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Well, almost one year ago I wrote this article talking about 'the death of Starcraft'. Was I wrong? Hell yes I was. In fact it turns out that 2009, despite what appearances may seem (WCG is smaller than it has ever been, etc) is probably the best year for Starcraft we've had in a LONG time! I've done a little research and plugged a few numbers and I was absolutely shocked at the outcomes; did you know that not counting local LAN events and WCG's there have been over $21,000 given out as prizes for events this year alone? And with two months left in 2009, there's still room for more, actually at least $6,000 more worth in prizes coming up! Some players have already made out like bandits. Wanna find out who? Want to read some of the other interesting plot lines and stuff that has happened in the foreign scene this year?
Part 1 will cover major tournaments, Part 2 will cover "other events", which is basically anything else amazing that has happened for Starcraft this year, Part 3 will cover upcoming events (tournaments, WCG, etc). Part 1 will be included in this post and the others parts will come in the next few weeks!
A: Covering Tournaments*
+ Show Spoiler +Below are a list of major tournaments and events played so far in 2009, as well as the prize pools and winners for those tournaments. There have been a ton of them! Ansadi Starleague Season 1 $700: + Show Spoiler +
1st: PJ [$400]
2nd: CaStrO [$200]
3rd: IdrA [$100]
+ Qpad gear + Show Spoiler +
1st: Ret [$200]
2nd: CaStrO [$100]
3rd: BRAT_OK [$50]
1st: IdrA [$700]
2nd: Fenix [$200]
3rd: BRAT_OK [$100]
1st: IdrA [$450]
2nd: Ret [$200]
3rd: Dreiven [$100]
1st: White-Ra [$1,100]
2nd: DinOt
3rd: IefNaij / IdrA
1st: IdrA [$5,000]
2nd: White-Ra [$3,000]
3rd: Kor Dude?
1st: Ret [$2,800]
2nd: DIMAGA [$1,400]
3rd: A2 [$570]
1st: Never [$300]
2nd: IefNaij [$150]
3rd: CaStrO [$50]
1st: Mondragon [$450]
2nd: White-Ra [$200]
3rd: Dreiven [$100]
1st: IdrA [$250]
2nd: Yayba [$100]
3rd: XiaOzi [$50]
*more to come* + Show Spoiler +
1st: CaStrO ($450)
2nd: IdrA + Yoon ($300 each)
3rd: White-Ra ($200)
4th: DIMAGA ($150)
... 9 others with $100
* there are other LAN events such as ASUS which I don't have prize information for ** denotes LAN events
B: Fools Makin' Out Like Bandits
+ Show Spoiler +By my account for major events so far there has been a total of $21,700 available in prizes. Note, I am not counting national WCG tournaments or local LAN events... if these events were included the amount would be much higher, the problem with including them is that information on prizes for all these events is not readily available. And The Winners Are: Ranked foreigners in terms of most winnings in 2009: + Show Spoiler +
1st: IdrA - $6,800 total
2nd: White-Ra - $4,500
3rd: Ret - $3,300 total
4th: DIMAGA - $1,550
5th: CaStrO - $800
Clearly the top finishers except for CaStrO made huge money on their LAN performances, the top two (IdrA and White-Ra) were ESWC winners and the next two (Ret and DIMAGA) were Dreamhack winners.
In terms of numbers of tournaments won it is clear IdrA and Ret are up top, with CaStrO and White-Ra trailing them.
Well that's my little recap of 2009 tournaments. I hope you all enjoyed it and stay tuned for the next two parts of this little series. Starcraft is alive and kickin' folks!
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yeah but not TSL in 2009 
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ya, fucking dumbass TL.net !
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Interesting stuff, thanks for putting time into this.
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Calgary25981 Posts
Whoa, awesome thread. Super interesting to see the results of all of that stuff. Thanks Xeris.
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+ Show Spoiler +lol $6,800? That's what I made doing some crappy research for 2 months in my uni (excluding free food, transport and housing)
I thought he had made like 15k+ or something
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What I really want to do is compare this to some of the other major games like CoD4, CS, WC3 and see how they compare O_O! I'd venture a guess that SC actually isn't too far behind at least one of these games.
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Wow, cool. That's a lot of money involved.
