Korea e-Sports Association

South Korean body

Korea e-Sports Association

Formation| 2000
Type| NGO
Purpose| Manage esports in South Korea
Location|

* Jung-gu, Seoul

Region served

| South Korea
Membership| 11 member corporations

Official language

| Korean, English

Chief Executive

| Jeon Byeong-heon

Main organ

| General Committee

Parent organization

| Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism
Affiliations| Korean Olympic Committee
International e-Sports Federation
Website| e-sports.or.kr

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 and the International e-Sports Federation. As of June 2012[update], 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, and Counter-Strike: Global Offensive. KeSPA also hosts the KeSPA Cup, a yearly tournament event for some of their games.

## History

[edit]

### The early years of KeSPA

[edit]

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.[1] The organization manages the broadcasting of e-Sports, the formation of new events, and the conditions in which pro gamers work, as well as encourage the playing of video games by the general population. In 2008 SK Telecom 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, MBC Game, GOMtv, and Pandora TV, as well as 23 e-sports journalists and over twelve e-sports teams. Additionally, they have created a rankings system.[2][3]

On May 11, 2012, after a slew of announcements from KeSPA regarding the transition between StarCraft: Brood War and StarCraft II,[4] it was announced that they would be partnering with Major League Gaming, a US-based esports organization to send KeSPA players to MLG events.[5]

On October 27, 2014, KeSPA, alongside Riot Games and Ongamenet, 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 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.[6]

### 2008 intellectual property dispute with Blizzard

[edit]

In 2008, a slump in the distribution of e-Sports media was caused in part by the fear that video game developer Blizzard Entertainment would demand royalties from KeSPA, because of their intellectual property rights.[7] In 2010, Blizzard Entertainment announced that negotiations were going poorly, and that they would only allow GomTV to broadcast Blizzard games.[8] 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.[9]

In May 2011, the dispute was finally settled, allowing Ongamenet (OGN) and Munhwa Broadcasting Corporation (MBC) to officially broadcast Brood War games.[10]

### 2010 match-fixing

[edit]

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,[11] 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.[12]

### 2015 match-fixing

[edit]

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.[13]

A 2016 article in Kotaku said that the tournament where "Bbyong" intentionally lost a match was GSL Season 1 in 2015.[14]

## Notable teams

[edit]

* CJ Entus
* KT Rolster
* Samsung Galaxy
* SK Telecom T1
* DRX

## See also

[edit]

* Professional StarCraft competition

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "ゲームを最初に「eスポーツ」と呼んだのは？ 韓国説が有力".
2. ^ Tsang, Simon (4 June 2007). "In a Blizzard of Warfare". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 12 June 2010.
3. ^ "KeSPA Rankings". KeSPA. Retrieved 14 June 2010.
4. ^ "Media Day: SK Planet Proleague Season 2". Retrieved 2 September 2015.
5. ^ "MLG and KeSPA Announce Multi-Year Partnership". Retrieved 2 September 2015.
6. ^ Van Allen, E. (2016). South Korea's KeSPA discontinues StarCraft ProLeague after 14 years. ESPN. Retrieved March 24, 2017, from link.
7. ^ Cho, Jin-seo (19 May 2008). "'StarCraft' Losing in Gaming League". The Korea Times. Retrieved 12 June 2010.
8. ^ "暴雪CEO声明与GomTV合作缘由 KeSPA未表态". Yesky Gaming. Archived from the original on 3 July 2011. Retrieved 12 June 2010.
9. ^ "MBC Television first to change sides and play with Blizzard". Newhua. 4 June 2010. Retrieved 12 June 2010.
10. ^ "Blizzard - KeSPA license official". Retrieved 2 September 2015.
11. ^ Kim, Hyuk (7 April 2010). "KeSPA, 프로게이머 승부조작 연류 11명 자격 박탈 등 중징계". Today Korea. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 12 June 2010.
12. ^ Kim, Hyun-cheol (15 April 2010). "StarCraft Rigging Scandal Hits e-Sports Industry". The Korea Times. Retrieved 12 June 2010.
13. ^ Walker, A. (2016). A StarCraft World Champion Has Been Charged With Match Fixing. Kotaku. Retrieved March 24, 2017, from link.
14. ^ Zacny, M. (2016). Match-Fixing Report Shows How Gambling Has Ruined Korean StarCraft. Kotaku. Retrieved March 24, 2017, from link.

