Korea’s enthusiasm for online games may have started with “StarCraft” decades ago, but the fever ― now called e-sports ― has continued to evolve with “League of Legends.”

Since its debut in 2011, League of Legends, more widely dubbed “LoL,” has become one of the world’s most popular online games. It is also the highest-earning game that raked in $1 billion last year, according to SuperData, a market research firm.

Fueling the global sensation, among other things, are its immensely popular professional leagues that are directly operated by the game’s Los Angeles-based developer Riot Games. 

“E-sports have all elements that resemble conventional sports ― competition, teamwork, wins and losses. We aim to nurture League of Legends as a sports game like soccer that is enjoyed forever,” Woody Rhee, the company’s Korean manager, said in an interview with The Korea Herald.

E-sports were around before Riot Games. But no company has jumped in with the same intensity.

The company nurtures professional teams in key markets and holds regional tournaments all through the year.

The fancy final championships travel around the world. The company controls every aspect of the events, from stages and music to online live streaming.

The fourth League of Legends World Championship held in Seoul last year attracted 40,000 fans to the venue, with about 32 million people worldwide watching the competitions online.

At this year’s finals held in Berlin in October, a Korean team, sponsored by SK Telecom, won its second championship title for the first time in the league.

“There is no question that Korean players are No. 1. But those in other countries are also fast catching up with them, making overall competitions more exciting,” he said.

Thus far, many game developers had little interest in expanding their existing games after an initial run of sales. They would rush in to build the next new game.

But Rhee said Riot Games focuses more on engaging game players and fine-tuning the game. And that makes players get more fascinated with it, saying: “LoL is easy to learn but impossible to master.”

Korea is also a great inspiration for the ongoing push.

It is a pioneer market where a professional league started 15 years ago and the players are considered superstars with huge salaries. The ultrafast Internet connection and PC cafes at every corner are also big boosters to nurture talents.

It is a well-known story that the company’s cofounders Marc Merrill and Brandon Beck, then teenagers, got to know each other through gaming circles and enjoyed playing games at Korean-style PC cafes in LA.

“We consider Korea a crystal ball to gauge the future of e-sports,” Rhee said. “We are not here to further expand our market share. We want to create an ecosystem for our players and e-sports culture overall.”

In Korea, League of Legends has been the No. 1 online game over the past years, with a market share hovering at more than 40 percent.

Rhee, a Harvard graduate, entered the Korean branch in 2013 and became the country chief last year. Prior to joining Riot Games, he worked at SK Telecom, Leadstone Group and Naver, then NHN. 

He admitted he still feels the negative public perception about online games here, possibly due to the parents’ keen interest in education. Currently, about 85 percent of the game players are between the ages of 16 and 30.

“We need to understand online gaming as ‘contemporary young culture’ in Korea rather than a social hazard,” he said. “I want to play a role in making our players feel more proud and better communicate with their loved ones.”

Along with expanding the infrastructure for enjoying the game, the Korean branch has also carried out diverse activities to renew people’s awareness about online games under Rhee’s leadership.

As part of the efforts, a unique art exhibition is held at a Seoul gallery through Friday, featuring paintings inspired by contents and characters of League of Legends. A group of renowned artists participated in the project using traditional Korean painting techniques.

“Some of the painters are parents whose children enjoy the game, while young students visit the gallery together with their parents. It is totally a new experience both for game players and other visitors,” Rhee said. 


By Lee Ji-yoon
(jylee@heraldcorp.com)