Idra, foreign Bonjwa FTW!
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8748 Posts
It's really good or really bad depending what perspective you look at it. It's good that there is so much to keep competitive players occupied which prevents the trend of competitive players only practicing for WCG. But it's bad in the sense that for most players, BW is still a horrible way to make money.
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On October 03 2009 07:28 EsX_Raptor wrote:+ Show Spoiler +lol $6,800? That's what I made doing some crappy research for 2 months in my uni (excluding free food, transport and housing)
I thought he had made like 15k+ or something
are you really expecting SC players to be making more money than people doing real jobs? lol...
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On October 03 2009 07:31 Xeris wrote:Show nested quote +On October 03 2009 07:28 EsX_Raptor wrote:+ Show Spoiler +lol $6,800? That's what I made doing some crappy research for 2 months in my uni (excluding free food, transport and housing)
I thought he had made like 15k+ or something are you really expecting SC players to be making more money than people doing real jobs? lol...
Koreans do it....
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8748 Posts
On October 03 2009 07:29 Xeris wrote:
What I really want to do is compare this to some of the other major games like CoD4, CS, WC3 and see how they compare O_O! I'd venture a guess that SC actually isn't too far behind at least one of these games.
But I think they have more money from team sponsors which is a better indicator of incentive.
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On October 03 2009 07:33 randombum wrote:Show nested quote +On October 03 2009 07:31 Xeris wrote:On October 03 2009 07:28 EsX_Raptor wrote:+ Show Spoiler +lol $6,800? That's what I made doing some crappy research for 2 months in my uni (excluding free food, transport and housing)
I thought he had made like 15k+ or something are you really expecting SC players to be making more money than people doing real jobs? lol... Koreans do it....
word
i heard somewhere jaedong making around 200k/contract
o.o!
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On October 03 2009 07:34 Liquid`NonY wrote:Show nested quote +On October 03 2009 07:29 Xeris wrote:
What I really want to do is compare this to some of the other major games like CoD4, CS, WC3 and see how they compare O_O! I'd venture a guess that SC actually isn't too far behind at least one of these games. But I think they have more money from team sponsors which is a better indicator of incentive.
ya I think the major difference with other games is that probably the highest paid foreigners are making <=$400 / month, whereas in other games that's more of a minimum salary, while higher paid players are making upwards of 1k / month.
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On October 03 2009 07:33 randombum wrote:Show nested quote +On October 03 2009 07:31 Xeris wrote:On October 03 2009 07:28 EsX_Raptor wrote:+ Show Spoiler +lol $6,800? That's what I made doing some crappy research for 2 months in my uni (excluding free food, transport and housing)
I thought he had made like 15k+ or something are you really expecting SC players to be making more money than people doing real jobs? lol... Koreans do it....
notice how this is about foreign bw players?
and there are less than 10 koreans that make more money than people who work real jobs anyways.
i can be a janitor and make more than 90% of progamers.
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thanks Xeris!
was a great read. from the community point of view, it has been a great year...as for the financial part, not much change...but 21,5k ain't bad for a 10 year old game.
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Nice to see some people getting paid for all their work.
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On October 03 2009 07:43 s.a.y wrote:
thanks Xeris!
was a great read. from the community point of view, it has been a great year...as for the financial part, not much change...but 21,5k ain't bad for a 10 year old game.
I'm pretty sure from a financial standpoint this year has been the best year since before 2004... 2008 had TSL which was 10k but not much else major, and previous years had nothing. Prior to 2004 my memory is very hazy though
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Its always a sort of niche market and it gets effected severely by the economy. All those companies that wanted to give it a short go poof quickly, while as something like baseball well people still go because its a great past time.
I really wish people would not use the few highly paid starcraft players as a basis for things. I mean don't get me wrong, if you can willingly accept most don't make much at all, but that it is really awesome they get to make a living playing games then that's excellent. Really though that's why its always gonna be younger kids i.e highschool kids roughly in korea because its not really enough to make much of a living on especially if you're a "professional".
The biggest downside to this all is that you're seeing how much money people outside of Korea are making(well Idra is inside) but, if you calculated the hourly rate......yikes.
