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The Michigan Daily ( michigandaily.com I Thursday, April 11, 2013

BEHIND

SCREENS:

DESIGN AND ILLUSTRATION BY NICK CRUZ

Jt has been a long time coming. Arcade wizards
have been vying for world-record high scores since
arcade cabinets were introduced. In the 1990s and
early 2000s, Local Area Network-based events
gave the hardcore garners opportunities to com-
pete against one another. Today, innovations in technology
and a shift in culture provide individuals with a competi-
tive outlet in games like "StarCraft," "League of Legends"
and "Call of Duty," among many others, forming the profes-
sional leagues that fund and organize tournaments letting
gainers play videogames for up to seven-figure prize pools.
This culture h1as since been dubbed eSports, short for elec-
tronic sports.
A platform for watching games
At the head of eSports is Sean "Day[9]" Plott, CEO and
host at DAY[9]TV. His "Day[9] Daily" web series centers on
strategy in the competitive online video game "StarCraft
IL" He regularly acts as a commentator for professional
gaming tournaments worldwide.
"I get nervous when I'm on air," Plott joked.
Broadcasting since October 22, 2009, Plott's a veteran of
the "StarCraft" scene for over 12 years and is a former pro-
fessional gamer. But the 2000s were a rough time to be in
the business. The aesthetic gap between games first com-
ing out and the games being played competitively was large
enough to make potential tournament sponsors "leery of
involving themselves ... (asking) 'Why are we doing an old
game? Why aren't we doing a new game that looks beauti-
ful?' "Plott said.
The release of "StarCraft II" in 2010 marked the start of
eSports' popularity and prevalence in the gaming commu-
nity. The visual quality and high-speed action of the game
kept watchers enthralled. Best of all, a new way of reach-

ing viewers became available through online platforms like
Justin.tv, which hosted a lot of "StarCraft II" content imme-
diately after release. It also allowed individuals streaming
their gameplay to post ads on their channels during breaks
in action. Similarly, YouTube was, and still is, an enormous
platform for watchinggames, and its revenue-sharingprac-
tices made it an attractive option.
"Now, all of a sudden, not only is it free to stream, but you
can actually generate revenue streaming," Plott explained.
"You could, at any hour of the day, even if there was no tour-
nament, you could watch the best of the best... duking it out.
The spectator sport began to grow because streaming was
so huge."
"StarCraft II" is now available to watch on gameplay-
streaming sites like Twitch.tv (formerly part of Justin.tv),
where hundreds of thousands of spectators tune in every
day to watch players practice and compete. Many tune in
to watch "League of Legends," "Call of Duty," "Dota 2" and
other games whose exciting nature and demand for exten-
sive practice have earned them massive viewerships and
the title of eSports.
The second trend Plott pointed to is a shift in eSports
from smaller communities outward as the movement
gained legitimacy.
"It started off with the grassroots communities - the
streamers like djWHEAT, like JP, like me just making con-
tent that we thought was cool ... (and) the community on
Team Liquid and Reddit doing their best," he recalled.
"Then, we started to see the tournamentorganizers start
to step in and make huge moves ... it was the tournament
organizers doing the big, flashy involvement and being lead-
ers," Plott continued. "Now we're starting to see the pub-
lishersget involved. The publishers saying things like ... 'We
are going to run our own thing and because it's our game,
we can do all sorts of great integrations with that.'"

The standard for competition
In "StarCraft II," players compete online against one
another for placement within a given division of a given
league, which corresponds with their skill level. As play-
ers excel and are placed into gradually higher leagues, from
the humble Bronze, representing the bottom eight percent
of players, to the exalted Grandmaster league, which repre-
sents only the top-200 players in a given region.
"For a while, (going pro) was just playing on the ladder of
whatever game and then (hoping) that a tournament orga-
nizer or team would see you," Plott said. "Now, your perfor-
mance on the ladder can seed you into a tournament where
you could become a huge pro."
More and more, formerly under-the-radar players are
being brought to the main stage either by streaming their
own content or getting into tournaments that their play
helps them gain entry to, a model used by many other com-
petitive games.
Blizzard, one of the world's largest game development
companies, recently instated three World Championship
Series regions, split between South Korea, North America
and Europe. Each region will have qualifying rounds and
elimination rounds starting this month. The ultimate goal
is to crown a world champion at the end of each year in a
massive tournament broadcast live across the globe.
"I really likethe direction (Blizzard's) going in," said LSA
Freshman Adriel Leung. As an amateur "StarCraft II" play-
er himself, he is the current coordinator for the University's
Collegiate StarLeague team. For students, the CSL provides
a structured avenue to play competitively. Competing play-
ers typically are not pursuing professional gaming, but the
league brings in serious competition and thousands of dol-
lars in prize money.
See ESPORTS, Page 3B

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