The conditions that Blizzard has set up for a license-free tournament:
Total prize money, travel stipends and item rewards valued less than Ten Thousand US Dollars ($10,000 USD)
Should the tournament organizer wish to broadcast the tournament online, the tournament must be broadcast on Twitch
Tournament organizer must follow the Blizzard Entertainment Video Policy
The tournament must not be broadcast on television
The tournament organizer may not charge fees of any kind for spectators to watch the tournament
Any use of Blizzard’s logos or trademarks to promote the tournament must comply with the Blizzard Entertainment Trademark Usage Guidelines
The tournament cannot be sponsored that sell or promote any of the following products: Pornography (or extremely mature materials), Alcohol, Tobacco or cigarettes, Firearms, Gambling websites, or any company that is detrimental to Blizzard’s business (hacking, gold services, account selling, key sellers)
The tournament must comply with all applicable laws and regulations
The rules for the tournament should promote a fun and engaging experience for the players, with skill in playing the Game being the factor that determines who will win or lose a match in the Tournament
Gambling, including raffles, cannot not be associated with a tournament
Professional team tournament organizers who recruit professional eSports players to participate in a tournament must submit their tournament to Blizzard for approval.
I have suggested to PJ he might like to stop by in case anyone has any questions or concerns regarding these changes as there was a bit of confusion in the chatbox about how this would affect us locally!
Don't see the big deal - perfectly happy for this. Works out for rands/spectators and forces event organisers to earn money by providing value, rather than attacking the pockets of their supporters in a mandatory sense.
PJ from Blizzard has kindly answered some of the questions I asked on behalf of the community and ACL.
Quote:
Originally Posted by PJ Blizzard
Hi Brad,
The updated tournament policy allows community organizers to host tournaments without seeking further license from Blizzard on the conditions listed. If a tournament organizer follows the listed conditions, they can run their event without having to go through the traditional tournament license process via the Tournament Submission form. We haven’t added anything that wasn't already in the EULA apart from the Twitch requirement but we will now start to follow up with tournaments partners if they are outside of the policies.
The tournament organizer may not charge fees of any kind for spectators to watch the tournament
Charging for spectators to attend requires a license, with revenue share implications. Basically, we need to protect our IP and can’t allow people to be making money off of it without some level of partnership with us. So for further events, please apply for a license if this is something ACL is still keen to do via the Tournament submission form.
Gambling, including raffles, cannot be associated with a tournament
We can’t allow gambling (or raffles) I’ve been told because it causes legal issues or opens us up to potential litigation.
Professional team tournament organizers who recruit professional eSports players to participate in a tournament must submit their tournament to Blizzard for approval.
This is applicable only for team tournaments (like team league/GSTL).
Hope this clears up some questions. If you have anything still left unclear let me know and I will see if I can get them resolved.
The rules for the tournament should promote a fun and engaging experience for the players, with skill in playing the Game being the factor that determines who will win or lose a match in the Tournament
Heard it here guys. You now have reasonable grounds to complain if a shit player knocks you out via cheesing.
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