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The age of StarCraft declines against the rise of eSports competitors

“StarCraft II” players at a video game convention in Leipzig, Germany. (Creative Commons photo by włodi via Flickr)

By Joey Thimian

Feb. 1, 2016 3:23 p.m.

In the world of eSports, it’s hard for a game to be – and stay – on top.

One major difference between eSports and “real sports” is that the latter stays remarkably static. People don’t often jump ship from watching football to baseball after a few years because they get bored – in fact, they may watch both of these at once. However in eSports, the viewer is oftentimes both an active player as well as a spectator. The rate of turnover in regards to games is extremely quick, and as a result, we often see games that were once juggernauts of the industry fall to pieces. This is the case for StarCraft.

Back in 2010, eSports did not have as high of a profile as it does today in the West. Twitch.tv, the foremost video game streaming service, did not exist, and game developer Blizzard had just released “StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty,” the latest installation of a legendary real-time strategy game franchise which incorporates high levels of mechanical skill and strategy in order to succeed. This long-awaited title quickly became the eSport of choice, as it features individual one-on-one competition and one of the highest skill ceilings in competitive gaming. This game’s predecessor, “StarCraft: Brood War,” was the largest eSport in the world prior; its following in South Korea was larger than most traditional sports.

With the release of “StarCraft II,” the Collegiate StarLeague really began its boom in 2011 and 2012 as it made a name for itself as the premier collegiate StarCraft organization. Heck, the ‘S’ for Star is a reference to StarCraft. And StarCraft @ UCLA was the first competitive eSports team organized on campus.

However, as one might be able to tell from the current eSports climate, time has not been kind to StarCraft, both online and on campus. StarCraft, even with an international league sponsored by Blizzard and a brand new expansion (Legacy of the Void), has seen a sharp decline in viewership and interest over the last two years. This is paralleled by the fact that the UCLA CSL StarCraft II team now consists of only two players, and the club’s activity is virtually non-existent. Normally, StarCraft teams consist of over five people, as traditional team competition in this game is an elimination format.

So what is to fault for StarCraft’s fall from grace? This is a case of a death by a thousand cuts. Audiences on the whole have shifted over to multiplayer online battle arena viewing, as there is less complexity and personal game experience required to spectate them. Additionally, matches are more diverse in these games, and teams in North America and Europe tend to perform better – Asia is the typical dominant region for most games. Blizzard might also be to blame for focusing on promoting its other two titles as eSports, Hearthstone and Heroes of the Storm, instead of StarCraft. Finally, the fact that StarCraft is not a free-to-play game means that there will always be a smaller player base.

While StarCraft is by no means a dead game, it is clearly on life support and in dire need of some help on campus to connect the very small player base together.

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Joey Thimian
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