StarCraft 2 World Championship Series for 2013, the first official worldwide ranking system for StarCraft 2 eSports is now established, Blizzard Entertainment announced.
The World Championship series features StarCraft 2 competition across three leagues: Korean, American and European. There will be three seasons and the respective global season finals.
Players will earn points within the WCS's global ranking system, with the top ranked players competing in the global grand final held at BlizzCon in Anaheim, Calif. this November. The new StarCraft 2 championship will begin on April 4 with the Korea GSL.
The WCS is a partnership with the Korea eSports Association (KeSPA), Ongamenet (OGN), GomTV, Major League Gaming (MLG), Turtle Entertainment (ESL) and Twitch, who will be the official broadcast partner. Twitch will provide region-free ad-supported 720p HD coverage.
MLG and Turtle Entertainment will operate the American and European leagues, respectively, with more details to be announced.
OGN and WCS Korea StarLeague will produce season two in Korea. The operation of the Korean seasons will alternate between GomTV and OGN. Both companies will work together to broadcast all of the Korean seasons via online and TV across the country.
"The structure of the StarCraft 2 World Championship Series is the result of an ongoing collaborative effort between Blizzard and our partners," said Mike Morhaime, CEO and co-founder of Blizzard Entertainment. "Our collective goal was to make StarCraft 2 eSports even more exciting and easier to follow for fans than ever before. On the heels of the successful launch of StarCraft 2: Heart of the Swarm, we're all very excited about the present and future of StarCraft 2 eSports."
In January, Major League Gaming revealed that StarCraft 2: Heart of the Swarm will be included in two major competitions during its Winter Season. The first expansion for StarCraft 2, sold approximately 1.1 million copies worldwide within the first two days of being on sale.