WCS
Any criticisms are welcome.E-Sport Rising
It is common to see children play tag, run around aimlessly, build with Legos, or play sports. With the advent of computing systems, the children of today also have an option to play videogames. When a child grows up playing videogames, they can become more than a leisure activity; they can become his or her passion. For the uninitiated, videogames do not always entail running and shooting around aimlessly, building a perfect avatar, or experiencing a sports simulation. Some videogames are competitive, putting players into a dual where one with better strategy, execution, and practice will come out on top. A videogame with such depth can become something hard to master, making spectating someone play it perfectly at the highest level an awesome experience, comparable to watching sports. A competitive videogame with an active community to back it up gives birth to a new medium of competition, opening new business ventures and breaking a traditional definition of sport. This new electronic medium is aptly named as E-Sport. To have a better understanding of the E-Sport phenomenon, a person should examine its biggest root, Starcraft, and analyze how it gained and retained viewership.
Starcraft is a real-time strategy computer game, released by Blizzard Entertainment in 1998. In this game, players get to collect resources to build a base, and then build an army to destroy an opponent’s base. This game somewhat resembles chess in terms of complex strategies. Chess, however, is a turn-based game, meaning players have time to plan for their next move, and players cannot rebuild their chess pieces (besides promoting a pawn). Starcraft is played in real-time and players can rebuild their army, so in order to have an advantage, players need to move as quickly as possible while keep replenishing their army. A game with such high skill-ceiling would attract young people to play and compete. For Starcraft, that started in South Korea. In the late ’90s South Korea suffered a severe depression that nearly devastated the South Korean economy. The youth then found their sanctuary in internet cafés called PC bangs, which offer cheap Internet and cheap videogames. Starcraft was put on spotlight and its popularity spread among PC bangs like a wild fire. PC bangs also expanded corresponding to the demand to approximately 28,000 cafés across the country (Henheffer 86). The phenomenon continued as “competition became tournaments and leagues; spectators became fans and community” (Cheung and Huang 763). Then television channels in South Korea started broadcasting Starcraft because it had viewership and was considerably cheaper than making good television dramas. So, one can contribute luck due to South Korea’s depression to Starcraft’s success as an E-Sport. Nevertheless, Starcraft sticks and has acquired millions viewers on television, professional leagues and teams, sponsored by large South Korean companies like Samsung, SK Telecom and KTF (763).
However, not only the game’s competitive nature or luck in South Korea’s economic state made Starcraft a successful E-Sport. As not all competitive activities are entertaining to watch, a game like Starcraft needs other elements. Information asymmetry plays a crucial role as a source Starcraft’s entertainment. Information asymmetry can be defined as “the imbalance of information between the player and spectator, where due to the game design, one party is privy to some information and the other is not” (Cheung and Huang 769). That easily creates tension and suspense to the spectator. Information asymmetry comes in three flavors. First, the information is known to the player, but not the spectator. In American football, coaches developed elaborate plays before the players go onto the field, and the spectators are entertained as they watch the plays unfold. In Starcraft, players play out their strategy which can be safe, aggressive, or unorthodox. Unorthodox plays are often risky, as it is intended to catch the opponent off guard (769). That keeps the game fresh and delights spectator when they to see players pull it off. The second flavor is when the information is known to the spectator, but not the players. In televised poker tournaments, all players’ cards are shown to the viewers, so they know when a player is bluffing or making a bad decision, evoking their empathetic emotions. Starcraft has a concept called “fog of war,” which allows the players to have vision only around their army or structures, so no players would have a complete vision of their opponent’s army placement or bases (770). The spectators would feel the tension and suspense, as they would know when a player is making a sneak attack and wait in anticipation to see if the other player responds in time. The third flavor is when the information is unknown to both players and spectators (770). From the penalty kicks in soccer to the outcome of a close battle in Starcraft, excitements are drawn seconds before players execute their crucial moves. Tension and suspense given by information asymmetry keep spectator on a hook the entire game and greatly increase the game’s viewership.
The most important element that shaped Starcraft as an E-Sport, though, is the community. Starcraft was not made with being an E-Sport in mind and no one would predict the inception of this new medium. The community made E-Sport for what it is today. This was especially true in the Western E-Sport scene, as there was no solid infrastructure like in South Korea. Due to time zone difference, some Western spectators stayed up late in odd hours to watch Korean league games. Some picked up a microphone and commentated on games or spent time translating Korean Starcraft related articles for zero financial gain. Internet forums like Teamliquid.net provided Starcraft fans around the world a place to communicate. Strong sense of community allowed Starcraft to reign as the king of E-Sport for around ten years. Starcraft soon found a rightful heir; Starcraft II was released by Blizzard Entertainment in 2010. Blizzard noticed the growth of E-Sport and intended to make Starcraft II even more popular than the original, especially in the West. Seven years of development was worthwhile, as Starcraft II was a big hit, selling 1.5 million units in first 48 hours (Finch). Starcraft II quickly surpassed Starcraft’s popularity and solidified E-Sport in the Western soil. Today, there are Starcraft II tournaments and leagues in the United States and Europe, in addition to South Korea. The community continues to help Blizzard improve the game by giving feedback and make content like articles and commentaries. As the E-Sport market grows, there are more opportunities to make a living off videogames. Although that often requires much more work than a regular job, it is worth it if that follows a person’s passion. For example, an American commentator, HDStarcraft, stated that it took one year to reach 100,000 subscribers on his Youtube channel but this has tripled to over 300,000 subscribers within the last few months in 2010 (Cheung and Huang 766). This fresh and growing E-Sport phenomenon provides developers a new way to design a game and creates new business opportunities for the community and professional investors alike.
A game played in an internet café became a worldwide phenomenon. Whether it was because of luck, solid game design, or zealous community, E-Sport is here to stay. Starcraft has set an infrastructure for future E-Sport games to follow. This new medium has an untapped potential that not only creates a new game design and business opportunity, but also might change the way we view sports in general.
Work Cited
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Cheung, Gifford and Jeff Huang. “Starcraft from the Stands: Understanding the Game Spectator.” CHI 2011: 763-772. ACM. Web. 25 Sept. 2012
Henheffer, Tom. "A League Of Their Own." Maclean's 123.43 (2010): 86. MasterFILE Premier. Web. 25 Sept. 2012.
Steven, Finch. "Starcraft 2 Sells 1.5 Million Units in First 48 Hours; starcraft-2." Newstex Blogs (USA) 06 Aug. 2010: NewsBank. Web. 25 Sept. 2012.
Henheffer, Tom. "A League Of Their Own." Maclean's 123.43 (2010): 86. MasterFILE Premier. Web. 25 Sept. 2012.
Steven, Finch. "Starcraft 2 Sells 1.5 Million Units in First 48 Hours; starcraft-2." Newstex Blogs (USA) 06 Aug. 2010: NewsBank. Web. 25 Sept. 2012.
