Blizzard cries foul over KeSPA’s selling of Starcraft broadcasting right

If you didn’t know already, Starcraft is taken seriously in Korea. Check out the excerpt from wikipedia below.

StarCraft was released internationally on 31 March 1998 and became the best-selling PC game for that year, selling over 1.5 million copies worldwide.^[72] In the next decade, StarCraft sold over 9.5 million copies across the globe, with 4.5 million of these being sold in South Korea.^[73]

Paul Sams, Blizzard Entertainment COO, announced that it is determined to protect its IP rights in Korea. The COO is specifically talking about Starcraft e-sports leagues, which is massively popular in Korea, which is broadcast over two cable channels MBC Game and Ongamenet (OGM). Korea e-Sports Association (KeSPA) sold broadcasting rights for KRW 1.7 billion  or USD 1.49 million without owning the right to Starcraft game content or reaching licensing agreements with Blizzard.

This is how serious we are about our national sport. Final round of 2007 Starcraft Proleague

Blizzard filed a case against MBC Game and OGN for broadcasting Starcraft content without Blizzard’s permission. Sams said if arrangements with KeSPA cannot be made, it will also prepare a case against it.

Starcraft league between two professional gamers. Starcraft Proleague is broadcasted on MBC Game and OGN.

Sams refuted claims speculating that Blizzard’s Korean operations account for 60% of its global revenue. He corrected it by stating, “over the past three years, the Korean market has contributed only 5 percent of Blizzard’s revenue.”

Sams stated that three years of licensing agreement negotiation had failed in producing a positive outcome, and legal actions need to be taken to protect Blizzard’s intellectual property in Korea.