E-Sports Joins Asian Games
Asian Games will be showcasing e-Sports on Aug. 18th in Jakarta and Palembang, Indonesia. This is a big step in getting e-Sports into the mainstream and Korean e-Sports gamers are looking to dominate at the Asian Games. In addition, e-Sports have very passionate fans that are very tech savy and could take traditional sports to the next level. Korea has been dominating e-Sports ever since the days of the original Starcraft. These days the biggest games are Overwatch, League of Legends, Dota 2, and mobile game Clash Royale.
Koreans treat e-Sports as any other sport. They have sponsors, teams, scouts, coaches, and even training centers. Korea has been known to be a bit closed off from the global market, however this is not the case with e-Sports. Korean professional gamers have a lot of experience in global competitions. For example professional gamers from Gen.G e-Sports participated in the PUBG Global Invitational 2018 in Berlin and won the championship.
E-Sports in Korea
Most of these games rely heavily on teamwork and strategy. Therefore, this is why in Korea most teams live together in training centers. Gen.G is building a seven-story e-Sports center in Korea. Furthermore, this will be a center where players will to practice with one another and build team chemistry.
Korean e-Sports companies like Gen.G also do a great job of building the professional gamers brands. They have learned a lot from the K-pop industry and how they have built K-pop stars. Most Korean eSports gamers communicate with the online fans to build the best eSports ecosystem in the world. Many teams are sponsored by big Korean conglomerates and some smaller eSports-centered companies. Therefore, in the end Korea is looking to establish itself as the next professional eSports hub.
Globally companies will be looking at eSports for media and broadcasting rights. The more fans eSports acquires, the bigger the sponsors will be. Furthermore, product placement inside the games itself is another aspect of marketing that could attract big brand global companies.
By 2020 it is expected that Korea will build more facilities and even schools dedicated to training the next generation in eSports. Korea is already one of the leading internet and technology infrastructures in the world.
