To find esports fans in South Korea, one of the historical land of this practice, you have to go to one of the “PC Bangs” in the capital. These are giant internet cafes that can be found almost on every street corner in Seoul. Inside, there are rooms filled with computers and comfortable gaming chairs, from where you can play 24 hours a day, order drinks and food.
And in the PC Bangs, the benchmark game is League of Legends. This multiplayer arena game where the objective is to destroy the structure of your opponent brings together hundreds of millions of fans around the world. In South Korea, the game’s finals usually even fill entire stadiums.
In 11 editions, only three finals have taken place without a South Korean team, but for two years, Covid-19 has forced, impossible to meet in a group to support the players. A disappointment for Suyou: “Four years ago I went to a stadium to watch the finals. But it’s really sad because all my friends love League of Legends, and it was one of our hobbies to go to the games together, but it’s over, we can’t go anywhere. ” This year 2021, it was therefore necessary to resolve to watch it at home or in one of the many PC Bangs in the country.
Korean fans were bound to be disappointed with the result of the world championship with the victory of EDward Gaming against Damwon KIA. Specialists expected an easy victory for the South Korean title holder. But above all, out of the last four editions, three have been won by a Chinese team, which seems to end South Korean hegemony. For Byungwook, an early fan, this trend can be explained: “We’re very good at League of Legends, but there are clear limits in Korea, whether it’s restrictions on playing time for young people or investments from sponsors. Video gaming is still not widespread enough, we have the culture of the game but we remain marginal. So a lot of our professional players go to China for better pay. “
Congrats @EDG_Edward, your # Worlds2021 champions! pic.twitter.com/Vnds9TNGnM
– Inven Global (@InvenGlobal) November 6, 2021
A marginality to be tempered because the video game industry in South Korea remains fifth in the world, but above all the country has been a pioneer in e-sport: its federation was created in 2000. Suyou remains positive despite the defeat: “The game started with Korean teams. China can take Korean culture or players. But the original team is still the best, they are followers, without wanting to offend them.”
Large South Korean companies like Samsung, KIA or telephone operators have sponsored teams of League of Legends very early. But today it is difficult to resist the Chinese market and its more than 100 million fans of the game. That is almost twice the entire South Korean population.