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*First post!* edit: It says I have 3 posts.. so I guess comments count... didn't know.. so noob. sorry 
Hey everyone! And yay for SC2 BETA! I'm extremely excited and anticipate a lot from this new game. I've played SC since 1999 but I didn't get a beta invite so I was pretty sad  Felt betrayed.
Nonetheless, I'm still very excited. But I'm worried at the same time. How well will SC2 adapt in Korea where SCBW has already established such a dominant position in eSPORTS?
I've been hearing many rumours of how Blizzard was looking to get fees from KeSPA for airing SC2 on TV.
So, I decided to start a post and ask what YOU guys think: Is it alright for Blizzard to be asking for fees from KeSPA? (Aside from all the copyrights, actual games bought to be installed in computers)
My opinion is that Blizzard is being a bit greedy here. They’ve seen the extent to which Korea has expanded BW’s popularity and see a huge possibility of even more profit by taking advantage of the fact that KeSPA is "mass handling" their product.
IMHO, to expect Korea to pay fees to put SC2 on TV, is like expecting to be paid for your own advertisements. KeSPA is not the only one benefitting when popularizing SC – Blizzard gets a NATIONWIDE (and even more so by close follow ups by organizations like TL) advertisement of their game for FREE every day. Had it not been for KeSPA's usage of SC, Blizzard would never have been able to popularize SCBW to such an extent we have now.
Also, if KeSPA is forced to pay, the free uploaded KeSPA VODs that we enjoy from generous uploaders will cease to exist. That's.. omg... bad..
Blizzard should be careful and try not to bite off more than it can chew… they may end up losing KeSPA’s support of SC2 – and that would never be good for them.
Anyway, these are just my opinions, and I want to hear yours!
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EDIT:
So... this is pretty cool... it's only been a few minutes since the post and I'm getting an influx of replies... LOL I have nothing to do so I'm just reading the comments..........
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Blizzard spent years and years of hard work creating this game and they should get some kind of royalties.
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I was amazed upon hearing Blizzard doesn't get anything from the progaming scene in Korea. Of course they should get paid if KeSPA is making money off of their product.
On February 18 2010 14:32 johnlee wrote:
My opinion is that Blizzard is being a bit greedy here. They’ve seen the extent to which Korea has expanded BW’s popularity and see a huge possibility of even more profit by taking advantage of the fact that KeSPA is "mass handling" their product.
I don't get what is greedy about it. If KeSPA can make money off of someone else's game then they should give a cut to the developers.
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I think blizzard already earns enough money and should encourage the free televised broadcast of their game which increases the fan base and overall product awareness. Basically, the amount of money Kespa makes is not even a fraction of what blizzard makes.
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On February 18 2010 14:41 Jonoman92 wrote:I was amazed upon hearing Blizzard doesn't get anything from the progaming scene in Korea. Of course they should get paid if KeSPA is making money off of their product. Show nested quote +On February 18 2010 14:32 johnlee wrote:
My opinion is that Blizzard is being a bit greedy here. They’ve seen the extent to which Korea has expanded BW’s popularity and see a huge possibility of even more profit by taking advantage of the fact that KeSPA is "mass handling" their product.
I don't get what is greedy about it. If KeSPA can make money off of someone else's game then they should give a cut to the developers.
does the Naismith estate get royalties from the NBA?
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It's kind of a hard call. Pro gaming is somewhat analogous to pro sports, but not exactly. For one thing you don't really have to worry about who created most sports like football or basketball, they're just well known games that have been around for so long. I don't really blame Blizzard for wanting a cut, but at the same time the free ads will probably convince a lot of people to buy the game. Blizzard should just run their own tournaments if they want to sell the footage.
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On February 18 2010 14:44 Mindcrime wrote:Show nested quote +On February 18 2010 14:41 Jonoman92 wrote:I was amazed upon hearing Blizzard doesn't get anything from the progaming scene in Korea. Of course they should get paid if KeSPA is making money off of their product. On February 18 2010 14:32 johnlee wrote:
My opinion is that Blizzard is being a bit greedy here. They’ve seen the extent to which Korea has expanded BW’s popularity and see a huge possibility of even more profit by taking advantage of the fact that KeSPA is "mass handling" their product.
I don't get what is greedy about it. If KeSPA can make money off of someone else's game then they should give a cut to the developers. does the Naismith estate get royalties from the NBA?
