Blizzard, is it you again? News of 700 billion won lawsuit filed against professional gaming league
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This is also a story that has been covered several times on popular game YouTube channels. Leagues for various games such as Heroes of the Storm, Overwatch, and Dota 2 have existed and disappeared. Of course, there are many cases where they are revived due to a resurgence (such as Kart Rider). However, the discontinuation of most game leagues means that the developers do not have expectations for the operation and success of the game, and the game is forgotten.
Of course, in Korea, the case of 'Starcraft 1', which is called a folk game, shows a very strange appearance. Of course, the official league has disappeared and the association has become meaningless, but the league is still operated through AfreecaTV, YouTube, and Chijijik (Twitch). I also really enjoy watching AfreecaTV's ASL and the final battle of the stock company broadcasting company. This is actually an unprecedented case worldwide.
If we limit it to Korea, the official game leagues that remain are League of Legends, Battlegrounds, etc., and looking at the world, leagues like Dota 2 and Valorant are still popular. (There are many Korean players who are active as well. They are just not popular in Korea...) Then I suddenly wonder. Can only game developers and distributors open a league? In Korea, where we often saw PC room game competitions in the neighborhood or leagues hosted by influencers when we were young, this is actually a topic that is not of much interest.
To be exact, most gamers do not want to know much about the monetization of the league. Recently, as many game influencers have brought it to the surface, questions about the league's deficit and franchise structure have been raised, but it seems that it is still difficult to find a way to go beyond relying on sponsors. (It is also cheaper than baseball or soccer, though...)
A lawsuit worth about 786 billion won is filed over the monopoly of the game league.
Activision Blizzard has been hit with a $680 million lawsuit over its monopolistic practices with respect to the Call of Duty (CoD) esports league. The lawsuit was brought by OpTic Gaming CEO Hector "H3CZ" Rodriguez and retired OpTic player Seth "Scump" Abner. They claim Activision Blizzard's monopolistic practices forced them into financially destructive partnerships to participate in the league, or they were prevented from competing in the league.
Activision Blizzard's Exclusive Practices
According to the lawsuit, Activision Blizzard fundamentally changed the structure of competitive Call of Duty tournaments when it launched the Call of Duty League (CDL) in 2019. Previously, independent third-party organizers hosted tournaments with an open structure that allowed for a variety of teams to participate, but with the launch of the CDL, only one tournament was offered per year and participation required a multi-million dollar franchise fee.
Key points of the lawsuit
Monopoly Market Dominance: The lawsuit alleges that Activision Blizzard has secured a 100 percent monopoly in the professional Call of Duty league and tournament market, and has used this market power to eliminate competition, forcing team owners and players to either exit the market entirely or accept anticompetitive terms that only benefit Activision.
Franchise Slot Costs: The cost of a spot in the league was $27.5 million, and teams had to hand over 50 percent of merchandise and event ticket sales to Activision Blizzard.
Sponsorship and Participation Restrictions: Activision Blizzard has exclusive sponsorship deals with its most lucrative advertising partners, and prohibits teams and players from participating in tournaments outside of the league or securing personal sponsorships.
Positions of both sides
Activision Blizzard said it would vigorously defend the lawsuit filed by Rodriguez and Abner, saying the allegations were untrue and without legal basis. It also expressed disappointment in the lawsuit, saying it caused confusion for team owners, players, fans, and partners who invested in the success of the Call of Duty League.
The case has once again raised the issue of monopolistic practices within the esports industry, and is prompting a broader review and reevaluation of how Activision Blizzard operates its esports leagues. There is growing interest in the outcome of the lawsuit and the impact it will have on the esports industry as a whole.
The reason why this news is interesting is because Activision Blizzard became so sensitive to e-sports leagues because of the broadcasting rights controversy that started in Korea... At that time, Ongamenet, MBC Game, and many other places were already holding Starcraft leagues. Then, KeSPA, the newly established Korean e-sports association, claimed that they had the broadcasting rights and that only registered players could participate in the league, causing various disputes. Surprisingly, they did not consult with Blizzard, the developer of the game, at all. After that, Blizzard got involved, and it became even more chaotic, destructive, and oblivious, but Blizzard just let it go, ending the mess. After that, Blizzard introduced the predecessor of the league franchise fee and participation restriction system that is now a problem overseas to Starcraft 2 and the Overwatch League... and the result was... (Of course, I don't think these games were because of this system.)
For more details, please watch Penguin Monster's video or read Kingmu Wiki. ( Go to )
The franchise system certainly has enough reasons to be maintained from the perspective of game developers and distributors, but I personally think that it is not a model that can be maintained in the long term from the perspective of league operations, gamers, and league officials. Since it is almost entirely dependent on sponsors, it is thought that this is the time to maintain a young image, so corporate sponsorships are attached, but in fact, this often happens in baseball, soccer, and volleyball, but from the perspective of companies, maintaining a team in a professional league costs money for advertising, so if they think that the team is unpopular or does not help improve advertising and image, they may sell it or disband it.
As someone who also likes games, has developed games, and is still playing them, I think it is a good time to think about whether the current maintenance practices in the game league are right. I have attached the documents containing the arguments of each side in this lawsuit below, so if you are interested, I recommend reading them.
call-of-duty-esports-lawsuit.pdf469KB
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