In a long Q&A session, Blizzard's senior eSports manager Kim Phan answers some of community's concerns about the future of the WCS in 2014.
The questions raised by TL.net members aim to find out whether there will be a region locking in 2014, will the format of the league change, will WCS incorporate more non-WCS tournaments in its system and what will remain the same compared to this year. While not many of the inquiries are answered definitively, bits and pieces of information are nevertheless provided to help build a rough sketch on what WCS 2014 will be like.
Possible changes:
- Some form of residency restriction either through granting special seeds, forcing more offline play or giving points to ladder participants
- The possibility of making all of premier league played in studio and the costs of it are being considered
- A way to implement teams based on player's performances and create a possible exhibition team tournament
Confirmed changes:
- The WCS system will be simplified and made more linear. Qualifiers will be held first, then challenger league, then premier
- Extend the WCS storylines to other tournaments
- Tuning the schedule to allow for more non-WCS tournaments around the year
- New challenger format. Details unconfirmed yet
- Seasonal finals will not be continuing in their current form
Things to stay the same:
- The league will have three regions once again: Europe, America and Korea
- WCS points will be awarded to determine global rankings
- The winners of the Challenger bracket stage will be seeded into the new Premier league. This refutes the concerns previously expressed by a some players
Source: TL.net
Headline photo: Antoine for Team Liquid
