Competitive play started with StarCraft when it was released in 1998, but then exploded when the long anticipated sequel, StarCraft 2, was released worldwide in 2010.

StarCraft 2: Wings of Liberty was released by Blizzard Entertainment as part of a three phase deployment, the second in the series, StarCraft: Heart of the Swarm, was released three years later in 2013 with the third installment, StarCraft: Legacy of the Void still in development with no release date set. StarCraft 2 is a Real Time Strategy game pitting 2 to 8 players against each other in a skirmish type battle. Competitive players usually exhibit mastery of base building and army management, as well as timing and strategy in order to accomplish victory.

StarCraft 2 has had multiplayer support and online player versus player capacity from the beginning, and lends itself to tournament play. Recreational play has existed from the start. Seeing the rise of e-sports with other games like Call of Duty and Counterstrike, Blizzard saw the capacity for professional players in StarCraft 2, especially in Korea where the game has a massive following. Thus the World Championship Series was born.

Starting in 2010 with the release of StarCraft: Wings of Liberty and continuing to present day, the Series accommodates the whole world and focuses on three major geographical locations: America, Europe and Korea. Top teams compete within each location for a spot at the finals where top teams from all three locations are brought together to determine the overall world champion. Prize money for the series is estimated at over 2 million with additional cash prizes available at important mid series events.