That's a good case to bring up, but I think Starcraft is a bit different because its not just a basic ruleset that the nba has changed considerably, its a game with voice acting, and copyrighted art assets and much more. In the NBA's case, Naismith's game is quite a bit different. It originally didn't have dribbling and had wicker baskets with no holes in the bottom, for instance. About as different as Command and Conquer from Starcraft. If Kespa made their own rts, there wouldn't be any problem.
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On February 18 2010 14:47 alexanderzero wrote:
Blizzard should just run their own tournaments if they want to sell the footage.
Hopefully they plan to expand their GOM partnership and do that...
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On February 18 2010 14:44 superbabosheki wrote:
I think blizzard already earns enough money and should encourage the free televised broadcast of their game which increases the fan base and overall product awareness. Basically, the amount of money Kespa makes is not even a fraction of what blizzard makes.
So if a small start up that had a game that rose to e-sport's fame should not get any compensation either? How about one person who made a super awesome jingle... but someone else profits off of it in a commercial?
Just because Kespa might not make a fraction of what Blizzard makes is irrelevant. They are just flexing their rights in owning the IP. How that might affect the sport or the exposure is different ball all together.
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I don't really have a good enough grasp of the discussions to make a call either way but -Artosis thinks KeSPA should pay.
I probably should have asked him to go more indepth on the problem but it was like 9am and he was at work ;p
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On February 18 2010 14:50 Pyrrhuloxia wrote:Show nested quote +On February 18 2010 14:44 Mindcrime wrote:On February 18 2010 14:41 Jonoman92 wrote:I was amazed upon hearing Blizzard doesn't get anything from the progaming scene in Korea. Of course they should get paid if KeSPA is making money off of their product. On February 18 2010 14:32 johnlee wrote:
My opinion is that Blizzard is being a bit greedy here. They’ve seen the extent to which Korea has expanded BW’s popularity and see a huge possibility of even more profit by taking advantage of the fact that KeSPA is "mass handling" their product.
I don't get what is greedy about it. If KeSPA can make money off of someone else's game then they should give a cut to the developers. does the Naismith estate get royalties from the NBA? That's a good case to bring up, but I think Starcraft is a bit different because its not just a basic ruleset that the nba has changed considerably, its a game with voice acting, and copyrighted art assets and much more. In the NBA's case, Naismith's game is quite a bit different. It originally didn't have dribbling and had wicker baskets with no holes in the bottom, for instance. About as different as Command and Conquer from Starcraft. If Kespa made their own rts, there wouldn't be any problem.
agreed
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Russian Federation410 Posts
You got it wrong. KeSPA is a ruling agency (body) it doesn't pay anything to anybody. It's run by representative of Pro Teams and one each from OGN and MBC channels. They are the ones who will have to pay royalties for every single commercial broadcast involving StarCraft II, let alone all the sub-media that goes with it.
In US Blizzard would be entitled to a huge amount of royalties payments, in Korea it's enough to own a legal copy of the game to broadcast. Blizzard already tried to deal with relevant Korean authorities, but they were sent to "deal with KeSPA". They also tried to deal with MBC/OGN separately, failed there as well. But, and it's a big but, they can't broadcast games played over the web, i.e. on Battle.net, as it requires a completely different international license, which they won't get. Since there's no Lan - no broadcasts for now.
KeSPA answered by killing GOM. Blizzard was heavily sponsoring it, as it was getting more and more popular, probably aiming to build a platform for future SC2 broadcasts, leagues etc, they were shut down by decision of the majority KeSPA teams to not participate in GOM.
As said by artosis in a recent interview - it's a dead end with a lot of money at stake.
I covered all this in three KeSPA/Blizzard articles on GG.net
Another thing that's important is that Blizzard did absolutely nothing for StarCraft in terms of it's promotion and huge Korean and e-Sports success. They've even stopped supporting it after WC3 came out. It was KeSPA (at the time KPGA) who built the billion dollar industry of Korean StarCraft gaming and broadcasting.
On the other hand you have to realize that StarCraft broadcast is immensely profitable in Korea, be it on OGN, MBC, GOM, whatever. It costs next to nothing to create a 2+ hour broadcast that beats everything in 18-34 ratings - the most valued by advertisers. The costs are so low they can be only compared with a cheap-ass 30min/week game show, rather than 15hr/week of StarCraft broadcasts.
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To help globalise SC2 Blizzard should retain overall control and just take a royalty fee for broadcasting on television/cable/or any not for free service.