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+ Show Spoiler +Actually, compared to other sports, even top progamers are payed peanuts. Moon, one of the best WC3 players of all time, is currently the most well-payed progamer (NaDa used to have that title, but he received a major pay cut in his most recent contract). This year, he signed a three year contract worth 700 million South Korean won or 470,000 US Dollars. In comparison, Ronaldinho (currently one of the best football/soccer players) signed a three year contract worth 28 million US Dollars. This is not even mentioning the fact that WeMade essentially got Moon for free (his old team, MyM, went bankrupt), while AC Milan had to buy Ronaldinho off Barcelona for 40 million dollars.
On topic, one can take the fact that there has been so many SC tournaments this year both ways. While it is a good thing that there were many foreigner events this year, one has to wonder whether this is essentially the swan song of the foreign Brood War scene before it dies and is replaced by the SC2 scene. Infact, I would honestly not be suprised if many of these events were motivated by the fact that BW is slowly running it`s course and that the development of the sequel caused a "mini revival" of BW activities in general.
Is StarCraft dead? No, not yet. However, it`s death is not that far off.
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Aotearoa39261 Posts
If you count liquibitions then that total grows higher 
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idra winning 6.8 k (as the highest foreigner) makes the game not seem very lucrative for a career
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T.O.P.
Hong Kong4685 Posts
On October 03 2009 08:18 Amber[LighT] wrote:idra winning 6.8 k (as the highest foreigner) makes the game not seem very lucrative for a career
Idra haven't even had a chance to play in proleague yet. He's not good enough to make money. Let's compare starcraft to baseball. A minor league player in baseball makes very little money. All-Stars and veterans that make the most money in baseball. It's the same in starcraft. Top players like Flash and Jaedong make the most money. Then there's veterans like Boxer and Savior who has a high salary even though they suck.
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United States12607 Posts
FYI Xeris, it was Super who finished third at ESWC Asia Masters.
Awesome OP, very informative! Thanks for the information, man!
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On October 03 2009 08:12 Tom Phoenix wrote:
Actually, compared to other sports, even top progamers are payed peanuts. Moon, one of the best WC3 players of all time, is currently the most well-payed progamer (NaDa used to have that title, but he received a major pay cut in his most recent contract). This year, he signed a three year contract worth 700 million South Korean won or 470,000 US Dollars. In comparison, Ronaldinho (currently one of the best football/soccer players) signed a three year contract worth 28 million US Dollars. This is not even mentioning the fact that WeMade essentially got Moon for free (his old team, MyM, went bankrupt), while AC Milan had to buy Ronaldinho off Barcelona for 40 million dollars.
[/spoiler]
Well by comparison, the sport doesn't make as much money or have as many viewers or endorsements. Also note that players still have other side deals and shit (free room and board, ads and appearance fees, endorsements, etc)
It definitely doesn't add up to as much as the contract alone of major sports players but I'm sure it took those sports a while to gain notoriety as well. Perhaps with the rebirth of esports in sc2 we will see a boost.
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51470 Posts
On October 03 2009 08:31 JWD wrote:
FYI Xeris, it was Super who finished third at ESWC Asia Masters.
Awesome OP, very informative! Thanks for the information, man!
No, it was definitely some 'Korean man' aka Tossgirl.
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United States4796 Posts
StarCraft is still alive! And SC2 will revitalize the scene and hopefully drag more people into proscene and fandom.
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On October 03 2009 08:55 El.Divino wrote:
StarCraft is still alive! And SC2 will revitalize the scene and hopefully drag more people into proscene and fandom.
imo starcraft is alive because of sc2 =(
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Calgary25981 Posts
On October 03 2009 07:28 EsX_Raptor wrote:+ Show Spoiler +lol $6,800? That's what I made doing some crappy research for 2 months in my uni (excluding free food, transport and housing)
I thought he had made like 15k+ or something
Cool, thanks for telling everyone your salary. I read this post while cruising in my M5 btw, brb dropping gold off my 90th story penthouse.
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United States42864 Posts
On October 03 2009 09:18 Chill wrote:Show nested quote +On October 03 2009 07:28 EsX_Raptor wrote:+ Show Spoiler +lol $6,800? That's what I made doing some crappy research for 2 months in my uni (excluding free food, transport and housing)
I thought he had made like 15k+ or something Cool, thanks for telling everyone your salary. I read this post while cruising in my M5 btw, brb dropping gold off my 90th story penthouse.
