PC Gaming to Globalization

On July 27, 2010, Blizzard Entertainment released the highly anticipated real-time strategy (RTS) game known as Starcraft II: Wings of Liberty. Starcraft II (SC2) is the sequel to the award-winning RTS released back in 1998 known as Starcraft (SC). Since its release in 1998, the Starcraft franchise has risen to the top of the RTS gaming industry as the most popular real-time strategy game of all-time. Starcraft II seeks to break the records held by its predecessor and impact the gaming industry on a global level.

No where else can the impact of the Starcraft franchise be seen more clearly than in South Korea. The American-developed game has taken South Korea by storm and has been doing so since 1998. The popularity of Starcraft in Korea has become so well-known that players from all over the world visit or move to South Korea just to play the game. International corporations have now recognized SC’s global popularity and have begun to sponsor Starcraft teams and tournaments in Korea and all over the world. One example of the type of money these teams and players are competing for is the monthly Global Starcraft II League (GSL) tournament in Seoul, Korea where the winner takes home 100,000,000 KRW (aprox. $85,700 USD). With professional teams and players vying for lucrative winnings, many have come to see Starcraft as a national sport much like any other sport such as soccer.

So you might wonder what Starcraft and “globalization” have in common and I believe the following quote is something that ties them both together. According to Mauro F. Guillén, who wrote an article titled “Is Globalization Civilizing, Destructive or Feeble?, one specific quote caught my attention. “Intuitively, globalization is a process fueled by, and resulting in, increasing cross-border flows of goods, services, money, people, information, and culture (Guillen, 2001, 236)."

With myself being a casual Starcraft gamer, the news about the game’s impact on South Korea came to mind as I read that line. With its ever increasing popularity and global appeal, Starcraft has essentially become a transnational entity that traverses national boundaries. It has increased the “cross-border flow” of money as seen with the retail sales, the countless international sponsorships from corporations and so on. It has also allowed the exchange of information and culture through the many individuals who travel from around the world to take part in this gaming phenomenon. With Starcraft, also comes the unique gaming culture. One that is filled with individuals of countless backgrounds. This culture has begun to grow and has quickly expanded around the world and is beginning to become more widely accepted as seen with South Korea’s adoption of the Starcraft franchise.