wCg, an esports event considered on par with the World Cup, faced a slight predicament in 2006: it was on the verge of financial collapse.
This was evident from the tournament's scheduling in March, early in the year. Typically, year-long competitions were held after October, making an early-year start unusual.
The March timing was indeed due to financial constraints. The event, initially planned for October of the previous year, was postponed to December, and then to March of the following year, finally managing to be held in China.
Despite the difficult circumstances, the global enthusiasm remained high. Statistics showed over 1400 participants registered, with contestants hailing from 124 countries and regions.
While the turnout appeared impressive, there was an imbalance: 900 of these 1400 participants were registered for a single event.
As one might guess, this event was Warcraft.
Thanks to the release of Warcraft 4 and the global reach of the oo game platform, Warcraft, which was projected to decline in 2006, was instead experiencing a surge in popularity. The number of participants in the Warcraft global finals this year increased by 300 compared to the previous year, representing an additional 28 countries.
According to wcG's official press release, it had become the most widely participated sporting event globally, second only to the Olympics, a fact certainly worth boasting about.
Yet, it was hard to believe that an event in such a state of vibrant growth was facing funding issues. The reason was simple: Samsung Group, wcG's main sponsor, was unwilling to continue investing.
For instance, this year's wcG was originally scheduled to be held in the United States. However, with the increasing number of registrations, the venue requirements also grew. Samsung Group's refusal to increase their investment led to the cancellation of the US venues.
Ultimately, some regions in China, eager to explore the esports industry, coupled with a premature surge in China's esports scene, resulted in a city offering free venue support. This led to the temporary relocation of the event from the US to China, and was also the reason for the postponement from December to March.
The delay was primarily due to the extensive materials that needed revision and the tight schedule, making it difficult to manage.
In this situation, the wcG organizing committee naturally sought a new benefactor, especially since Samsung was no longer funding it. Consequently, the wcG organizing committee approached oo Games, proposing that oo Games become the main sponsor of wcG.
oo Games was quite receptive to this proposal. It's important to remember that oo Games was directly managed by Leng Zhimeng, an ardent fan of esports. After acquiring wealth, she attended every wcG event.
Furthermore, oo Games also owned oo Esports Club, the premier esports powerhouse in China, which monopolized almost all top-tier esports talent. Their Warcraft player, Ren Wang Tian Kong, had achieved an unprecedented two consecutive global championships in Warcraft and was aiming for a third consecutive title this year.
Beyond Warcraft, the oo Esports Club was involved in 13 other esports titles, securing at least a runner-up position at the national level in almost every game. It was an unshakeable domestic powerhouse, even more dominant than the legendary WE team of its time.
Taking direct control of wcG was something Leng Zhimeng had long desired, as it would allow her to implement sweeping reforms. In Leng Zhimeng's view, wcG was old and rigid, requiring new systems and reforms to foster further development in this sporting event.
With mutual interest, negotiations between the two parties commenced.
To the organizing committee's surprise, only three people from oo Games appeared for the negotiations, and all of them were women.
Initially, the Korean organizing committee was quite displeased, as they had sent a delegation of over ten people. oo Games' representation of only three felt dismissive. Their attitude changed drastically, however, upon learning that one of these three was the president and CEO of oo Games, Leng Zhimeng herself.
After all, "Meng Zong's" status was undeniable; she was known as the "Queen of Esports."
Ordinarily, someone of Leng Zhimeng's standing would not attend negotiations directly, but would delegate to her subordinates, perhaps appearing only to sign contracts once agreements were reached.
However, Leng Zhimeng disregarded such protocol. She personally led two individuals: a Korean translator and her secretary.
Our "Meng Zong" was also very direct, immediately asking, "How much money do you need?"
"Meng Zong! While the exact scale for next year is still uncertain, this year, without factoring in venue costs, we've already spent 4 million US dollars. Therefore, if we are to host it to the grandest standard next year, we estimate needing around 6 to 8 million US dollars!" the chairman of the organizing committee stated.
He had expected Leng Zhimeng to scrutinize this figure and haggle fiercely.
