EPTBlizzard Entertainment has announced today that operation of WCS America Season 1 will be handled by ESL (Electronic Sports League) effective immediately. WCS Europe and Global StarCraft II League (GSL) will also go on as planned and are not affected by this news.
NASL recently informed Blizzard that it would be unable to honor its commitment to operate the WCS America Season 1 competition. After hearing this news, Blizzard decided to immediately transfer operation of the league to ESL, in order to protect the interests of the pro players and fans, as well as the integrity of WCS competition.
ESL, our current partner for WCS Europe, will step in and operate WCS America for the rest of Season 1. The remainder of Premier League round of 32 competition will go on as scheduled next Tuesday, March 11 and Wednesday, March 12 with the broadcast originating from ESL’s studio in Cologne, Germany. You’ll be able to catch the action as you always have, through Twitch, the official WCS portal site, or on the Blizzard WCS mobile app for iOS.
In order to accommodate changes in player travel, the WCS America Round of 16 will be delayed until April 5-6 and played live at the ESL studio in Cologne. The WCS America Finals will then take place at the ESL studio on April 10-13, at the same time as the WCS Europe Finals. Blizzard and ESL have already begun working with players to assist with the new travel requirements to Germany.
WCS America Season 2 and Season 3 will take place, and we will announce more details about schedule and operation of those seasons as soon as possible. And as mentioned before, WCS Europe and GSL competition will not be impacted by these changes to WCS America.
We’d like to acknowledge NASL’s support of StarCraft II eSports and thank them for producing many memorable events over the years.
We want to thank ESL for being able to step in and help us continue WCS America competition with minimal impact to viewers and players. They continue to grow as a global leader in eSports and Blizzard is proud to work more closely with them on WCS.
Keep checking the official WCS site for further news about WCS America, and be sure to tune in next week for more exciting StarCraft II competition in WCS America Premier League!
NASL recently informed Blizzard that it would be unable to honor its commitment to operate the WCS America Season 1 competition. After hearing this news, Blizzard decided to immediately transfer operation of the league to ESL, in order to protect the interests of the pro players and fans, as well as the integrity of WCS competition.
ESL, our current partner for WCS Europe, will step in and operate WCS America for the rest of Season 1. The remainder of Premier League round of 32 competition will go on as scheduled next Tuesday, March 11 and Wednesday, March 12 with the broadcast originating from ESL’s studio in Cologne, Germany. You’ll be able to catch the action as you always have, through Twitch, the official WCS portal site, or on the Blizzard WCS mobile app for iOS.
In order to accommodate changes in player travel, the WCS America Round of 16 will be delayed until April 5-6 and played live at the ESL studio in Cologne. The WCS America Finals will then take place at the ESL studio on April 10-13, at the same time as the WCS Europe Finals. Blizzard and ESL have already begun working with players to assist with the new travel requirements to Germany.
WCS America Season 2 and Season 3 will take place, and we will announce more details about schedule and operation of those seasons as soon as possible. And as mentioned before, WCS Europe and GSL competition will not be impacted by these changes to WCS America.
We’d like to acknowledge NASL’s support of StarCraft II eSports and thank them for producing many memorable events over the years.
We want to thank ESL for being able to step in and help us continue WCS America competition with minimal impact to viewers and players. They continue to grow as a global leader in eSports and Blizzard is proud to work more closely with them on WCS.
Keep checking the official WCS site for further news about WCS America, and be sure to tune in next week for more exciting StarCraft II competition in WCS America Premier League!
http://wcs.battle.net/sc2/en/articles/wcs-america-production-and-schedule-update
Edit: The page has now been removed.
Edit 2: The original page has been restored, the new text is added in italics
NASL has issued their statement on http://nasl.tv/News/Article/20140307farewell-to-the-starcraft-community
It is with wistful hearts that the North American Star League must bid the StarCraft II community farewell today. We notified Blizzard that we would be unable to continue operating WCS America. The league will continue operating, and Blizzard will post an announcement with details on their official WCS Site at http://wcs.battle.net.
