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ESPORTS AND KOREA: A CULTURE OF CHAMPIONS

South Korea's dominant performance in the world of eSports has been nurtured by South Korean culture in which many of these gamers were raised; a culture protected by the South Korean government and embraced by the people. Drawing from the different aspects of South Korean culture, gamers from around the world can learn how and why Korea is so dominant in the world of eSports. Picture: Zed, a character from League of Legends. Retrieved from: https://boards.na.leagueoflegends.com/en/c/story-art/A4633ans-championship-zed-splash-art

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eSports and Korea: A Culture of Champions

ABSTRACT

In his work eSports and Korea: A Culture of Champions, Chris Simpson analyzes Korea’s elite gaming culture, which is embraced by the Korean people as well as backed by the government and business corporations to see what makes Korea perform so well in the world of eSports. Simpson applies what makes Korea’s culture so open to gaming and discusses how these factors could influence the gaming culture in the West. He breaks down the history of eSports in general and then begins to discuss the different economical and governmental factors that allow for gaming in Korea to blossom. The view of eSports in Korea is much like the view of traditional sports in the West, particularly the United States. If the view of traditional sports is applied to the view of eSports in the West, then that is one of the largest steps that the West can take to reach the level of athleticism Korea has reached in eSports. The purpose of the paper is to inform the reader about Korea’s culture in relation to eSports, and then apply it to the West.

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VAYNE, A CHARACTER FROM LEAGUE OF LEGENDS

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LESSONS LEARNED

I chose to write my paper on eSports and Korea because I am interested in other cultures and I am a big fan of League of Legends. Through researching this topic, I learned a lot about South Korea's gaming culture and how differently they view gaming in South Koreas as opposed to how eSports are viewed in the United States. eSports teams in Korea have sponsors and even the government helping to support the gaming culture. On the other hand, in the United States and other countries in the West, eSports has not had its explosion yet. This project looks to analyze some of the key differences between the nurturing of eSports in both western and Korean culture.

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Korean's spectate StarCraft II games in social environments, an activity known as Barcraft (Edwards, 2013,para 23).

Different kinds of eSports genres include Multiplayer Online Battle Arenas (MOBAs) Real Time Strategy (RTS) and First Person Shooter (FPS) (Edwards, 2013).

MOBAs - Heroes of the Storm, League of Legends, Defense of the Ancients
RTS- StarCraft II
FPS- Counter Strike/Overwatch

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League of Legends
Picture retrieved from: http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x3ocj1f

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StarCraft II 
Picture retrieved from: https://www.polygon.com/2017/11/4/16607330/starcraft-2-free-to-play-details-blizzcon-2017

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Overwatch
Picture retrieved from: http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x4bgbby

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Sang Hyeok Lee "Faker"

Faker is considered to be among the best League of Legends players in the world due to his dominant play style. In 2017, Faker had a contract for 2.7 million dollars (Best, 2017, para 7). Picture retrieved from: http://www.businessinsider.com/how-faker-skt-won-league-of-legends-world-championships-2015-2015-11

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PC Bangs

PC Bangs are similar to arcades here in the United States, but are much more popular in Korea. PC Bangs offer gamers the space to play with friends and strangers alike (Mozur, 2014, para 8).
Picture retrieved from: https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2014/07/love-child-review-the-human-cost-of-internet-addiction-in-korea/

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Lim Ho Hwan "BoxeR" - a former StarCraft II player

ESports gamers are often seen as celebrities in Korea, similiar to how athletes are seen here in the United States. ESports athletes are seen as role models/idols in Korea, as opposed to nerds or geeks, which is a stereotyped that has been ingrained in the West (Jin, 2010, p. 60). Gaming is often seen as a pastime in the West, whereas in Korea, it is a viable career path (Yahoo Esports, 2016). Picture retrieved from: http://www.gosugamers.net/starcraft2/news/25453-boxer-steps-down-as-head-coach-of-skt

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Korea has it's own governmental "agency" devoted to help with the regulation of tournaments and eSports teams (Yahoo Esports, 2016).

According to Jin, in his book Korea's Online Gaming Empire written in 2010 "as of December 2008, about 95% of Korean households were connected to broadband services," while only about 60% of households in the United States were connected (p. 60)

If more Korean's have access to not only internet, but better internet, that is an important factor when trying to explain how eSports has become so popular over in Korea.

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WHAT CAN THE WEST DO?

  • Western governments and economies can work with eSports teams and players to help give them aid and support.

  • Give western citizens wider access to internet and facilities that allow for PC usage. 

  • The view of eSports gamers must change from being nerds and geeks to something closer to equals/role models and maybe eventually as superstars like Tom Brady of the New England Patriots. 

  • Picture: 2015 NA LoL LCS Summer Finals Madison Square Garden, NYC Picture retrieved from: http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x4bgbby

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Riven, a character from League of Legends. Retrieved from: https://na.leagueoflegends.com/en/game-info/champions/riven/

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