How did South Korea become an esports powerhouse?
The scale of ``e-sports'', which enjoys shooting games and fighting games as competitions, continues to expand, and many e-sports tournaments with high prize money are held in Japan. Large-scale competitions have been held in South Korea long before e-sports became common in Japan, and even at the time of writing the article, it remains influential as one of the world's leading e-sports powers. Game-related YouTuber
StarCraft was never meant to be played the way Koreans played-YouTube
A game title that cannot be removed when talking about the history of e-sports in Korea is 'StarCraft'. StarCraft is a real-time strategy game that was released in 1998. It caused a big boom in Korea, and many large-scale competitions were held.
StarCraft is a game that runs on a PC, not a home console. The explosive popularity of PC games in South Korea is related to South Korea's policy and economic history. The Korean economy has developed rapidly since around 1960, and since around 1990, the government has focused on developing digital-related technologies.
However, the Asian currency crisis occurred in 1997, and economic growth temporarily slowed down.
At the same time as the slowdown in economic growth, the Internet spread rapidly in South Korea.
The rapid spread of the Internet has played a major role in the 'PC bangs,' which were opened one after another by business owners who were forced to enter new markets due to the Asian currency crisis. A PC van is a facility equivalent to an Internet cafe in Japan, and customers can use the Internet from a PC installed in the PC van.
In 1999, more than 13,000 PC vans opened, allowing many Koreans to connect to the Internet. Since then, Internet penetration has continued to increase in South Korea.
StarCraft, which was released in 1998, has gained great popularity among Koreans who have access to the Internet because it can run on relatively low-spec PCs.
In addition, the share of home video game consoles in South Korea is low, and the fact that there are many stores that handle PC games also played a role in StarCraft's explosive hit.
StarCraft competitions were held one after another in South Korea, and the media also featured the popularity of StarCraft, helping spread the game.
After that, in 2000, the Korean government established the Korean eSports Association (KeSPA) to promote the launch of a professional league and the enactment of rules. The establishment of KeSPA by the government has sent a message to the Korean people that the government is encouraging the spread of esports, and has greatly contributed to the development of esports.
In addition, star players such as Flash players have appeared in the e-sports industry. With the league management by KeSPA and the appearance of star players, e-sports has developed into an industry that is very popular with the Korean people.
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