It becomes more apparent each and every day that it is possible to forge a career out of video games.  Have you ever been curious about how much money your favorite Starcraft pros make?  Have you ever been curious about where the money they make comes from?

IGN eSports answers those questions and more with an article that was released earlier this summer for IGN proper.  Click here to read the article, and be sure to share it with your friends.

The IGN Pro League is excited to announce that Team AZK, participants of the Philippine PRO Starcraft 2 League (PPSL), will be competing at IPL: Origins in Atlantic City.  The SEA region boasts an immense amount of undiscovered and  under appreciated talent; we couldn't be happier to have the best of the region representing themselves at Origins.

To show our appreciation to Team AZK and the PPSL, we here at IGN eSports have decided to make the Philippine PRO Starcraft 2 League the official SEA qualifying event for our event after IPL: Origins.  Those wishing to qualify from the SEA region will have the chance to do so through the PPSL qualifiers to be held on November 7th-8th at the Glorietta Activity Center in Manila, Philippines.

We're excited to see what Team AZK, the PPSL, and the rest of the SEA region can do at IPL: Origins and in our future events.  Welcome to the IPL, friends.

PPSL Press Release

"Team AZK from the Philippines will be participating at the Biggest North American SC2 Tournament this year; the IPL 3 Main Event in Atlantic City on October 6th - 9th, 2011.

Led by Gus "AZKwitchdoc" Ledesma; and two of Team AZK's Best Grandmasters from the Philippines and Australia, their bringing their A-game to meet North America's best.

Team AZK, The premiere team in organizing Starcraft 2 Events in the Philippines  - fully supports IGN, IGN Pro League and their ever-increasing presence in the SC2 scene and are backed by sponsors such as Razer, Nvidia, Western Digital, Palit, Chimei, and Cougar.

Because of IGN's support for Team AZK; the PPSL (Philippine PRO Starcraft 2 League) will be made the IPL 4 Qualifiers for SEA (Southeast Asia) to be held on November 7th-8th at the Glorietta Activity Center in Manila, Philippines. "

I've never been able to watch Starcraft on the go, and trust me I've tried everything.  I petitioned the city of San Fransisco to for city wide free public Wifi; I had no success.  I've bought a twenty mile long Ethernet cable, but it was too cumbersome.  When the urges to watch professional Starcraft come when I'm out and about, I've just had to grit my teeth and fight through it.

Until now.

IGN eSports is proud to announce that our best and brightest technicians have cooked up an IGN Pro League app for Android powered mobile devices.  Now, much to delight of neglected girlfriends and parents, you can watch your favorite Terran, Protoss, or Zerg heroes duke it anywhere there is a 3G signal.  In addition to matches you can watch interviews, promos, and other special features -- all for free.

To get your hand of this life-changing app, check out it out on the app store and make sure to let us know what you think in our comments section!  Click here to get the Android app!

Don't forget you can always check out our iPad app also!  Click here to get the iPad app!

IGN eSports' own Frank Field's address the issue of player contracts in this article hosted on IGN's PC portal.

Most contracts in the world of eSports are kept under lock and key, and Frank argues that a method similar to traditional athletics might be better.  How many times have you opened a news paper only to find a huge headline listing a baseball player's new salary?  To learn more please click here.

The eSports division of IGN Entertainment is excited to announce IGN Pro League 3: Origins, boasting the top players of the world competing for a USD $100,000 prize pool! This comes following the success of the first two IPL tournaments, which exemplified the quality of IPL players and demonstrated high production value.

The goal of the IGN eSports division is to provide a professional, polished viewing experience to fans of eSports, while supporting the development of eSports globally through a sustainable tournament system that rewards its players. IPL 3: Origins will be the first full-fledged live StarCraft II tournament for IGN Entertainment; the aim is to repeat success and grow eSports at IGN and beyond.

Stay tuned for more information on ticketing and travel information!

Thousands of players tried to qualify for our main event through our qualification tournaments, but only thirty-two made the cut.  Those thirty-two have been narrowed down to two.

