By Yoon Sung-won





Rep. Jun Byung-hun of the main opposition New Politics Alliance for Democracy, who also chairs the Korea e-Sports Association (KeSPA), speaks in costume during the final match of a professional StarCraft II competition on the Floating Island in Banpo-dong, southern Seoul, Saturday. He was dressed as a game character.

/ Courtesy of KeSPA

The Korea e-Sports Association (KeSPA), organizer of professional game leagues in Korea, staged the final matches of the domestic professional game league for "StarCraft II" at an outdoor venue in Seoul for the first time Saturday, drawing an enthusiastic response from fans.



The event raised expectations that the successful hosting may help revive the league from its sagging popularity on the back of the association's efforts to reorganize it.



More than 2,500 spectators attended the matches on the Seoul Floating Island in Banpo-dong, southern Seoul, Saturday, according to KeSPA. KT Rolster beat SK Telecom in the finals.



"I have been of the same mind with the game fans who wish the best for the game and its league during the last nine-month-long season. I deeply appreciate their support for the league," said Rep. Jun Byung-hun of the main opposition New Politics Alliance for Democracy.



Jun also chairs the association and has been a strong advocate not only for the league itself, but also for the entire game industry in Korea.



The association changed the main broadcaster to cable channel Spotv Games and introduced a post-season system where winners of four leagues compete against each other.



There was a concern that the domestic league may have been on its last legs because it has lost its previous popularity here to other games such as "League of Legends."



That title, provided by the global game company Riot Games, is gaining massive popularity and has retained the top perch in the local game standings for more than 100 consecutive weeks. Its professional game league, the "League of Legends Masters League," has also replaced the StarCraft league as the most popular among Korean gamers.



Jun has pledged to push ahead with the StarCraft league, saying, "The association will do its upmost to revive its past glory."



StarCraft II is a real-time strategy game title developed and published by global game company Blizzard Entertainment. It is the sequel to "StarCraft," one of the most sought-after computer games around the world.



StarCraft was first released in 1998 and created a sensation among gamers because it supported multiplayer matches through its own online game platform, "Battle.net."



The popularity contributed to the establishment of a professional game league for the title, in which several teams of professional gamers, sponsored by major Korean conglomerates such as Samsung, KT, CJ and SK, participated.



The league, dubbed the "StarCraft Pro League," had enjoyed huge popularity among Korean gamers since it was launched in 2003. In the final matches held at Gwangalli Beach in Busan in 2004, about 100,000 spectators crowded the venue.



But its popularity began to decline amid a series of negative issues including match-fixing scandals by some professional gamers in 2010. The sequel, which was unveiled in the same year, suffered from lower-than-expected popularity and this was said to be partly because of the scandals.