Blizzard Confirms Final Split with Korean e-Sports Association

With the imminent release of StarCraft II, Blizzard has revealed that they intend to find a new e-sports partner in Korea. Blizzard CEO Mike Morhaime told the Korean publication Yonhap News that they are moving in a different direction.

“We’ve tried to talk to [the Korean e-Sports Association] for three years, but we can’t get them to recognize our IP rights. Of course we think our IP rights should be respected. StarCraft II will be released soon, so we will have to look for a new partner,” Morhaime said (via a very rough translation).

KeSPA is one of the largest e-sports associations in South Korea. It supports several well-known teams of professional StarCraft players.

KeSPA and Blizzard have been at odds for several months now. Last year, Blizzard began sponsoring the broadcasting outlet GOMtv to the exclusion of KeSPA and its own broadcast partners.

One high-profile incident within the professional gaming scene occurred during last year’s BlizzCon when Park “JulyZerg” Sung-Joon was reportedly pulled from competition by his team STX, which has strong ties to KeSPA. Several other teams reportedly declined to participate in the GOMTV events.

Together with the high-profile gambling scandal that has rocked the professional leagues, recent events have painted a picture of a competitive scene in flux. We’ll see how things shake out when StarCraft II arrives later this year.

by By Kat Bailey 1UP.com

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