Artur 'Nerchio' Bloch and Aleksey 'White-Ra' Krupnyk will battle it for $15,000.

Artur 'Nerchio' Bloch

Let's make one thing clear: Nerchio has a fighting spirit that can't be matched by many.  The Polish Zerg was knocked beaten by ClouD in our first round and then clawed his way to the Grand Finals through the losers bracket.  Along the way he beat names like KiWiKaKi, Ret, and IdrA.  Nerchio is absolutely capable of taking down his Ukrainian opponent.

Nerchio can count on White-ra using innovative builds and clever timings to try and take early advantages or close the game out right.  If Nerchio holds off White-Ra's pressure, he should be great shape to play some of the longer macro games that we've seen him favor throughout the event.  Though White-ra's late game is good too, the ability for Zerg swarm and take the map should tilt things in Nerchio's favor.

Aleksey 'White-Ra' Krupnyk

White-Ra is one the most accomplished and beloved Starcraft players around.  It should surprise no one that he went straight through the winner's bracket and right into our Grand Finals.  Humbling players like BratOK, SeleCT, and Strelok along the way, White-Ra is definitely the favorite coming into this series.

White-Ra will need to stay focused and keep control of the game's tempo if he wants any hope of winning.  White-Ra almost certainly cooked up a few builds specifically for this series, so expect him to hit some early or midgame timings to force Nerchio on to his back foot.  If the games are forced to the late game, he'll need to play perfectly to keep up with Nerchio.

This will be the most exciting series of the season.  Do not miss the Grand Finals today at 5PM PDT/8PM EDT.

The level of competition in the second season of the IGN Pro League is through the roof.  Though we've just made our way through the third round of the loser's bracket, we've already seen some heavy hitters eliminated.

KiWiKaKi, who got second in our last event, fell to Nerchio in the first round of the loser's bracket.

Stalife, an IPL1 invite, was eliminated by CocoA in the first round of the loser's bracket.

Axslav, who placed in the top four in our last event, fell to Lalush in the second round of the loser's bracket.

Socke was eliminated by Ret in the second round of the loser's bracket.

Fenix was eliminated by Ret in the third round of the loser's bracket.

With the fourth round of the loser's bracket just around the corner, it will be interesting to see who will fall to who.  Be sure to tune in, as all of the matches feature amazing players who you capable of winning the whole event.

Loser's Bracket Round Four Matches:

Moonan v. Drewbie

Thorzain v. Lalush

GoOdy v. Nerchi

SeleCT v. Ret

Two of Europe's best Terran players will clash in a battle of style.  It's the Panzer Commander versus the Warship Terran.

GoOdy

When I think about Sascha 'GoOdy' Lupp I think about armies made of steel.  Lovingly nicknamed by his fans as the Panzer Commander, GoOdy has made quite the reputation for himself in the last few months for using factory units almost exclusively in every match up.  Siege tanks, hellions, and Thors are his bread and butter; rarely do we see this German Terran field any infantry.

GoOdy will almost certainly be trying to overwhelm Strelok with brute strength.  Mech armies can't be engaged directly; their units are too strong and can flatten standard compositions in seconds.  If GoOdy gets to play the series out on his terms, you can expect the steel of his siege tanks to be stained with Strelok's army's blood.

Strelok

Eugin 'Strelok' Oparyshev is one of Europe's strongest Terran player.  Strelok has won four ESL Cups, he won the first two European CraftCups, he won the HDWorld Starcraft Tournament, and went 8/1 in his NASL groups.  He's as solid as a rock and a lot of people expect him to do well in the IGN Pro League's second season.

Strelok will need to wrestle momentum away from GoOdy if he wants to take the series.  He can take advantage from the immobility of GoOdy's mech army with a faster army to keep his opponent on his back foot.  It's also possible that we could see Strelok try and outpace GoOdy with factory heavy builds of his own.  Strelok is a versatile player.  It's not out of the question that we could see a build similar to GoOdy's from him.

I can guarantee that this series will be one worth watching.