eSF, the original body for Korean SC2 shuts doors

This article was originally published on GameSpot's sister site onGamers.com, which was dedicated to esports coverage.

Much has happened in these past two years within Korea; two new esports in the shape of League of Legends and Dota 2 have quickly become hot contenders in the nation with the greatest esports infrastructure in the world, and even an old champion in the form of Brood War is enjoying a completely grassroots revival. There's no denying that SC2 has drawn the short straw in the last year, and today the eSF, the body that represented the original SC2 teams players and interests has today discontinued its development.

The official statement from the eSF read as follows:

Hello esports fans.

The eSports Federation was founded in March of 2012 to help protect the rights and interests of StarCraft 2 teams and progamers. Through cooperation with our chairman company in GomTV, we sponsored the GSTL, planned online preliminaries for foreign tournaments like MLG and IPL, and tried to create Dota2 teams to diversify eSports disciplines.

However, with the industry going through rough times recently, and because teams could not solve their financial problems, it came to a situation where many teams disbanded. Additionally, it has come to be that the GSTL cannot be held anymore.

The eSF has put the rights and interests of the players first, and is working on getting the players signed to KeSPA and international teams. Also, we are cooperating with KeSPA so that players can attend educational seminars etc. so eSF players can receive KeSPA progamer licenses.

We would like to thank GOM eXP's Mr. Kwak Jong Wook who gave the federation so much help, and send out a heartfelt thank you to the eSF teams, staff, and players. Also, we want to thank the developers, media, and members of the community.

The eSF is disbanding as of January 28th.

We apologize for being unable to live up to the expectations of the fans, and we thank all of you for giving us your endless love and support.

Whether or not the need to split the professional player-base was the right decision to make, eSF were one of the primary forces behind the idea of Korean players seeking their fortunes outside of Korea, and their subsequent collaboration with foreign tournaments. The federation's ties with GOM.eXP also meant that the federation prioritized the leagues said broadcaster put on, whilst the Korean eSports Association (KeSPA), focused on the teams already working with them, as well as broadcasting their own events. Which meant that the two companies could compete, and host a major each.

The final teams remaining in the eSF were StarTale, Axiom and AZUBU.

Image Source: liquipedia.net