One of the oldest titles in Esports is losing a prime pillar of its competitive gameplay. The EPT SC2 is shutting down. The ESL Pro Tour and events will be ceasing going forward, with the game reaching the end of the line for its current layout. While some esports will likely continue, the title won’t be the major part of schedule that it currently is.
StarCraft 2 is one of the oldest esports titles. Taking off, particularly in Korea, and dominating competitive gaming’s early days. It’s part of the reason why companies like Blizzard began to take notice of esports as a whole took. In more recent years, StarCraft 2 hasn’t held up its popularity though. The idea of a StarCraft 3 doesn’t seem any closer than a decade ago, and with the EPT SC2 shutting down tournaments are dropping away too. Not to mention Blizzard’s complete lack of interest. Is there still room for the RTS game at the highest level of esports?
Source: @ESLSC2
EPT SC2 is Shutting Down After Five Years
In a recent blogpost, ESL Gaming have explained what’s coming in the future for StarCraft 2 esports. They’re shutting up shop. As the host of numerous events, there will be major changes to the esports line up for StarCraft 2 competitive. The game will be losing events like the DreamHack tournaments, IEM Katowice, and more.
However, they have specified that this isn’t the end of the line for StarCraft 2. The game will even get a new Champion soon, with the Esports World Cup hosting a fresh finale. Although, without anyone else stepping in, major circuits won’t host the game anymore.
Why is it Shutting Down?
As well as announcing the shutdown, the reasons behind it have been made pretty clear too. Essentially, it’s no longer economically viable. The EPT is no longer able to secure funding and it’s become more difficult over recent years. Likely not particularly helped by Blizzard being perfectly happy to slowly let the game roll into irrelevancy.
They’ll be shutting down the entire circuit. This does raise questions about the ability to replace it. Without any change in the game’s appeal, can anyone run this level of events? Given the age of StarCraft 2, another resurgence doesn’t seem likely.
The viability of SC2 esports is definitely lower than it was a few years ago. The game hasn’t exactly gotten new fans in recent years. Coupled with a declining interest in its esports, and the game has been shrinking for quite a while. The EPT SC2 circuit apparently is just bigger than what interest in the game can support. However, SC2 does remain quite popular with some.
While SC2 esports might not be able to sustain the current level of tournaments, there will still be a place for competitive play. More grassroots level esports are sure to continue, and the game has continued to be a part of the Esports World Cup. With Blizzard’s lack of interest in the title though, discontinuing these major circuits might have been an inevitable step for the slowdown of SC2. Any one hoping for a bigger future might be now rooting for someone at Microsoft to decide to do something with the IP and revive StarCraft.