GomTV is starting a Global Starcraft II League this September!

- Players gain the right to play through monthly tournaments.
- E-Sports fans all over the world can watch through global broadcasting service.
- Players all around the world can participate.

Earlier today, Blizzard Entertainment's partner GomTV revealed plans for an easily accessible worldwide league called the "Global StarCraft II League" (GSL). GomTV is planning on having monthly tournaments culminating in a main tournament and world championships for both the GSL 2010 and GSL 2011. Also, using GomTV's global broadcasting service, everyone around the world will be able to watch the league live through the Internet or via smart phones.

The GSL will be held every month starting with an Open Starcraft II League with a total prize pool of 200,000,000 won (approximately 170,000 USD). GomTV will broadcast the games 5 days a week, which is more than the current StarCraft leagues that are broadcasted 1~2 times a week. This way, more players and viewers will be able to enjoy the league. Also, GSL will incorporate a system based on points to promote a healthy competition. There will be a final event at the end of the year to determine the true champion and finish up the league.

There are a total of 600,000,000 won (app. 500,000 USD) in prizes planned for the year 2010, which is the most amount of money in the history of e-sports. The winner of the monthly tournament will be given 100,000,000 won (app. 85,500 USD), and runner up and semifinalists will be given 30,000,000 won (app. 25,000 USD) and 10,000,000 won (app. 8,500 USD) respectively. The players will be divided into upper and lower league depending on their performance in the 2010 league for the 2011 league.

GomTV e-sports representative Oh Joo Yang said, "The former StarCraft Leagues ran 4 different leagues at once, so the players had hard time focusing. Even the fans will be able to enjoy it more with many games a week. Before, only players in progaming teams were able to participate, but anyone can participate at a professional level in this league. Nationality and team involvement is not necessary as long as players have the skills to do well in the monthly leagues and move up to the upper league."

GomTV is planning on sponsoring skilled players and also planning on adding other StarCraft II leagues including a clan league. The details for GSL 2011 are planned to be released near the end of this year.

Global Starcraft II League

- 2010 GSL is a league to determine the groups for the 2011 GSL.
- It will be decided through 3 StarCraft II Open Tournaments. The players are assigned points for their accomplishments in these leagues. (Points will be revealed after all three tournaments are complete)
- The format will be single elimination. (Bo3 for Ro64~Ro8, Bo5 semi, Bo7 finals)
- The prize pool for each tournament will be about 200,000,000 won (app. 170,000 USD)
- Default speed will be 'Very Fast' (guessing faster)
- Player must use the race they register with
- Up to the semifinals, Blizzard's official 1v1 maps will be used. Both players pick 2 maps they want excluded from the pool, then the maps are randomly chosen for each set.
- The finals will be the same way except both players pick 1 map they want excluded from the pool.
- After all three tournaments, the top 32 will become "Code S" players.
- 33rd-96th will become "Code A" players.
- Code S players and Code A players earn the right to participate in the GSL 2011.
- If a Code S player drops out before GSL 2011 starts, the top Code A player will fill the spot etc.


Schedule

8/10 ~ 8/22 - Registration
8/28 - Offline Preliminaries
9/4 - Opening match for Ro64
9/6 ~ 9/10 - Ro64
9/13 ~ 9/14 - Ro64 cont'd
9/15 ~ 9/16 - Ro32
9/17 - Ro16 day 1
9/20 - Ro16 day 2
9/21 ~ 9/23 - Korean Thanksgiving Break!
9/24 - Ro8
9/27 ~ 9/28 - Semifinals
10/2 - Finals

Ro64 and on will be broadcasted by GomTV

Open Tournament Prize Money

Winner: 100,000,000 KRW (aprox. $85,700 USD)
Runner-Up: 30,000,000 KRW (aprox. $25,700 USD)
Semi-Finalists: 10,000,000 KRW (aprox. $8,600 USD)
Quarter-Finalists: 4,000,000 KRW (aprox. $3,400 USD)
Round of 16: 2,000,000 KRW (aprox. $1710 USD)
Round of 32: 500,000 KRW (aprox. $430 USD)
Round of 64: 300,000 KRW (aprox. $260 USD)

Plans for GSL 2011

There will be 12 tournaments throughout 2011, and there will be 4 types of tournaments.

1. GSL (Ran in January, March, April, July and September) - Main League. 32 Code S players tournament and 64 Code A players tournament.
2. World Championship (Ran in June and October) - 4 representative from each region in a 16 man tournament.
3. Ladder Tournament (Ran in February, May, August and November) - Tournament to decide best of Battle.Net ladder. Top 200 from each region are invited to participate in a preliminary for a 16 man double elimination tournament.
4. Blizzard Cup (Ran in December) - Top 8 (of GSL ranking I'm guessing?) will be invited to decide the best player of the year in a Bo5 Playoff format tournament.

