OGN is a South Korean pay television channel that specialized in broadcasting video game-related content and esports matches, particularly StarCraft, Starcraft II, League of Legends, and Overwatch. OGN ran high level professional tournaments for 20 years; its premier competition included the Ongamenet Starleague (OSL), Proleague, League of Legends Champions Korea, and Overwatch APEX. It was previously a subsidiary of On-Media, the parent company of several other cable channels. After a corporate merger in 2010, it became a part of CJ ENM E&M Division. Most recently, League of Legends statistics website, OP.GG, which also sponsored LCK since 2022, has acquired OGN from CJ ENM following the shutdown of the linear TV network during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Lim Yo-hwan, known online as SlayerS_'BoxeR', is a former professional player of the real-time strategy computer game StarCraft. He is often referred to as The Terran Emperor, or simply The Emperor, and is widely considered to be one of the most successful players of the genre as well as a pop culture icon.
The real time strategy (RTS) computer game StarCraft had an active professional competition circuit, particularly in South Korea. The two major game channels in South Korea, Ongamenet and MBCGame, each ran a Starleague, viewed by millions of fans.
Lee Jae-dong, who plays simply under the name Jaedong, is a South Korean professional StarCraft: Brood War player and former StarCraft II player, playing most recently for team Evil Geniuses prior to his StarCraft II retirement. After retiring from StarCraft II, Jaedong returned to playing SC:BW. Announced as a full-time streamer on 12 November 2016, he made his return to the tournament scene a week later during the 2016 KT GiGA Legends Match lll. Using the Zerg race in both games, Lee is considered one of the most successful StarCraft players of all time, having won five OnGameNet Starleague (OSL) and MBCGame StarCraft League (MSL) tournaments, and earning over $600,000 in tournament prize money. His other nicknames include The Tyrant and The Legend Killer.
The Korea e-Sports Association (KeSPA) is a South Korean body established to manage esports in South Korea. It is a member of the Korean Olympic Committee and the International e-Sports Federation. As of June 2012, it was the managing body for 25 e-sports in the country, including Starcraft II: Legacy of the Void, League of Legends, Dota 2, and Counter-Strike: Global Offensive. KeSPA also hosts the KeSPA Cup, a yearly tournament event for some of their games.
Global StarCraft II League (GSL) is a StarCraft II: Legacy of the Void tournament hosted by afreecaTV and Blizzard Entertainment in South Korea. This event is broadcast up to 2 nights a week. GOMeXp had hosted it until the last season of 2015. There is also an English language stream available. The tournament features two leagues, Code S (major) and Code A (minor). The English cast of them is mainly performed by Dan "Artosis" Stemkoski and Nicolas "Tasteless" Plott. Formerly broadcast on Wednesdays and Saturdays on TwitchTV, the program switched to broadcasting on Mondays and Thursdays, with the English casts on YouTube, in 2020. In 2023, it was reported that the GSL will continue, but with a reduced presence: it will hold fewer, smaller tournaments with the preliminary matches played online, presumably due to Blizzard no longer funding the prize pools. They reversed the decision to move early round matches online after the conclusion of the first season.
The North American Star League was a professional e-sports league that features the games StarCraft II and Heroes of Newerth. Originally modeled after successful South Korean professional StarCraft leagues, it was founded in 2011 by Russell Pfister and Duncan Stewart. Following the mid-year departure of Stewart, Mark K. Brown was tapped to fill the position of Chief Operating Officer in August 2011, and held that position until late-2014.
Jang Min-chul, better known as MC, is a former Korean professional StarCraft II player, playing as the Protoss faction. MC has accumulated more than $500,000 in tournament winnings, and won the Global StarCraft II League (GSL) championship twice. In 2014, Red Bull Esports called him "one of the most successful StarCraft 2 players ever".
Jonathan Walsh, nicknamed Jinro, is a retired Swedish professional StarCraft 2 player. He lives in South Korea, and played for Team Liquid in the GOMTV Global Starcraft II League (GSL). Jinro used to live in the oGs team house, which was due to an agreement between oGs and Team Liquid. With the breakup of oGs, Jinro has found a new house with fellow Team Liquid players TLO, Hero, and Haypro. He plays as Terran. Jinro became the first non-Korean to reach the semi-finals in GSL Season 3. Jinro then went on to reach the semi-finals a second time. So far, Jinro is the only foreigner to reach the Ro4 in GSL. In November 2010 he won the Major League Gaming Starcraft 2 tournament in Dallas. His nickname comes from the Korean distiller Jinro.