## External links

[edit]

* Official website (in Korean)

* v
* t
* e

Esports and competitive video gaming

* Games
* Leagues and tournaments
* Players
* Cheating

Fighting|

* Capcom Cup
* CEO
* Evolution Championship Series
* Killer Instinct World Cup
* Super Smash Bros.
* Apex
* The Big House
* Genesis
* Smash World Tour
* Super Smash Con

MOBA|

* Dota 2
* Pro Circuit
* The International
* League of Legends
* World Championship
* Mid-Season Invitational
* Champions Korea
* Championship Pacific
* Championship of The Americas
* EMEA Championship
* Pro League
* Pacific Championship Series
* Vietnam Championship Series
* other
* Mobile Legends: Bang Bang
* Mid Season Cup
* World Championship
* Smite World Championship

Real-time strategy|

* StarCraft
* StarCraft II
* Global League
* Warcraft III
* championships

Shooter|

* Apex Legends Global Series
* Call of Duty
* Championship
* League
* Counter-Strike
* BLAST Premier
* ESL Pro League
* Flashpoint
* Majors
* Fortnite World Cup
* Overwatch
* Apex
* Champions Series
* Contenders
* League
* World Cup
* QuakeCon
* Six Invitational
* Valorant Champions Tour
* PUBG Mobile

Sports|

* eFootball.Open
* Esailing World Championship
* Gran Turismo World Series
* FIFAe World Cup
* FIFAe Nations Cup
* Formula One Esports Series
* Formula E: Accelerate
* iRacing
* eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series
* eNASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational Series
* EuroNASCAR Esports Series
* INDYCAR iRacing Challenge
* NBA 2K League
* Rocket League Championship Series
* eRacing
* 2017 Vegas eRace

Other genres|

* Classic Tetris World Championship
* Hearthstone
* Pokémon
* World Championships

Multi-genre|

* Asian Games
* Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games
* Commonwealth Esports Championships
* DreamHack
* ELeague
* ESEA League
* ESL
* Intel Extreme Masters
* Esports World Convention
* Esports World Cup
* Major League Gaming
* list of National Championships
* Nintendo World Championships
* Campus Challenge
* Olympic Esports Series
* Southeast Asian Games
* Twin Galaxies
* World Cyber Games
* World Electronic Sports Games
* World Series of Video Games

Governing bodies|

* Amazon University Esports
* Armenian Esports Federation
* Asian Electronic Sports Federation
* Bangladesh Youth Development and Electronic Sports Association
* British Esports
* Esports Integrity Commission
* Esports World Federation
* International Esports Federation
* Korea e-Sports Association
* National Association of Collegiate Esports
* Professional Esports Association
* Saudi Esports Federation
* Tespa
* Thailand E-Sports Federation
* Russian eSports Federation
* World Esports Association

Defunct organizations|

* Championship Gaming Series
* Cyberathlete Professional League
* eGames
* G7 Teams
* MBCGame StarCraft League
* Ongamenet Starleague
* Professional Gamers League
* Tougeki – Super Battle Opera
* United Kingdom eSports Association
* World e-Sports Games
* World League eSport Bundesliga
* XLEAGUE.TV

Years|

* 2006
* 2007
* 2008
* 2009
* 2010
* 2011
* 2012
* 2013
* 2014
* 2015
* 2016
* 2017
* 2018
* 2019
* 2020
* 2021
* 2022
* 2023
* 2024

* Category

*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template