The Korea e-Sports Association (KeSPA) is a South Korean body established to manage
esports in South Korea. It is a member of the
Korean Olympic Committee
The Korean Sport & Olympic Committee (, Abbr.: KOC) is the National Olympic Committee of Republic of Korea (competing as Korea) for the Olympic Games movement and inbound sports issue. It is a non-profit organization that selects players and ...
and the
International e-Sports Federation
The International Esports Federation (IESF) is a global organisation based in South Korea whose mission it is to have esports recognized as a legitimate sport.
Member Nations
So far, there are 130 member nations in IESF:
History
The Internat ...
. , it was the managing body for 25 e-sports in the country, including ''
Starcraft II: Legacy of the Void'' (excluded in 2016), ''
League of Legends'', ''
Dota 2
''Dota 2'' is a 2013 multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) video game by Valve. The game is a sequel to ''Defense of the Ancients'' (''DotA''), a community-created mod for Blizzard Entertainment's '' Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos.'' ''Dota 2 ...
'', and ''
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive''. KeSPA also hosts the
KeSPA Cup, a yearly tournament event for some of their games.
History
The early years of KeSPA
KeSPA was founded in 2000 after the approval of the
Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism. Its official goal is to make
esports an official sporting event, and to solidify the commercial position of esports in all sectors. The organization manages the broadcasting of e-Sports, the formation of new events, and the conditions in which
pro gamer
Esports, short for electronic sports, is a form of competition using video games. Esports often takes the form of organized, multiplayer video game competitions, particularly between professional players, individually or as teams. Although orga ...
s work, as well as encourage the playing of
video games by the general population. In 2008
SK Telecom
SK Telecom Co., Ltd. ( or ) is a South Korean wireless telecommunications operator and former film distributor and is part of the SK Group, one of the country's largest chaebols. It leads the local market with 50.5 percent share as of 2008. ...
was given the leading position on its board, effectively making Seo Jin-woo the organization's president. KeSPA regulates broadcasting by e-sports television channels such as
Ongamenet
OGN (formerly known as Ongamenet) is a South Korean pay television channel that specialized in broadcasting video game-related content and esports matches, particularly '' StarCraft'', '' Starcraft II'', '' League of Legends'', and Overwatch. O ...
,
MBC Game,
GOMtv
GOM Player is a media player for Windows, developed by GOM & Company. With more than 100 million downloads, it is also known as the most used player in South Korea. Its main features include the ability to play some broken media files and find ...
, and
Pandora TV
In Greek mythology, Pandora (Greek: , derived from , ''pān'', i.e. "all" and , ''dōron'', i.e. "gift", thus "the all-endowed", "all-gifted" or "all-giving") was the first human woman created by Hephaestus on the instructions of Zeus. As Hes ...
, as well as 23 e-sports
journalists and over twelve e-sports teams. Additionally, they have created a rankings system.
On May 11, 2012, after a slew of announcements from KeSPA regarding the transition between ''
StarCraft: Brood War'' and ''
StarCraft II'', it was announced that they would be partnering with
Major League Gaming, a US-based
esports organization to send KeSPA players to MLG events.
On October 27, 2014, KeSPA, alongside
Riot Games and
Ongamenet
OGN (formerly known as Ongamenet) is a South Korean pay television channel that specialized in broadcasting video game-related content and esports matches, particularly '' StarCraft'', '' Starcraft II'', '' League of Legends'', and Overwatch. O ...
, issued a press release stating new policies directed toward the welfare Korean professional esports players. Some of the major changes include a minimum salary for professional esports players that is competitive with popular traditional sports, and setting a 1-year minimum for contracts between players and teams starting in the 2016 season. There were also many ''League of Legends'' specific changes that include limiting companies to have a minimum of one team with 10 players per team, and beginning a shift from tournament to league format for Korean Worlds qualifiers.
A 2016 article in
ESPN
ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The co ...
said that KeSPA reported that it would shut down its Starcraft ProLeague. The article said that KeSPA chairman, Jun Byung-hun, said that they were shutting down their Starcraft ProLeague due to fewer ProLeagues and players, problems getting sponsorships and problems with match-fixing.
