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MLG boss cops to "not very exciting" Korean domination of StarCraft events

Both the Korean eSports Association and Major League Gaming CEO Sundance DiGiovanni want to find ways to ensure audiences around the world have someone to cheer for during championship events.

DiGiovanni told Gamespot that MLG had to embrace the Korean eSports scene in order to develop global reach, but now needs to find ways to promote competition at home.

"Now what we need to do is look at our own scene. I want to try to examine ways to work with the other organizations out there, to globally create a structure where you have access to meaningful competition in your region," he said.

"One of the big things from the [Korean eSports Association] partnership that's a focus from both sides is that it's not very exciting if the Koreans are just light years ahead of everybody. Now KeSPA doesn't want to lose necessarily, but they don't want to see the rest of the world lose interest because there are no foreign players making moves."

The executive said the two organisations are working to find ways to "regionalise" competitions so local favourites are more relevant. Part of the problem, he admitted, is the current double elimination bracket system.

"My number one complaint is that as the event goes on, there are so many people that are knocked out, nearly all of those being the fan favorites from the different regions," DiGiovanni said.

"The North American, European players struggle to get past a certain point. Ilyes 'Stephano' Satouri, Chris 'Huk' Loranger, and a few others are exceptions to that, but it can't just be a rotisserie of Korean players being showcased every time out. That's a knock against not the format necessarily, but the structure of the year.

"We're working to change not only our bracket structure, but also change the way we run competitions, so there's opportunity. So there's opportunity for North American players and North American teams."

MLG's most recent event, the StarCraft II Summer Arena, was won by Korean player Taeja.

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Brenna Hillier

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Based in Australia and having come from a lengthy career in the Aussie games media, Brenna worked as VG247's remote Deputy Editor for several years, covering news and events from the other side of the planet to the rest of the team. After leaving VG247, Brenna retired from games media and crossed over to development, working as a writer on several video games.

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