To his surprise, Leng Zhimeng grinned and said, "So cheap? Only 8 million US dollars? I thought it would be tens of millions. It's this little? No problem, we agree to this figure!"
Leng Zhimeng's words filled the chairman with elation but also regret. He wondered why he hadn't simply asked for 10 million US dollars, thinking this wealthy woman would have readily agreed.
Alas, there was no opportunity to increase the price. The chairman could only force a smile and say, "Congratulations, Meng Zong, on becoming our wcG global title sponsor..."
"Wait, you're saying this 8 million US dollars is just for a global title sponsorship?" Leng Zhimeng's expression changed instantly, and she stated unequivocally, "This 8 million US dollars is not just for naming rights. We expect to gain operational control of wcG. Going forward, oo will lead the future reforms and operations of wcG."
"Operational control is absolutely out of the question!" the chairman retorted without hesitation, and the two parties immediately engaged in a heated debate, neither willing to back down.
The discussions continued for an entire day. Eventually, the organizing committee, genuinely short of funds, conceded, "Operational control is absolutely out of the question. However, we can implement a change in the tournament format led by oo, provided that oo signs a title sponsorship agreement for a minimum of five consecutive years."
"That's acceptable! But the reforms must be carried out strictly in accordance with the suggestions proposed by oo!" Leng Zhimeng's stance was quite straightforward; she was simply dissatisfied with many of wcG's current systems and aimed to change them. Whether she held operational control was of little concern to Leng Zhimeng.
Then, Leng Zhimeng presented her carefully considered reform proposals to the representatives of the organizing committee. These proposals stunned the committee members.
The very first point was a complete overhaul of the organizing committee's composition. It could no longer be solely controlled by the Korean esports association; it must be elected by major esports associations worldwide.
This was similar to the election process of the International Olympic Committee, aiming to make the wcG organizing committee a truly global one, not a Korean one.
This was Leng Zhimeng's core demand. She and Chinese esports players had endured considerable hardship due to the organizing committee's tactics in recent wcG tournaments.
The organizing committee consistently favored and catered to Korean players through various means, striving to create opportunities for their victory. This included providing all Chinese players with documents in Korean and notifying them of competition news with minimal lead time, often resulting in delays.
Specific details will be elaborated upon in the subsequent reform proposals.
Firstly, Leng Zhimeng demanded a reform of the organizing committee, reducing the number of Korean members from over a dozen to just one, effectively ending Korean dominance within the committee.
On the other hand, upon seeing this condition, the wcG organizing committee immediately felt it was unacceptable, asserting that wcG was Korean.
Furthermore, the subsequent conditions included mechanisms for introducing referees and ensuring the transparency of their rulings. These aspects could no longer be solely determined by Koreans, and in many instances, the referees' identities were unknown.
Secondly, there was a requirement to introduce a project review mechanism for adding new games as competitive events. This decision could no longer be made unilaterally by the organizing committee; it had to adhere to specific review standards for inclusion and require a competitive foundation in multiple countries.
For example, a game launched less than a year ago, played only by Koreans, was shamelessly included as a wcG event, resulting in only Korean participants. This online game, popular exclusively in Korea, was officially made a competitive event, contributing two gold medals to the Korean tally.
Another issue was the real-time updating of game versions to synchronize with official competitive versions, or at least a related iteration. Take StarCraft, for instance. StarCraft 2 had been released for over a year, yet wcG insisted on using StarCraft 1 for matches.
This was because the Korean esports league had fallen out with Blizzard's esports events, and Blizzard refused to license StarCraft 2 for Korean leagues. Consequently, Korea continued to use StarCraft 1 for its own leagues.
This led to Korean players rarely playing StarCraft 2. If wcG had adopted StarCraft 2, the dominance of Korean players in StarCraft events would have vanished. For Koreans who considered StarCraft a national treasure, this was an utterly unacceptable situation. Therefore, Koreans insisted that wcG continue to use StarCraft 1 as the competitive game version. When this news was announced, it caused significant upheaval in the esports community, and Leng Zhimeng herself was enraged.
Could such tournament rules remain unchanged?