Korean Esports: Everything You Need to Know
Welcome to the exciting world of esports! Here’s everything you need to know about esports in Korea.
Timeline of League of Legends Worlds 2023 in South Korea. Image: Riot Games.
Let’s take a look at esports, from its first rise to mainstream popularity to the various games and leagues that players compete in within the Korean circuit.
What are esports?
For those of you who are not familiar with esports, here’s a quick definition:
“Esports, short for electronic sports, is a form of competition using video games. Esports often takes the form of organized, multiplayer video game competitions, particularly between professional players, played individually or as teams.” - Wikipedia.
As far as phenomenons go, esports is still relatively new, and as an industry it’s very much in its infancy. While the first-ever esports tournament can be traced back to 1972 at Stanford, esports as we now know it is a relatively recent development.
One of the most notable modern esport events is Riot Games’s League of Legends Worlds tournament which first took place in 2011 (Season One of the Worlds tournament).
Riot Games LoL Esports. Image: Riot Games Press Kit.
League of Legends (Riot Games)
League of Legends (first published 2009) is incredibly well known as an esport, as a multiplayer arena game, and as a cultural moment. In Korea specifically, there are several leagues, ranging from the fun to semi-professional, all the way up to pro that you see at Worlds.
As LOL is one of the older games, it has many consistent long-term players and fans—as a result, South Korea frequently hosts League tournaments with the most recent being MSI 2022 and Worlds 2023. It also represents the highest percentage of tournament prize winnings for South Korea across all esports in which Korean teams participate:
Pro Tournament: League Championships Korea (LCK)
Semi Pro: LCK Challengers League (LCK CL)
Amateur: LCK Academy Series (LCK AS)
Worlds 2023 in South Korea, team pictured is T1 Esports a Korean team. Image: Riot Games Press Kit.
Overwatch (Blizzard Entertainment)
Overwatch was first published in 2016. Like many other first person shooters, the game allows players to play with others as part of a team.
Although some may argue it’s the predecessor to VALORANT, Overwatch exists in its own right with its own infamy. Similarly to League, the structure for tournaments in Overwatch ranges from collegiate level up to fully professional, with several championships somewhere in between:
Pro Tournament: Overwatch Champions Series Asia
Pro Tournament (previous): Overwatch Contenders Korea
Overwatch 2018 Contenders Season 2 Finals. Image: Blizzard Entertainment Overwatch Esports Press kit.
Dota (Valve Corporation)
Dota (Dota 2), first launched in 2013. As another multiplayer battle arena, Dota is arguably similar to League of Legends regarding its fantasy style and player mechanics. However, unlike the other two esports mentioned in this article, Dota’s breakdown for tournaments works differently.
There’s an overarching title with multiple subsection tournaments that teams play through at a professional level:
Korea Dota League Tier 3 (amateur)
Dota Pro Circuit:
The competitive season: made up of 3 tours
Each tour includes one regional league (such as Korea in APAC) and one major event
The higher a team places, the more points they earn and the higher up in the rankings they go to earn a place at The International
The International: top 12 teams from around the world
So there you have it, a quick deep dive into esports in Korea showcasing three games played professionally with varying degrees of popularity in the mainstream.
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Edited by Ciara Carson.
