by Nestea countered by threatening to pull out of the OSL; all but one GSL player pledged to leave. KeSPA then made a statement promising to send players to GSL 5, but that was not enough to placate the GSL players, who continued to hold out. Finally, KeSPA conceded completely and sent 90 players to the GSL 4 prelims (and also allowed Jaedong and by.Sun to compete in Code S). But in this blog I'm going to explain why KeSPA will withdraw its players from the GSL as soon as it feels it can do so without repercussions.

In comments on the situation from TL and reddit, it was interesting that no one was speculating on KeSPA's motives. Or at least they were doing so vaguely. "They want a monopoly on the big name players." "They want to shut out anyone who doesn't dance to their fiddle." Every post that tried to explain KeSPA's actions seemed confusing to me.

So I'm going to try to explain the intent behind KeSPA's actions. By looking at what KeSPA wants and at what assets they have to help them get what they want, we'll be able to see that this conflict between GOM and KeSPA has not gone away and is in danger of splitting the SC2 scene in two in the coming months.

Before we begin, it's important to realize that KeSPA and the Proleague proteams are essentially one and the same. The decision-making body in KeSPA is made up of people from all the different sponsors/owners of proteams.

Let's flash back to 2007. IEG (International Esports Group) was a company sponsoring the proteam eSTRO. One day, KeSPA decided that they, as the administrators of all SC:BW events, owned the rights to broadcast such events. They put the rights up for auction for a three year period. OGN and MBC neglected to bid on those rights (because they did not recognize KeSPA's legitimacy in claiming those rights) and IEG snapped them up. A few months later, IEG started negotiations with MBC/OGN, stating that those two broadcasting companies needed to pay IEG for the rights to run leagues. During this time, KeSPA was strongly supporting IEG in their negotiations. MBC and OGN fought back, refusing IEG's demands outright, and talks broke down repeatedly. But when KeSPA pulled all of their players from the MSL qualifiers, OGN and MBC quickly caved. They simply couldn't run their tournaments without KeSPA players.

So KeSPA wanted money to help offset the cost of running proteams. They used their assets (the players on their proteams) to accomplish the goal of pressuring OGN/MBC to give them money. That statement might make no sense since OGN/MBC were paying IEG, not KeSPA itself. But KeSPA needed OGN/MBC to pay IEG, or broadcasting rights to KeSPA-run leagues would be essentially worthless. It's not like any company would purchase broadcasting rights from KeSPA if they had no guarantee that they'd be able to make the broadcasting companies pay up.

After the fracas in 2007, there was stability in the ESPORTS ecosystem. The broadcasting companies essentially paid KeSPA via IEG, and KeSPA used the money to run the proteam houses. Not a bad system overall, and not a system that casts KeSPA in such a bad light, I think. Running a proteam house is expensive!

But once GOM entered the scene, a wrench was thrown into the mix. GOM started a brand new SC:BW league in 2008 and refused to pay IEG a dime for broadcasting rights. Three teams boycotted the first GOM Classic Starleague: eSTRO, MBCgame HERO, and OGN Sparkyz. It shouldn't be difficult to work out exactly why each of those teams felt that it wasn't in their best interest to participate (recall that eSTRO was sponsored by IEG).

GOM preferred to deal with Blizzard, who they saw as the legitimate holders of Starcraft broadcasting rights. This created a problem for KeSPA. Its players (aka its assets) were being used for the benefit of another corporation without anything in return beyond sponsor exposure. The fact that GOM was not paying IEG meant that the value of KeSPA's broadcasting rights was not increasing. GOM paying Blizzard also set a troubling precedent for that KeSPA desperately hoped OGN and MBC would not follow. So KeSPA teams gradually began withdrawing from the league, citing scheduling issues / overwork for the players. In the third season of the league, SKT1 withdrew. Before the fourth season could start, KT, STX Soul, and Airforce ACE withdrew. Blizzard entered into negotiations with KeSPA to try to save the league, but the talks failed. In late 2009, with only five teams participating, the GSL ceased to be.

Fast forward to 2012. An identical situation is taking place. GOM is not paying IEG (although I'm not sure if IEG has rights to anything but Proleague anymore) and is certainly not paying KeSPA. So KeSPA, naturally, withdrew their players from GSL. Once again, their assets were being used in a way that did not benefit them beyond sponsorship exposure. But this time, they had to back down. They no longer held all the cards. GSL would have survived without KeSPA players, and OGN would have been dealt a crippling blow without half of its Ro16.

In six months, what will the situation be like? If you're a believer in the superiority of KeSPA players, you might expect half of Code S to be made up of them by then. That means the blade that Nestea and co. had at the neck of OGN will be turned on GOM.

Just like in 2007, KeSPA will be able to use their players as leverage in talks with GOM/Blizzard. The threat of withdrawal from GSL will be very real. KeSPA will be able to make new demands from a position of power. And if past relations between Blizzard/GOM and KeSPA are any indication, negotiations will fail and KeSPA will withdraw its players as a result. Last week, KeSPA chose to announce its non-participation in GSL right before the OSL Ro16, leaving them open to a counter-boycott. Next time around, they can choose better timing for their announcement of withdrawal.

So that's my prediction. A counterargument to this blog might be the idea that Blizzard will swoop in and threaten KeSPA with the shutdown of Proleague/OSL in order to convince them to send players to the GSL. However, I believe that this is extremely unlikely. If I were Blizzard, I would treat that kind of threat as a nuclear option -- one to be used as a last resort. A threat of total shutdown might be the cue for KeSPA to switch away from SC2 entirely. I think Blizzard is afraid of that possibility, given SC2's unpopularity in Korea. Blizzard Korea has also been seemingly ineffectual during this whole fiasco. They were caught completely off guard by KeSPA's actions and they did not release a public statement with any substance during the whole affair. Don't expect Blizzard to ride in on a white horse and save GSL in the event that KeSPA withdraws its players.

On September 05 2012 03:51 Hikari wrote:
I think the problem is that the Korean teams needed money to be financially viable. Given the financial state of the GSL sc2 teams (and how they are constantly leaking players to richer foreign teams), I think it is safe to assure that running a SC2 pro team is not what you would invest in if you wanted to make a profit.

On September 04 2012 19:06 BLinD-RawR wrote:


GomTV is as needed as MBC was.

a second broadcasting station is a good thing

On September 09 2012 06:07 rotinegg wrote:

yea that makes sense, if i had a 50k+ salary (200k+ in the case of bisu, flash) from KeSPA i would DEFINITELY want to abandon ship to eSF and play for free