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If I was a Judge i'd back blizzard in terms of letter of the law. On moral grounds however I feel for Kespa. You build something from nothing you feel ownership of it. I rather Blizzard just let Kespa do there thing, but I understand Blizzard postion.
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I agree. Blizzard should be lucky that KeSPA even revolutionized their game. Sure it's been popular since it's debut, but it was completely revolutionized after being handled by a professional organization. People had players to look up to, professional strategies to examine, and the ability to see their favorite game played on a massive scale. Hell, I bought the game because of KeSPA. After hearing my friends talk about it for so long, I figured there must be some worth in this game.
All of this to say, Blizzard should be thankful that there is even such a huge market that already exists for SC2. Without KeSPA, SCBW would never have reached its peak in popularity, and SC2 would not have such a marketable base already.
Requiring fees for airing SC2 on television is not only a greedy move by Blizzard, but may also hurt relations with such a valuable partner. KeSPA may be making money off of SC2, but consider how much Blizzard gains from this.
Business is all about trade-offs. Is it really worth it to risk a relationship with such an important asset? And is it worth it to start commotion with an organization that's benefits could never match your own?
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If it wasn't for Kespa, I wouldn't be buying sc2 when it comes out, and im not even korean or anything like that. I like blizzard, but on this they need to just shut the fuck up.
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If Blizzard manages to take a cut from Korean eSports that cut will come out of your pocket. You currently don't pay to watch VODs and that's seemingly because someone out there is paying for them and then uploading them across imaginary copyright "boundaries" and that Kespa doesn't care enough to put a stop to it. If Kespa has to pay Blizzard to have these tournaments then I'm sure Blizzard will crack down on every form of free VOD distribution (at least with regard to games that they're getting a cut from) unless, as many of you idealists are keen to believe, they choose to support or at least turn a blind eye on free VOD distribution for the sake of the fans. I'd hope that as well. But if the plans Blizzard announced at Blizzcon 09 are any indication, they intend to continue involving real-world currency micro-transaction in their games from now on and that probably includes in-UI pay-per-view VODs via battle.net. If they go with this strategy they may put KESPA out of the loop entirely. Unrealistic, I know, and I'm stretching on a lot of this, but hey... Here's to radical thought?
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I'm not going to talk about what is right, but more so what is the best course of action for each party.
Assuming Blizzard imposing fees is their best course of action.
KeSPA can either pay the fees sacrificing a certain percentage of their profits, broadcast Starcraft anyways since Blizzard cannot sue a foreign company, or they can retaliate by boycotting Starcraft 2, or at least the broadcasting of Starcraft 2 in Korea unless Blizzard pays them.
If KeSPA plays ball and pays the fees, they will profit off broadcasting SC2, and so will Blizzard. Both parties are at a small gain.
If KeSPA continues to broadcast SC2 regardless of fees, Blizzard cannot do anything, so this is a better alternative for KeSPA. The only downside is that their relations are weakened. The questions here is, does Blizzard benefit more from KeSPA or does KeSPA benefit more from Blizzard? It's probably neither since Blizzard can just do their own thing for foreigners while KeSPA does their thing for the competitive community so their relations really don't matter much. Overall, there's no change in the status quo in regards to profits.
Now what is KeSPA retaliates and threatens to boycott SC2 in Korea? The question here is, does Blizzard or KeSPA have more influence over Starcraft 2? From what we have seen from previous Blizzard games, the Korean scene is FAR more important towards the development of the gaming community. KeSPA's cooperation may be the difference between SC2 ending up like D2, or SC2 ending up like SCBW. Without SC2 in Korea, the profits lost by Blizzard greatly outweigh the profits lost by KeSPA. In this scenario, Blizzard's best course of action would to either renegotiate towards the status quo, or pay KeSPA.
In the end, Blizzard loses; therefore, imposing fees on KeSPA is not the best course of action.
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Blizzard shouldn't get a cut from Kespa. I mean, Blizzard is already going to make a lot of money from the guaranteed sales anyway. The progaming scene in Korea is seriously like a huge free advertisement for Blizzard. If Blizzard wants to make additional money, they should do it their own way by making their own tournaments or something.
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Blizzard will definitely be putting their hand in tournaments, so absolutely the competition will have to pay. They didn't tailor this game for competitive play just so KeSPA can profit off of it. They put such a monstrous amount of work into it and will continue to.
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EPT
