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The world's first military progaming team Air Force Ace is disbanding. The reason is said to be because Star League is coming to an end after 13 years.
On the 23rd according to the Air Force, Ace is no longer accepting new players and once the current team members are discharged from the military the team will naturally be disbanded.
Air Force Ace was founded on April 2007. At the time, 4.5 million copies of Starcraft had been sold in Korea alone accounting for around half of it's worldwide sales. This popular reception allowed the Air Force to prepare to form Air Force Ace at the end of 2006 timed with SlayerSBoxer's enlistment and by April 2007 the team was officially established with 5 players.
21 progamers including players such as Yellow, Reach, and Anytime have spent time in Air Force Ace. Progamers in Ace were drafted as Air Force computer specialists and served as war game testers at their central computer center. The activities of the progamers also made it into the Guinness World Records in 2009. They were introduced as the world's first military progaming team in the Guinness World Records Gamer's Edition.
However the rise of smartphones and social network services has caused progaming to decline. This caused the Air Force to come to the decision of disbanding their progaming team. There are currently 11 players left in the team and once the last officer who was drafted on March 5th is discharged in March 2014, the team will disband.
Air Force representatives stated "Ace had a role in improving the image of the military to youths however due to shifts in the gaming industry we had no choice but to disband the team".
Source: AsiaE
They are not disbanding immediately, but when their last player finishes their military service
Edit: Smartphones killing esports. A possible look into the minds of the Air Force.
On July 23 2012 11:11 JunkkaGom wrote:
Let me explain the matter with smartphones and SNS. There has been numerous articles about this recently in Korea.
Back in 90's and 2000's the trend was to enjoy gaming together. Together I mean as going to PC bang and play with friends side by side. My generation is the generation that went to arcade and played console together with friends.
The trend now is much more individual. Now every person has their own PC and smartphones. Because of internet and various appliances, one can be connected with others without actually physically being together.
The trend is also clear in PCbangs, which originally started out as a place to play game 'together' with others. In my days we went to Pcbang after school and played team game of BW or Counter Strike, etc. Now the game is more diverse. You see more and more people who come alone and play game of their own taste. Because of better technology more people play game at their home. It is no longer a neccesity to play and enjoy same game as others as you can still be part of the 'gang' and feel you belong somewhere through SNS and smartphone. Gaming is no longer considered group activity but rather an individual hobby.
Will people still go to PC bang and play games with friends? Sure, but they can also stay home and meet them on internet. Will people still go to gaming event to watch pro gamers play? Sure, but they can also stay home and watch on internet, while chatting with friends. Enjoying game as being part of physical group is no longer the big thing.
This is the reason why people(or so these articles claim) that while eSports will definitely grow it will be difficult to see a single game dominating entire population and creating the phenomenon BW did. The scene needs to evolve to meet the demand of viewers that are becoming more and more diverse. One can no longer make huge investment in single game and expect great success as easily as before.
Let me explain the matter with smartphones and SNS. There has been numerous articles about this recently in Korea.
Back in 90's and 2000's the trend was to enjoy gaming together. Together I mean as going to PC bang and play with friends side by side. My generation is the generation that went to arcade and played console together with friends.
The trend now is much more individual. Now every person has their own PC and smartphones. Because of internet and various appliances, one can be connected with others without actually physically being together.
The trend is also clear in PCbangs, which originally started out as a place to play game 'together' with others. In my days we went to Pcbang after school and played team game of BW or Counter Strike, etc. Now the game is more diverse. You see more and more people who come alone and play game of their own taste. Because of better technology more people play game at their home. It is no longer a neccesity to play and enjoy same game as others as you can still be part of the 'gang' and feel you belong somewhere through SNS and smartphone. Gaming is no longer considered group activity but rather an individual hobby.
Will people still go to PC bang and play games with friends? Sure, but they can also stay home and meet them on internet. Will people still go to gaming event to watch pro gamers play? Sure, but they can also stay home and watch on internet, while chatting with friends. Enjoying game as being part of physical group is no longer the big thing.
This is the reason why people(or so these articles claim) that while eSports will definitely grow it will be difficult to see a single game dominating entire population and creating the phenomenon BW did. The scene needs to evolve to meet the demand of viewers that are becoming more and more diverse. One can no longer make huge investment in single game and expect great success as easily as before.
