A divide has always existed within gaming, a historical canyon that has made it difficult to connect the medium with mainstream culture. That divide has since narrowed over the last few years, thanks to the growth of consoles, mobile gaming and a general shift in attitudes over time.

But the gap between casual and even hardcore gamers to the competitive community is still as large as ever, even with the popularity of games like DOTA 2 and League of Legends. One movement that has helped bring fans out of the woodwork, however, has been the BarCraft movement around the world.

Peter Du is a member of the Australian Pro League, which hosts BarCraft and MOBAR events in Sydney. I sat down with him to chat about how it all got started, what makes them so popular and how the growth of Barcraft/MOBAR has affected the image of gaming not only with gamers but with the wider community.

As many as 300 people are expected to turn up to the Paragon Hotel tomorrow evening to watch the finals of the Global StarCraft 2 League in South Korea, according to the Australian Pro League.

The development of the Sydney Barcraft scene has been nothing short of impressive. Apart from marrying gaming with mainstream culture in a new and exciting way, it’s also been extraordinarily well received. Peter Du, one of the members of the Australian Pro League which is responsible for organising the Barcraft and MOBAR events held across Sydney, said yesterday that as many as 300 gamers were expected to turn up on Saturday night to watch 15-year-old Lee “Life” Seung Hyun take on four-time GSL champion Jung “Mvp” Jong Hyun.

300 players is an impressive enough figure and one that many LAN organisers around Australia would be pleased with. But it’s only a fraction of the numbers organisers have been able to pull. “Our largest event was Sydney BarCraft #3 which attracted over 750 patrons, making us the second largest BarCraft in the world after Montreal,” said Du.

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