SOOP said on Sunday it has signed a year-long sponsorship agreement with Google Play for 2026's ASL and will hold both the Season 21 and Season 22 finals on outdoor temporary stages.
ASL, played on Blizzard Entertainment's real-time strategy (RTS) game 'StarCraft: Remastered', is the only StarCraft e-sports league in South Korea, now in its 11th year since its first season in 2016.
Based on the annual sponsorship, ASL will present outdoor finals stages for two consecutive seasons. The Season 21 final will be held at a temporary stage with about 500 seats at the 2026 PlayX4 Gyeonggi eSports Festival. The Season 22 final will be held at a temporary stage with about 1,000 seats at the Jamsil Lotte World Ice Rink.
The Season 22 final at the Jamsil Lotte World Ice Rink is a large-scale offline final to be held on a separate temporary stage for the first time in a long while since ASL Season 8, raising expectations among fans.
SOOP and Google Play plan to run events offering Google Play Points to online users who watch the live broadcast during the tournament and to spectators at the venue.
Ho-jung Lee
lhj@d-today.co.kr