Online game developer Blizzard Entertainment launched the World Championship Series on Wednesday, featuring a showdown of top players of its “Starcraft 2.”

The WCS will narrow down the best players in regional contests in Korea, the U.S. and Europe, who will then meet at the final round to be held in California in November this year, according to Blizzard.

Among the three regions, Korea’s league will start first on Thursday, and GomTV and Ongamenet will alternate to operate WCS Korea seasons and work in collaboration to broadcast the tournament.

“For the leagues within our system, there are clear benefits. Each of their competitions will now carry a greater, connected meaning within the WCS framework,” said Blizzard CEO Mike Morhaime.

“This will make the action even more interesting and easy to follow for fans and audiences around the world,” he said. “We look forward to a year of great competition, and continuing to work together to elevate e-sports in the future.”

Morhaime said the three regions were chosen because they are considered to have the most mature e-sports markets and e-sports are expected to develop there further in the future.

Players are free to choose any of the three regions to compete in, but once they choose a region, they cannot change regions for the rest of the year, he added.

(injeongchoi@heraldcorp.com)