The IGN Pro League announced a partnership with Netease and MarsTV to promote the development of the league and eSports in China. Netease is one China's leading Internet tech companies. Its site, S.163.com is the main hub for any and everything Starcraft related in China, providing news coverage for all Starcraft II tournaments for the Chinese speaking region. MarsTV is one of the foremost video media companies in China, and will be the live broadcaster for the Chinese Regional Qualifiers. The top player from this year's qualifier will earn a ticket to IPL 5.
MarsTV and S.163 helped introduce IPL to China with exclusive coverage of IPL 4, which drew the largest ever online viewership for an eSports event (held outside of Korea), 3 million unique online viewers, and a live audience of 10,000. The IPL itself is considered one of the most prestigious events in eSports.
IPL founder David Ting is looking "forward to seeing Chinese Starcraft II players and League of Legends teams demonstrate their supreme dominance at IPL 5." Chinese players have historically been a force to be reckoned with for eSports events. Chinese players took second place at both BlizzCon in 2010, and
runner up at the WCG2011 World Championships.
The qualifiers will be held over the coming months. Any teams still looking to apply can do so here.