Lim Jae-Duk (Korean: 임재덕), known by the pseudonym of NesTea, is one of the most successful players of the real-time strategy game StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty. He has won $246,963 in tournament winnings over the course of his StarCraft 2 career, and has won three GOMTV Global Starcraft II League (GSL) tournaments, the third-most of any player, just behind teammate Jung "Mvp" Jong Hyun who has four titles as well as Maru who has recently won his fifth title.
Chris Loranger, better known name HuK, is a former professional Starcraft II player and former president of gaming for the Boston Uprising of the Overwatch League.
Park "Lyn" June (Korean: 박준) is a professional Starcraft II Terran player and former Warcraft III Orc player from South Korea. Lyn was a successful Warcraft III player before transitioning to Starcraft II. He is the only player to have won almost all of the premier tournaments, including the World Cyber Games, Electronic Sports World Cup, BlizzCon and Intel Extreme Masters. The only two premier tournaments which he has never won are the World e-Sports Games and International E-Sports Festival, instead placing second in the World e-Sports Games in 2008 and 2010, and in the International E-Sports Festival in 2007. The total prize money Lyn has won playing Warcraft 3 is behind only Jang "moon" Jae-ho.
Lee Seung-Hyun, better known as Life, is a former professional South Korean StarCraft II player. He began his career in 2011 with Team Zenex, which merged with StarTale shortly after. He later played for KT Rolster and shortly for Afreeca Freecs. At the end of his career, Life was one of the most accomplished StarCraft II players of all time with second most premier tournament wins of any StarCraft II player, including one World Championship Series title in 2014, two Global StarCraft II League (GSL) titles, one GSL Blizzard Cup title, two Major League Gaming titles, two DreamHack titles, and one Intel Extreme Masters title.
The StarCraft II World Championship Series (WCS) was a StarCraft II professional tournament series organized and sanctioned by Blizzard Entertainment that ran from 2012 to 2019. For all but its first year of operation, it was the highest tier of professional StarCraft II competition. Its longest-running iteration featured two regions, World Championship Series Korea and World Championship Series Circuit, with World Championship Series Global events featuring players from both regions. Grand finals were held annually at BlizzCon in Anaheim, California, except for the first year of competition, when the finals were held in Shanghai, China. WCS Circuit events were streamed on Twitch while WCS Korea events were available on Twitch, YouTube, and afreecaTV.
Won Lee-sak, (Korean: 원이삭) better known by his in-game name PartinG, is a South Korean StarCraft II Protoss player. He was the winner of the 2012 StarCraft II World Championship Series. He has played for yoe Flash Wolves, SK Telecom T1, and Team Player 1.
Gregory "Greg" Fields, better known by his in-game name IdrA is a former professional StarCraft II and Brood War player who predominantly played as Terran in Brood War, but switched to Zerg for StarCraft II. He is currently sponsored by Tt eSports. After a retirement to focus on school, he has returned to former team Evil Geniuses for Heroes of the Storm.
StarCraft II Proleague, also known as StarCraft Proleague or Proleague for short, was the longest running StarCraft league in the world and the most prestigious team league. Hosted by the Korean eSports Association (KeSPA), the league was played offline in South Korea. Proleague began in 2003 with the game StarCraft: Brood War before switching over to StarCraft II in 2011 and then discontinued in 2016. It was broadcast by SPOTVGames prior to being discontinued.
Professional StarCraft II competition features professional gamers competing in Blizzard Entertainment's real-time strategy game StarCraft II. Professional play began following the game's initial release in 2010, as the game was the sequel to StarCraft, considered one of the first esports and the foundation of South Korea's interest and success in competitive gaming. Between 2016 and 2019, competition was centered around the Global StarCraft II League in Korea and the World Championship Series Circuit everywhere else, with all Blizzard-sanctioned events being under the StarCraft II World Championship Series (WCS) banner. Since 2020, Blizzard changed the format of WCS by entering into a three-year partnership with esports organizers ESL and DreamHack.
The 2014 StarCraft II World Championship Series (WCS) is the 2014 edition of the StarCraft II World Championship Series, the highest level of esports competition for StarCraft II. The tournament series' Global Finals were won by South Korean professional player Lee "Life" Seung Hyun.
The 2013 StarCraft II World Championship Series (WCS) is the 2013 edition of the StarCraft II World Championship Series, the highest level of esports competition for StarCraft II. The tournament series' Global Finals were won by South Korean professional player Kim "sOs" Yoo Jin.
