I hope those new World Championship (which I would bet will not happen at Kattowice anymore) pay attention to the new realities and South Korea gets treated more like a fourth region and not as a singular thing compared to the foreign scene. With a GSL that shrunk, it would be just weird to give 50% of the "region slots" towards it. Especially since I believe Dark and Cure will probably not be around long enough because of their military service, right?

tlnetuser108

83 Posts

February 23 2023 23:14 GMT

#24

I wish Elon Musk loved SC2

JJH777

United States4391 Posts

February 24 2023 00:24 GMT

#25

On February 24 2023 07:57 Balnazza wrote:
I hope those new World Championship (which I would bet will not happen at Kattowice anymore) pay attention to the new realities and South Korea gets treated more like a fourth region and not as a singular thing compared to the foreign scene. With a GSL that shrunk, it would be just weird to give 50% of the "region slots" towards it. Especially since I believe Dark and Cure will probably not be around long enough because of their military service, right?

I think until Korea actually does bad at an IEM they deserve all their slots. Despite Time winning Korea had a very good IEM overall and made it clear they definitely deserved their 50% representation.

It's very likely that more Koreans will retire due to the GSL cuts but you can't just assume that and punish players for it. Korean players are already punished enough with the GSL downsizing. Doing what you're suggesting would just force even more retirements.

argonautdice

Canada2716 Posts

February 24 2023 00:36 GMT

#26

Here are the prize pool money based on esportsearnings:

2022: $2.2m
2021: $1.8m
2020: $2.2m
2019: $3.9m
2018: $4.6m
2017: $4.4m
2016: $3.7m
2015: $3.1m
2014: $3.7m
2013: $4.1m
2012: $4.2m
2011: $3.2m

Prizes took a big hit with COVID/waning interest. Let's see how 2023 turn out.

mark_lenders

74 Posts

February 24 2023 00:39 GMT

#27

On February 24 2023 04:26 Seacow wrote:

Show nested quote +

This.

Reminds me of that depressing "end of starcraft 2" article from a few years back. GSL not being live until semis, and only 16 players..? I accepted to 20 player change, some what. But this is... I dunno, it's going to feel way less glamorous and exciting.

the 16 players format was the only obvious downgrade. KR doesn't even have 20 pros anymore

Xamo

Spain877 Posts

February 24 2023 00:48 GMT

#28

This is kind of an expected downgrade.
I am happy to see EPT and GSL continuing even without support from Blizzard, kudos to ESL.

knotfun

41 Posts

February 24 2023 01:44 GMT

#29

in hindsight, Artosis leaving GSL would mean he knew the whole thing was going to shrink in size to the point one wonders if it's still existing.
depressing news anyway, but could have been even worse. Blizzard is letting its game die for what is for them just spare money.

mintyminmus

Australia127 Posts

February 24 2023 02:14 GMT

#30

I like the region merge very much.
The oceania region feels like a meme anyway xD

-NegativeZero-

United States2141 Posts

February 24 2023 02:21 GMT

#31

On February 24 2023 10:44 knotfun wrote:
in hindsight, Artosis leaving GSL would mean he knew the whole thing was going to shrink in size to the point one wonders if it's still existing.
depressing news anyway, but could have been even worse. Blizzard is letting its game die for what is for them just spare money.

We've known for years that Blizzard funding would end this year, it was pretty obvious that there would at least be some budget cuts

digmouse

China6328 Posts

February 24 2023 06:41 GMT

#32

This is the beginning of the end, isn't it.

ZeroByte13

757 Posts

February 24 2023 07:19 GMT

#33

It is (almost) 13 years old game. All things come to an end one day.
There were ups and downs, but in general these 13 years were awesome.
Sad to see Korean scene taking such a big hit but it is what it is.

Hopefully Stormgate will be released next year and become successful - then we'll see quite a few familiar faces again, I'd guess.

Harris1st

Germany6860 Posts

February 24 2023 09:29 GMT

#34

I'm not sure what you all expected. SC2 will live on another year!

GSL price pool maybe low but don't forget that Korean will still participate in the ESL Masters and World Cup where there is additional money to make

Musicus

Germany23576 Posts

February 24 2023 09:58 GMT

#35

All good things come to an end. Huge thank you to ESL for the continued support of the sc2 scene. Hopefully we can have a great Year and corwdfund some community tournaments as well.

And hopefully Stormgate will be good!

True_Spike

Poland3416 Posts

February 24 2023 12:21 GMT

#36

Glad we get another year, at the very least.

MJG

United Kingdom894 Posts

February 24 2023 12:42 GMT

#37

I'm actually excited to see what happens in the condensed Regionals. It'll be interesting to see how well some of the "smaller" regions manage to compete, and it'll also mean that we'll see fewer one-sided series at the start of Global events.

It's obviously a shame that the prize money has gone down, especially to the extend that it has in Korea, but this was always going to happen without developer support. If these are the levels that are deemed sustainable from advertising and viewership alone, then I don't think things are as bad as some people are trying to make out.

Besides, it's a 13 year old game, so we're very lucky to have gotten this far!

oneill12

Romania1222 Posts

February 24 2023 12:57 GMT

#38

ESL is doing good by the SC2 community. I hope Microsoft can support SC2 after the Blizzard acquisition. If not, we shall enjoy SC2 as it will be. Also hope Frost Giant's game will be good, if Microsoft does not pick up SC2 I can see a lot of player migration and maybe the "death" of SC2 scene.

Akio

Finland1838 Posts

February 24 2023 15:38 GMT

#39

On February 24 2023 08:14 tlnetuser108 wrote:
I wish Elon Musk loved SC2

I'd rather have a small scene than have Elon Musk love SC.