It's not his fault he was adversely effected by the recession.
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On October 03 2009 09:18 Chill wrote:Show nested quote +On October 03 2009 07:28 EsX_Raptor wrote:+ Show Spoiler +lol $6,800? That's what I made doing some crappy research for 2 months in my uni (excluding free food, transport and housing)
I thought he had made like 15k+ or something Cool, thanks for telling everyone your salary. I read this post while cruising in my M5 btw, brb dropping gold off my 90th story penthouse.
Oh Chill - you made me chuckle.
A lot of you raise some valid points, I wouldn't call the SC scene separate from the SC2 scene... I think the SC scene will translate directly into SC2 so I see it rather as an outgrowth. I don't see it as "when SC2 comes out SC will die" , there will be a gradual transition.
In this way, SC seems to be booming financially. What's amazing about it to me is that a LOT of it is community made contributions - there are practically no corporate sponsored events (except for ESL and major LAN events)... most of the tournaments have been privately funded. I can say with almost 100% certainty that SC has the most privately funded shit than any other game, and that is something that is truly amazing.
The inherent problem in this is that it doesn't lend itself to perpetuation. For example, will anonymous people keep dropping 1.5k in my paypal to host tournaments?? I don't think so (I hope so though). Unless these people are really loaded, I can't see this level of private donation continuing. However, while it lasts, we need to enjoy it and make the most out of it... and do everything we can to make sure to induce sponsors and other rich fools to take more interest in this game.
Next, on the argument of making money from BW not being worth the investment, I made a blog about that very topic HERE. And my new thought on this is this: for most people, playing BW is a hobby (except IdrA), so the fact they can make money for what they would gladly do for free anyways is a GOOD thing. Think of IdrA actually... counting WCG USA he's made almost $10,000 in 2009. He likely has very little living expense because of the fact that everything is paid for (room, food, etc) in Korea. Also, as far as I know his winnings aren't taxable income. So really he is just pocketing $10,000 in 10 months of work, which is approximately $1,000 per month. Sure it's not great but considering the fact IdrA is only 20 years old, that's actually pretty standard for a 20 year old, especially considering most 20 year olds aren't working full time. All things considered, IdrA is doing alright for himself...
Now, the thing to consider however is the growth potential. Will he make $10,000 or more in 2010? Will there be room for significant improvement? We'll have to see how SC2 pans out to answer that question.
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Great read 
common you rich poker players, give xeris a little something to host more events
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On October 03 2009 09:46 Xeris wrote:Show nested quote +On October 03 2009 09:18 Chill wrote:On October 03 2009 07:28 EsX_Raptor wrote:+ Show Spoiler +lol $6,800? That's what I made doing some crappy research for 2 months in my uni (excluding free food, transport and housing)
I thought he had made like 15k+ or something Cool, thanks for telling everyone your salary. I read this post while cruising in my M5 btw, brb dropping gold off my 90th story penthouse. Oh Chill - you made me chuckle. A lot of you raise some valid points, I wouldn't call the SC scene separate from the SC2 scene... I think the SC scene will translate directly into SC2 so I see it rather as an outgrowth. I don't see it as "when SC2 comes out SC will die" , there will be a gradual transition. In this way, SC seems to be booming financially. What's amazing about it to me is that a LOT of it is community made contributions - there are practically no corporate sponsored events (except for ESL and major LAN events)... most of the tournaments have been privately funded. I can say with almost 100% certainty that SC has the most privately funded shit than any other game, and that is something that is truly amazing. The inherent problem in this is that it doesn't lend itself to perpetuation. For example, will anonymous people keep dropping 1.5k in my paypal to host tournaments?? I don't think so (I hope so though). Unless these people are really loaded, I can't see this level of private donation continuing. However, while it lasts, we need to enjoy it and make the most out of it... and do everything we can to make sure to induce sponsors and other rich fools to take more interest in this game. Next, on the argument of making money from BW not being worth the investment, I made a blog about that very topic HERE. And my new thought on this is this: for most people, playing BW is a hobby (except IdrA), so the fact they can make money for what they would gladly do for free anyways is a GOOD thing. Think of IdrA actually... counting WCG USA he's made almost $10,000 in 2009. He likely has very little living expense because of the fact that everything is paid for (room, food, etc) in Korea. Also, as far as I know his winnings aren't taxable income. So really he is just pocketing $10,000 in 10 months of work, which is approximately $1,000 per month. Sure it's not great but considering the fact IdrA is only 20 years old, that's actually pretty standard for a 20 year old, especially considering most 20 year olds aren't working full time. All things considered, IdrA is doing alright for himself... Now, the thing to consider however is the growth potential. Will he make $10,000 or more in 2010? Will there be room for significant improvement? We'll have to see how SC2 pans out to answer that question.
