With Blizzard’s announcement of its War Chest feature for StarCraft II, a purchasable virtual box filled with a random assortment of in-game cosmetic items, the popular RTS had officially entered the fray of crowdfunding prize pools, and the first two weeks have been a rousing success.
Blizzard announced today that the War Chest proceeds, 25% of which contribute to the prize pool of the World Championship Series, have already added $200,000. This makes the current prize pool $700,000, making it StarCraft II‘s highest-value tournament. The StarCraft II World Championship Series is already in effect, and the finals will conclude at BlizzCon 2017. The first place prize will be $280,000.
While you can still purchase the War Chest to contribute to StarCraft II eSports, any extra funds at this point will go toward the production of StarCraft II eSports events, rather than directly to the prize pool.
Also Read: Dota 2 International 2017 Prize Pool Breaks Its Own Record for Largest in eSports History
Of course, if you’re a follower of Dota 2, you know that this is hardly a new idea. In fact, it’s difficult to believe that other eSports are only just getting in on this. The first two Dota 2 International tournaments had a prize pool of $1.6 million. After implementing crowdfunding through the Battle Pass cosmetic bundles, that prize pool baloooned to $2.8 million, then to $10.9 million, then to $18.4 million and to $20.7 million last year, and the International 2017 has just crossed $22.5 million.
Valve clearly has long proven that this is a successful model, so it’s a surprise that it hasn’t caught on sooner. Regardless, it’s a good time to be a professional eSports player.