Three and a half years ago, a small team of passionate individuals driven by our love of StarCraft II sought to create something special and foster the prominence of eSports in North America. Over time, our mission and our team grew, as did our ambition.
Driven to innovate the daily broadcast space and improve, our crew busily worked behind the scenes each season. In 2011, we broadcast our first two seasons, held our first two events, and invested in and prepared new equipment that would later enable us to deliver a truly live broadcast.
In 2012, our team expanded, and we began a long term commitment to improving our production quality, streamlining broadcasts, and creating engaging content. In so doing, we showcased the lighter side of StarCraft eSports with numerous segments and events like the NASL Sunday ShowDown. We also fell in love with Canada.
Our passion continued in 2013. With the professional StarCraft II landscape evolving, the team decided to push our creativity in a new direction, and we launched The Pulse, a live eSports talk show rich with prepared highlights, interviews, and other segments.
When the opportunity arose to become the official partner for the StarCraft II: World Championship Series in America, we were elated. After all, the company was founded on a love for StarCraft, and Blizzard has always been a wonderful partner. Albeit busy with other projects, the team rolled up our sleeves, added to the family, and expanded the studio so that we could deliver exceptional daily StarCraft II broadcasts once again.
Alas, fate has scouted our fast expand, and our time broadcasting StarCraft has come to an end. To all of our partners, sponsors, friends, and especially our fans, thank you.
GGWP.
Three and a half years ago, a small team of passionate individuals driven by our love of StarCraft II sought to create something special and foster the prominence of eSports in North America. Over time, our mission and our team grew, as did our ambition.
Driven to innovate the daily broadcast space and improve, our crew busily worked behind the scenes each season. In 2011, we broadcast our first two seasons, held our first two events, and invested in and prepared new equipment that would later enable us to deliver a truly live broadcast.
In 2012, our team expanded, and we began a long term commitment to improving our production quality, streamlining broadcasts, and creating engaging content. In so doing, we showcased the lighter side of StarCraft eSports with numerous segments and events like the NASL Sunday ShowDown. We also fell in love with Canada.
Our passion continued in 2013. With the professional StarCraft II landscape evolving, the team decided to push our creativity in a new direction, and we launched The Pulse, a live eSports talk show rich with prepared highlights, interviews, and other segments.
When the opportunity arose to become the official partner for the StarCraft II: World Championship Series in America, we were elated. After all, the company was founded on a love for StarCraft, and Blizzard has always been a wonderful partner. Albeit busy with other projects, the team rolled up our sleeves, added to the family, and expanded the studio so that we could deliver exceptional daily StarCraft II broadcasts once again.
Alas, fate has scouted our fast expand, and our time broadcasting StarCraft has come to an end. To all of our partners, sponsors, friends, and especially our fans, thank you.
GGWP.
Edit 3: ESL released their statement, naming Rotterdam and Nathanias as casters for the rest of the ro32 from Cologne
http://eslgaming.com/news/esl-take-over-production-wcs-america-2014-season-1
The ESL will be the operator of the remainder of World Championship Series America in Season I of 2014 following NASL's announcement that they’re unable to continue operating the league.
All remaining WCS America shows as well as studio events will be produced out of the ESL studios in Cologne, Germany. The remaining round of 32 groups played online will be broadcasted as originally scheduled, on March 11 and March 12 with Kevin “RotterdaM” van der Kooi and Nathan “Nathanias” Fabrikant as the commentators.
The Round of 16 groups will be played on a new date of April 5-6 (two groups a day) in the ESL studio in Cologne which has been home to WCS Europe for almost a year, with the players present as well as a live studio audience. We have already begun working with players on their travel arrangements to Germany. The finals for both WCS Europe and WCS America will take place in the ESL studio in Cologne on April 10-13.
We are fully committed to bringing the StarCraft community the best possible WCS America experience and would like to reassure everyone that the quality at which we produce WCS Europe will not be affected in any way.