it's also important to note just how rad the experience is. money is the least important part of being a progamer.
I have many friends who struggle from paycheck to paycheck either cause they are in school, can't find work, or just aren't paid well. Idra on the other hand is getting paid to compete at something he loves, expenses are paid, and when he performs well, he get's a monetary return.
in the meantime he's experience a different country, different culture, and learning way more about life than an extra $10k at home could.
Anyone who doesn't think this experience is lucrative is retarded.
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what makes you think his winnings aren't taxable? I mean, he probably falls into such a low income bracket that it doesn't matter, but winnings from most things are taxable, at a pretty high rate too.
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Starcraft bring Fame and Fortune.
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On October 03 2009 10:11 talismania wrote:
what makes you think his winnings aren't taxable? I mean, he probably falls into such a low income bracket that it doesn't matter, but winnings from most things are taxable, at a pretty high rate too.
how could they be taxable... the only thing that might be taxable is his WCG USA winnings... ESWC was in Korea so I'm not sure if they have similar rules or whatever.. but ya, his other winnings have been small and it's not like they're getting filed anywhere,
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On October 03 2009 07:34 Liquid`NonY wrote:Show nested quote +On October 03 2009 07:29 Xeris wrote:
What I really want to do is compare this to some of the other major games like CoD4, CS, WC3 and see how they compare O_O! I'd venture a guess that SC actually isn't too far behind at least one of these games. But I think they have more money from team sponsors which is a better indicator of incentive.
I think the other games are more of a payout, the teams who drop sc do it to stop wasting money and contribute more of it to their other teams like CS or COD4.
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On October 03 2009 07:29 Xeris wrote:
What I really want to do is compare this to some of the other major games like CoD4, CS, WC3 and see how they compare O_O! I'd venture a guess that SC actually isn't too far behind at least one of these games.
Comparing CoD4 would be easy for you I'm guessing? Just ask Nabore
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Isn't most of Idra's winnings going towards flights from Korea to US and vice versa? I remember him mentioning that about one of the tournaments... most of the winnings would be going to pay his flight there and back.
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On October 03 2009 10:55 eshlow wrote:
Isn't most of Idra's winnings going towards flights from Korea to US and vice versa? I remember him mentioning that about one of the tournaments... most of the winnings would be going to pay his flight there and back.
I'm pretty sure (like 99%?) that CJ paid for his WCG flight... what they wouldn't pay for was Dreamhack, which is why he ended up not going.
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Well, not bad at all for a dying game outside Korea. Considering that Starcraft is a game that outside its niche is almost flatline, it is doing pretty well in prizes.
If SC2 is half as good as SC1, I tell ya, 20K is gonna be prize total per week.
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To be honest, eSports NEED to have some spice. SC 2 better not be screwed up. We also need more RTS that can compare to SC. And we need games like Need For Speed to become professional. Like all type of games.
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Don't most professional foreign SC players get a monthly salary as well? I know CS players on good teams like EG, coL, or fnatic do. Granted, I'm sure it isn't much, but hey, it's a figure.