2008 intellectual property dispute with Blizzard
In 2008, a slump in the distribution of e-Sports media was caused in part by the fear that video game developer
Blizzard Entertainment
Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. is an American video game developer and publisher based in Irvine, California. A subsidiary of Activision Blizzard, the company was founded on February 8, 1991, under the name Silicon & Synapse, Inc. by three gradu ...
would demand royalties from KeSPA, because of their
intellectual property
Intellectual property (IP) is a category of property that includes intangible creations of the human intellect. There are many types of intellectual property, and some countries recognize more than others. The best-known types are patents, c ...
rights.
In 2010,
Blizzard Entertainment
Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. is an American video game developer and publisher based in Irvine, California. A subsidiary of Activision Blizzard, the company was founded on February 8, 1991, under the name Silicon & Synapse, Inc. by three gradu ...
announced that negotiations were going poorly, and that they would only allow GomTV to broadcast Blizzard games.
KeSPA responded saying that they will challenge Blizzard's intellectual property rights. However, soon after,
MBC Game, a gaming television station, announced that they will negotiate with GOMtv, which Newhua news speculated would lessen KeSPA's power.
In May 2011, the dispute was finally settled, allowing
Ongamenet
OGN (formerly known as Ongamenet) is a South Korean pay television channel that specialized in broadcasting video game-related content and esports matches, particularly '' StarCraft'', '' Starcraft II'', '' League of Legends'', and Overwatch. O ...
(OGN) and
Munhwa Broadcasting Corporation (MBC) to officially broadcast ''
Brood War'' games.
2010 match-fixing
In April 2010, eleven ''Starcraft'' players were implicated for match-fixing during the 2009 e-Sports season. The Sanction Subcommittee of KeSPA banned them from playing e-Sports in the future,
and those implicated are due to be charged in criminal courts by KeSPA, as well as professional gaming teams. Along with progamers, the owners of over twelve illegal gambling websites, and former players and staff members will be charged. It is alleged that players were bribed to leak information, or lose games, allowing owners of the illegal gambling site to obtain huge profits. There was an outcry in Korea following these developments.
2015 match-fixing
A 2016 article in
Kotaku said that two KeSPA players,
Lee "Life" Seung-hyun and Jung "Bbyong" Woo Yong, were indicted for match-fixing along with seven other people. The article said that "Life" who was one of the most dominant ''
StarCraft II'' players in the world was charged with receiving 70,000,000 won (about US$62,000) for intentionally losing two
KeSPA Cup matches in 2015.
A 2016 article in
Kotaku said that the tournament where "Bbyong" intentionally lost a match was
GSL Season 1 in 2015.
[Zacny, M. (2016). Match-Fixing Report Shows How Gambling Has Ruined Korean StarCraft. Kotaku. Retrieved March 24, 2017, fro]
link.
/ref>
Notable teams
*CJ Entus
OGN Entus is a South Korean esports organization with teams competing in ''Clash Royale'' and ''PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds''. It formerly had teams competing in ''League of Legends'', ''StarCraft II'', '' Warcraft 3'' and ''Special Force 2'' ...
*KT Rolster
kt Rolster is a South Korean multi-gaming organization founded in 1999 with Korean Telecom as the head sponsor. A member of the Korean e-Sports Association, KT Rolster holds one of the richest and most successful ''StarCraft'' teams in the wor ...
* Samsung Galaxy
*SK Telecom T1
T1 (previously known as SK Telecom T1 or SKT T1) is a South Korean esports organization operated by the T1 Entertainment & Sports, a joint venture between SK Telecom and Comcast Spectacor. At the end of 2003, SK Telecom took the StarCraft Team O ...
* DRX
See also
* Professional ''StarCraft'' competition
References
External links
*
{{authority control
Esports governing bodies
Sports organizations established in 2000
Sports associations
Esports in South Korea
Government agencies of South Korea