EPT
Note: This is a letter aimed at the Korean community, here is the English original. The purpose of this letter seems to be to address general issues and concerns about SC II following its Korean release.
Greetings StarCraft II community,
Blizzard has always been proud of the success that the StarCraft series has achieved globally, and we’ve been especially grateful for the passionate support of our Korean players. When we set out to create StarCraft II, we knew we were taking on a monumental task: we had to not only deliver a fun and balanced game, but we also had to create something that could live up to the legacy of its predecessor in Korea and thrive in the unique gaming culture that’s evolved here over the past decade. Which brings me to why I wanted to write this letter to you today: to address some of the questions you’ve had about our decisions, our plans, and our goals for StarCraft II.
First, I’d like to touch upon the evolution of StarCraft II and Battle.net. Both are bigger, more ambitious, and more complex than their predecessors, and we’re committed to providing new features, great new content, and outstanding support for years to come. You’ve started to see some improvements already. We’ve enhanced how custom maps are sorted and viewed, and we have more upgrades planned to make it easier to enjoy a wider variety of game types. Our development teams are hard at work on developing new ladder and custom maps, and we’ll soon be unveiling several custom games made by the StarCraft II team that we think will surprise you. And while we’re confident that we’ve released one of the most balanced RTS games ever, perfect balance is a never-ending battle -- and something we will continue to strive for. We’ve constructed the new Battle.net to make it easier for us to monitor how players are playing, collect and analyze feedback, and ensure that StarCraft II remains the ultimate competitive real-time strategy game.
We’ve heard your feedback regarding public and private chat channels as well and will be adding them in an upcoming patch. We’ll also soon be introducing seasons to the StarCraft II ladder; as seasons progress, players will be able to access records of past accomplishments. Around the same time, we’ll be introducing new pro and semi-pro leagues. In addition, Battle.net’s social benefits will continue to become more evident as we add new games to the service. Players can already connect and communicate with friends across World of Warcraft and StarCraft II, and in the future, they’ll be able to do the same in Diablo III.
We realized from the start that players would want to access and use StarCraft II and Battle.net in different ways. That’s why we created a variety of access options to suit different play styles and levels of commitment. Players can choose from multiple time-based passes if they know they’ll play intermittently, or they can choose an unlimited-access pass. In addition, Korea is the only region where World of Warcraft players can play StarCraft II for free!
Finally, I hope many of you were able to watch the finals for the first season of the Global StarCraft II League this past weekend. I’d like to personally congratulate FruitDealer for his hard-won victory and thank all of the participants for making this first season so successful and memorable. The GSL is just getting started -- the Season 2 preliminaries begin on October 9, and matches will be broadcast beginning October 18. We’ll be welcoming a new batch of players, including some very familiar faces, and we’re looking forward to seeing what strategies and surprises they all have in store. Gom TV is hard at work ensuring this season will be more epic and accessible than the last; you can visit www.gomtv.com for details or to catch any of the GSL matches you might have missed. I’d also like to mention that we are actively encouraging the creation of amateur StarCraft II tournaments as well, and we look forward to supporting more community tournaments at that level.
We continue to receive questions about the status of the negotiations between GomTV and organizations such as KeSPA, OGN, and MBC. We recognize many of you are interested to continue watching StarCraft I matches on TV, and as long as there is interest, we would like to see that continue as well. As GomTV is our exclusive tournament and broadcasting licensee in Korea, I cannot provide too many details about their ongoing negotiations other than to say that I am aware of the status of the negotiations and remain optimistic that these parties will be able to reach agreements that allow this to happen. Contrary to what you may have heard, it would make us very happy to see both StarCraft and StarCraft II matches continue to be televised at the professional level. These are both Blizzard games, after all.
I hope I’ve addressed some of the questions you’ve had over the past couple of months. As always, we appreciate the continued feedback from our Korean players, and we look forward to hearing more from you as StarCraft II and Battle.net evolve. See you online.
Sincerely,
Mike Morhaime
CEO and Cofounder, Blizzard Entertainment
