Hoy hemos podido leer en el medio generalista de deportes ESPN una entrevista al CEO de Riot Games, Brandon Beck, que deja increíbles declaraciones y más sorprendentes novedades de la Season 3 de League of Legends.
Durante la entrevista equipara a los jugadores de League of Legends con atletas destacando su habilidad mental y su destreza manual así como las grandes capacidades de liderazgo y competitividad:
"To be a pro gamer, you have to possess tremendous manual dexterity and mental agility and toughness, and that’s akin to certain characteristics that other professional athletes have. There’s also a massive amount of team play, so these guys have to be phenomenal team players and phenomenal leaders, and they have to have an unbreakable competitive spirit just like any pro athlete has. A pro gamer’s dexterity is measured in actions per minute, and it’s phenomenal to watch pro gamers actually up there playing."
Declara además que los grandes jugadores están entrenando de 12 a 14 horas diarias preparando la gran final de la temporada 2 que será muy importante ya no sólo por los 5 millones de dólares en premios sino por que definirá que equipos formarán la Championship Series de la Temporada 3.
Y aquí viene la gran novedad: Los jugadores de los equipos de la Championship Series tendrán un sueldo mensual de Riot Games que permitirá cubrir las necesidades de los jugadores para que solo se preocupen de jugar y mejorar.
"In season three, which is our next season, and it will follow our World Championships in October, the champion of the series, which is in a professional league, is going to have salaries. The salaries are there to cover the basic cost of living for players, and they’re going to be augmented by stipends that cover things like travel and housing, which is all meant to compliment the sponsor revenue players can make and the cash prizes for the tournament. All of that combined makes being a professional “League of Legends” player a viable career opportunity. This helps the game reach its full potential, because we want to avoid our pro players coming under financial stress and having to hold down part-time jobs. We want to make it so being a pro player is a completely viable career opportunity. "
Finalmente el CEO de la empresa responsable del juego declara que más de 4 millones de espectadores semanales están viendo retransmisiones de partidos de League of Legends desde de 145 paises y que ahora más que nunca es el momento de apostar por equiparar por fin el espectáculo de los deportes electrónicos con el deporte tradicional.
"Because our fans and our players are so keen on watching the pros play and seeing the highest level of the game being played, that enables us to really make an investment in building out the sport. Watching the games has become such an integral part of the experience, and to take eSports from where they are today to where we want to go, is to add a broadcast experience, a live-event experience that has the same quality as pro sports. We have to really invest in evolving eSports.
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¿La próxima gran cita? La semana del 16 de Agosto se disputará la Intel Extreme Master Gamescon 2012 donde 3 españoles estarán luchando por el último gran torneo europeo antes de las finales mundiales de 2012 en Los Angeles.
