[s]starcraft[/s]Is Starcraft really dying? Current trends in Asia seem to support quite the opposite. ProGaming teams are becoming one more marketing tool for large corporations. PC Rooms are a feverish business trend now in China, Malaysia and the Philippines following the example of the Korean success.
A large Korean telecommunication corporation, SK Telecom reached basic agreements in taking over the Starcraft ProGaming team, 4U team - Boxer included - for an estimated 550 million won ($500,000). A trend very much like buying football teams today by big business. This is a serious amount of money anywhere in the world and when corporations start spending in this manner one can be certain that investors and marketing gurus around the world will be watching. The sky is the limit now for your average teenager with superb skill in a video game.
The other side of the story is an ever growing tendency in Asia for the proliferation of PC rooms or ‘PC Bangs’ as Korean’s coined it. These small centers offer PC’s for gaming, scanning, internet browsing, internet conferences where teenagers and office folk mingle. In Korea the Boom of Bang’s has long been over and their numbers have been shrinking. A new breed of larger, fancier, high-end, PC rooms is the new trend in Korea.
Now the PC room fever is burning through China and Southeast Asian countries such as Malaysia and the Philippines. In countries where one computer per capita is out of the question and the main internet speed is the 56k modem it is only natural for PC rooms to become popular. These can offer better speeds and better computers that any can access.
The fact that Starcraft is already the most popular pc game in Asia, already moving so much money for large corporations, coupled with the fact that this game can still be played with older computers and slower connections, can only forecast one thing: Starcraft will burn even brighter in Asia. The potential game consumer market in China is estimated at "234 million people between the ages of 14 and 24."
I will leave you with two articles that will leave you little doubt as to the future of Online PC Gaming including its prize front runner: Starcraft.
» Koreaherald.co.kr
» Commsdesign.com
Links
Koreaherald.co.kr - Progaming teams now marketing tools
Commsdesign.com - PC room fever in China
The Future of Starcraft
Author