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iNcontroL
USA29055 Posts
in 2009 I made 700$ from Pan Am and 500$ from US Open. I have also received money from small events/training people etc.
o-O
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On October 03 2009 08:12 Tom Phoenix wrote:+ Show Spoiler +Actually, compared to other sports, even top progamers are payed peanuts. Moon, one of the best WC3 players of all time, is currently the most well-payed progamer (NaDa used to have that title, but he received a major pay cut in his most recent contract). This year, he signed a three year contract worth 700 million South Korean won or 470,000 US Dollars. In comparison, Ronaldinho (currently one of the best football/soccer players) signed a three year contract worth 28 million US Dollars. This is not even mentioning the fact that WeMade essentially got Moon for free (his old team, MyM, went bankrupt), while AC Milan had to buy Ronaldinho off Barcelona for 40 million dollars. On topic, one can take the fact that there has been so many SC tournaments this year both ways. While it is a good thing that there were many foreigner events this year, one has to wonder whether this is essentially the swan song of the foreign Brood War scene before it dies and is replaced by the SC2 scene. Infact, I would honestly not be suprised if many of these events were motivated by the fact that BW is slowly running it`s course and that the development of the sequel caused a "mini revival" of BW activities in general. Is StarCraft dead? No, not yet. However, it`s death is not that far off.
You're missing the point, these people are getting paid to play VIDEOGAMES!
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On October 03 2009 11:42 d(O.o)a wrote:Show nested quote +On October 03 2009 08:12 Tom Phoenix wrote:+ Show Spoiler +Actually, compared to other sports, even top progamers are payed peanuts. Moon, one of the best WC3 players of all time, is currently the most well-payed progamer (NaDa used to have that title, but he received a major pay cut in his most recent contract). This year, he signed a three year contract worth 700 million South Korean won or 470,000 US Dollars. In comparison, Ronaldinho (currently one of the best football/soccer players) signed a three year contract worth 28 million US Dollars. This is not even mentioning the fact that WeMade essentially got Moon for free (his old team, MyM, went bankrupt), while AC Milan had to buy Ronaldinho off Barcelona for 40 million dollars. On topic, one can take the fact that there has been so many SC tournaments this year both ways. While it is a good thing that there were many foreigner events this year, one has to wonder whether this is essentially the swan song of the foreign Brood War scene before it dies and is replaced by the SC2 scene. Infact, I would honestly not be suprised if many of these events were motivated by the fact that BW is slowly running it`s course and that the development of the sequel caused a "mini revival" of BW activities in general. Is StarCraft dead? No, not yet. However, it`s death is not that far off. You're missing the point, these people are getting paid to play VIDEOGAMES!
Yes! That is why his comparison to soccer was so bad!
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On October 03 2009 11:28 {88}iNcontroL wrote:
in 2009 I made 700$ from Pan Am and 500$ from US Open. I have also received money from small events/training people etc.
o-O
relax geoff, you're getting love in the other parts =P! this was excluding big national only LAN events like WCG stuff, etc !
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Cool, compilation, thanks!
I think not only was the amount of money higher this year, but small LANs in general have been popping up everywhere (East Coast, West Coast, Texas, Singapore, Canada) which really shows how the game is still so strong :D
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Do we even know for sure that SC2 will replace Brood War? CS: Source didn't replace 1.6.
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On October 03 2009 12:14 jalstar wrote:
Do we even know for sure that SC2 will replace Brood War? CS: Source didn't replace 1.6.
Isn't it? From what I've heard source has more sponsorship so everyone is switching over.
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I haven't heard that. But Source is 5-6 years old. Could there be a similar delay with SC2, especially with the expansions?
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51470 Posts
source pretty much died after the cgs folded.
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On October 03 2009 06:49 Ideas wrote:yeah but not TSL in 2009
lol sorry to bump. I just thought it would be funny to note, that the amount of money thrown into the TSL this time basically surpasses the entire year.
+ Show Spoiler +I am including random things like trip to OSL finals as well.
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yea ... $21,700 < 22,500$
(xeris' sum vs TSL prize pool without osl trip)
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lol wow for some reason I thought the TSL prize pool only added up to 20,000.
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On October 03 2009 12:50 GTR wrote:
source pretty much died after the cgs folded.
Sad but true,source wasn't really that bad of a game as people made it out to be just because they where cs 1.6 fanboys,I would go back to Source,but all it is now is zombie mods,and other stupid shit like that.
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Awesome read, thank for doing the research for me Xeris.
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Whoa, I remember reading that thread about the death of sc when I was first started following teamliquid and getting really bummed out. Pretty awesome
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Hah nice... this proves that the new TSL will kick ass... Thats pretty frickin epic
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EPT
