"We kept our promise to hold the finals at Lotte World, six years later," said Suh Soo-gil, chief vision officer of SOOP (067160).
ASL, the StarCraft esports league that has drawn more than 200 million cumulative viewers over 11 years, scaled up its finals this year. The league kept StarCraft alive after the professional league shut down by tying former pro gamers' personal broadcasts to a regular competition, and it is now expanding as new fans arrive. SOOP is weighing symbolic venues such as Busan's Gwangalli Beach for next year's finals.
SOOP held the finals of Google Play ASL Season 22 at the Lotte World Ice Rink in Jamsil, Seoul, on the 17th. The match pitting Terran player Yoo Young-jin against Zerg player Kim Min-chul was staged on a purpose-built set seating about 1,000. It was the second straight season the finals moved outside the company's Freecup Studio in Daechi-dong to a large outside venue, after the Season 21 finals drew about 500 seats at the PlayX4 expo. Organizers estimated about 1,500 spectators turned out.
The event also completed a plan SOOP shelved six years ago. Suh, who founded the company, told reporters that holding the ASL finals at the ice rink was exactly what he had discussed with Lotte Property & Development during roughly a year of construction work starting in 2019. "We originally planned to hold the finals in late February 2020, but it fell through because of COVID-19," he said.
"Back then the players had no choice but to compete in an empty arena," he added. "Holding the finals here six years later means we have kept our promise to the fans."
SOOP is also considering a larger stage next year. The idea is to use venues that carry weight in esports history, much as Gwangalli Beach in Busan packed in huge crowds during StarCraft's heyday in the early 2000s. "We are thinking about Busan's Gwangalli Beach and other sites for next year's finals," Suh said. "Holding it at Seoul City Hall Plaza would also be meaningful."
StarCraft, the game behind ASL, is widely seen as the starting point of South Korea's esports industry. Star players including Lim Yo-hwan and the quartet known as "Taek-Bang-Lee-Ssang" — Kim Taek-yong, Song Byung-goo, Lee Jae-dong and Lee Young-ho — helped drive the market's growth. But official tournaments and playing opportunities shrank sharply after the professional league ended and team rosters were disbanded.
SOOP launched the Daegukmin StarLeague in 2015 for former pro gamers active on its platform, then reorganized it as ASL the following year. It has since maintained a regular season with qualifiers, main draws and seeding. Cumulative viewers through Season 21 passed 200 million.
The structure linking personal broadcasts to the regular competition is credited with sustaining ASL. Former pro gamers work as streamers and talk with fans, then return as competitors when a season opens, chasing a main-draw berth and the title. Their preparation and rivalries become material for their own channels, and the storylines built there feed back into the tournament. Unlike the old professional league, everyday streaming and official matches run as a single content stream.
Content known as "StarCraft University" has also brought in new viewers. Spreading on SOOP since 2021, the format has streamers with little StarCraft experience learn the game and compete in team formats. Women streamers and others who had not focused on StarCraft took part, and the process of learning and improving itself became broadcast material.
Fans following those streamers encountered StarCraft content, and viewing metrics rose. In May 2022, as StarCraft University content spread, average monthly viewers for StarCraft content on SOOP (then known as AfreecaTV) roughly doubled from a year earlier. Last year's SOOP StarCraft University League drew 13 teams and about 300 streamers.
The networks built around StarCraft also endure. Former professional league players including Park Jung-suk and Lee Yun-yeol attended the finals, as did Lee Se-dol, the former professional Go player.
SOOP has used StarCraft University to give new users a way into the game while keeping ASL as an official competitive stage for former pro gamers. It streams every match live each season and offers replays, and key matches and highlights also circulate on YouTube and other outside channels.
Offline, the league has staged matches before live audiences centered on the Freecup Studio in Daechi-dong, and has recently moved its finals to larger venues. The long-running operation has also attracted outside sponsors such as Google Play.
A SOOP official said the company will "provide a stage where players can keep competing and creating content, and sustain the league so fans can enjoy StarCraft esports both online and offline."