Format

Offline Preliminaries
- Preliminaries to decide the 64 people that will play on the StarCraft II Open Tournaments in GSL 2010.
- It will be played at a place designated by GomTV in Seoul.
- Players must arrive on time.
- Players must bring their own equipment (Keyboard, Mouse, Mouse Pad, Headset, Mouse Driver) and ID.
- Players that do not bring their own equipment must use the equipment provided.
- Preliminaries will be in Bo3.
- Maps: 1set : Metalopolis 2set: Scrap Station 3set: Xel'Naga Caverns

Main Tournament
- Every game will be broadcasted by GomTV.
- Bo3 for Ro64~Ro8, Bo5 semi, Bo7 finals
- Up to the semifinals, Blizzard's official 1v1 maps will be used. Both players pick 2 maps they want excluded from the pool, then the maps are randomly chosen for each set.
- The finals will be the same way except both players pick 1 map they want excluded from the pool.
- The official maps are: Blistering Sands, Desert Oasis, Scrap Station, Steppes of War, Xel'Naga Caverns, Kulas Ravine, Lost Temple, Metalopolis, and Delta Quadrant.


Eligibility

- You must be at least 12 years old.
- You must have your own Battle.net account.
- You must fill out the registration form on the website.
- You must be able to participate in the offline preliminaries.
- GomTV can deny your participation if you are found unfit to be a gamer.


In-Game Regulations

- Every game will be played in "Starcraft II - Wings of Liberty Age 12+".
- Every game will be played on the latest version on that day.
- The format will be single elimination. (Bo3 for Ro64~Ro8, Bo5 semi, Bo7 finals)
- Up to the semifinals, Blizzard's official 1v1 maps will be used. Both players pick 2 maps they want excluded from the pool, then the maps are randomly chosen for each set.
- The finals will be the same way except both players pick 1 map they want excluded from the pool.
- The official maps are: Blistering Sands, Desert Oasis, Scrap Station, Steppes of War, Xel'Naga Caverns, Kulas Ravine, Lost Temple, Metalopolis, and Delta Quadrant.
- You must play with the race you registered with (Terran, Protoss, Zerg, Random).
- Every player must disable notifications in the options.
- Every player must set themselves as busy.
- Every player must use full screen.
- Every player must put the texture quality on high.
- Other graphic options are up to the players.
- There will be two observers from GomTV for every game.
- The observer will start the game, the players must notify the observer when they are ready to begin.
- Players cannot chat unless they are surrendering the game.
- Players are not allowed use bugs or commit any misconduct.


Out-of-Game Regulations

- Every player must arrive at the stadium 15 minutes prior to the game.
- Every player gets 15 minutes to set up.
- Every player can use their own equipments.
- Equipments are Keyboard, Mouse, Mouse pad, Ear set, Mouse driver.
- Every player must use the PC and LCD wide screen monitor provided by GomTV.
- Every player must use a ear set. Every player must wear a head set provided by GomTV over the ear set.


Game Stoppage and Regame

- If an emergency occurs, the game is first paused.
- If a player thinks that the game must be paused, he will press the emergency button in the booth.
- The observer will pause the game if it goes off.
- The player can request a pause under these conditions.
1. Equipment failure.
2. An in-game bug that affects the game.
3. When you can hear the sound outside of the booth due to sound issues.
4. If the player finds an issue that may affect the game.
- If a game is paused due to the above reasons, the game will be resumed after the issue is resolved at the discretion of the referee.
- A new game will be played under these conditions.
1. Power/Network issues.
2. Computer error.
3. An unintentional or unknown bug in the game.
4. When a member of the audience enters the booth or does something that makes the game unable to be continued.
5. When it is no longer possible to determine the winner and the loser.
6. If a game stops due to an emergency.
7. If the referee decides that the game was over, even under the above conditions, the game will be considered as if it ended and the winner will be decided.
- Even if the observers drop, if the players are still in, the game will be continued.
- A regame will be pushed to the last game of that day so that the players can take time to refocus.
- GomTV and the referee can make decisions according to the situation.


Disqualification

You are disqualified if:
- A friend notification appears during the game.
- You received a message from a person during the game.
- You chat (besides surrenderring).
- You act violently towards the players or the audience.
- You fail to arrive 15 minutes before the game.
- You take longer than 15 minutes to set up.
- You use a known bug.


Sources:
http://www.playxp.com/sc2/news/view.php ... id=2006063
http://www.playxp.com/sc2/news/view.php ... id=2006060
http://www.playxp.com/sc2/news/view.php ... id=2006413
http://gsl.gomtv.com