GomTV, one of the most famous South Korean Starcraft II broadcasters, is closing shop.
Anyone with even a passing interest in eSports will have no doubt heard of GOMTV, probably the most famous South Korean Starcraft II broadcaster, and host of the Global Starcraft League (GSL) series of tournaments. Unfortunately, GOMTV’s era is now coming to a close, as the company announced that its Seoul studio has officially closed its doors, and the company has moved to a YouTube-only format.
“It is with a heavy heart that we are officially announcing that GOMTV.net (www.gomtv.net) has closed its doors on February 25th, 2014(KST). The whole 3 years were made possible by fans and members of GOMTV.net and we would like to take this time to thank you for showing us your support for such a long time. Since GOMTV.net will discontinue its VOD service, VODs from the 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013 seasons are available viewing without issues on GOM eXP’s YouTube channel.”
GOMTV re-branded itself as GOM eXP last year, which it describes as “an eSports & Game experts group whose goal is to introduce a new standard of interesting experiences.” All of the old GOMTV VODs have been moved accross to the GOM eXP channel. GOMTV still plans to continue the GSL, stating that “we hope that with your support, we will be able to make bright future of GOM eXP and GSL!”
This is kind of a pity, as one of the coolest things about the GOMTV studios was that every match was open to spectators – if you happened to be in Seoul, you could just drop by their studios and watch a game. This became somewhat of a pilgrimage for video game fans, as seeing competitive gaming live, especially with the fervor and enthusiasm that South Koreans place on eSports, is quite the experience.
I’ll leave you with the video walkthrough I made of the studio when I visited back in 2012.
