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StarCraft: Brood War Bitcoin Prize from 2011 is Now Worth Millions

Published

3 weeks ago

December 5, 2024

Christoph Rediske

starcraft bitcoin tournament prize worth millions

Key Takeaways

A StarCraft tournament in 2011 awarded four runners-up 25 Bitcoins, now worth over $2.5 million each.
The winners only received a small cash prize compared to the Bitcoin consolation prize.
The players who received the Bitcoins apparently did not hold on to their prizes to become millionaires.

An infamous StarCraft tournament in 2011 awarded runners-up a consolatory prize of 25 Bitcoins worth over $2.5 million today. Thirteen years later, the cryptocurrency’s astronomically inflated value far makes this 2011 StarCraft competition one of the most potentially lucrative in the history of esports.

Bitcoin horror stories, such as that of the unfortunate programmer with over $200 million worth of Bitcoin trapped on a locked hard drive, regularly circulate the internet. The world of esports now has its own pre-Bitcoin bubble tale of missed fame and fortune. While Blizzard Entertainment’s sci-fi RTS series StarCraft is widely known for its pivotal role in catapulting competitive esports into the global phenomenon it is today, these early tournaments were a modest affair compared to today’s highly lucrative competitions. Although StarCraft has lost its dominant position to modern games like League of Legends and Valorant, it still retains a highly competitive esports scene. This year’s Esports World Cup 2024 (SC2) in Saudi Arabia offered a prize pool of $1,050,000.00 with a grand prize of $450,000 awarded to the French victor Clement “Clem” Desplanches.

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In contrast, Scan, the winner of 2011’s StarCraft: Brood War iCCup StarLeague event took home $500 from a total $1,000 prize pool – a measly amount, even taking thirteen years of inflation into account. However, no one in 2011 could have predicted that the tournament’s losers would receive one of the most valuable prizes in the history of esports. While the top four players received winnings of $500, $250, $150, and $100 respectively, the fifth to eighth-ranked competitors won a prize of 25 Bitcoins each. A token prize in the early days of the fledgling cryptocurrency, the 25 Bitcoins had a total value of approximately $41.25 in 2011. At the time of writing, one Bitcoin is worth over $100,000, making each 25 Bitcoin prize equivalent to over $2.5 million.

2011 StarCraft Bitcoin Tournament Prize Worth Millions Today

Unfortunately, it seems that the unknowing players did not hold on to the cryptocurrency to become millionaires today. Commenting on the Team Liquid forum in 2021, fifth-placed competitor Sziky revealed that luck has not been on his side over the years. Sziky doesn’t state exactly when he cashed his Bitcoins, only confirming that he is no millionaire, although he implies that he might have treated himself to a beer using the prize. However, this appears to be more than his fellow runners-up ever received. Jumper, the tournament’s eighth-placed players, has previously revealed that they never even claimed the Bitcoins, which have now gone forever. Seventh placed Hejek has supposedly revealed the same. Only sixth-placed Koll appears to have not revealed the fate of their potential fortune. However, perhaps StarCraft‘s recent revival on Game Pass may inspire future players to take up the mantle in the hopes of becoming a StarCraft millionaire.

Although these players may go down in history as gaming’s millionaires that never were, regular StarCraft fans may still have something to get excited about. Blizzard is rumored to be rebooting the franchise and may have even confirmed the new StarCraft game by mistake, although the new title might break away from the series’ real-time strategy roots.

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