People might answer K-pop if asked what word comes to mind when they think of the Korean Wave. However, the Korean Wave trend recently has changed. Although it’s not as well known as K-pop, E-sports are the most famous example of the Korean Wave. The E-sports are sports that are based on computer networks or other video devices. The popularity of E-sports not only helped start the Korean Wave, but it also has continued to help it to be exported. Likewise, the Korean E-sports market is increasing. -Ed.

  Era of popular games and the transition of E-sports
  The start and development of domestic E-sports began from the 1990s. As the Internet generalized and the game industry developed, many people started to enjoy computer games. Naturally, games have diversified and popular games change as time going by. The first main game of the initial E-sports was StarCraft. Furthermore, a hot reaction occurred with the advent of popular professional gamers on broadcasts of StarCraft. Thereby, E-sports events also increased significantly and various competitions have been held. However, the worst match-fixing incident in E-sports appeared in 2010. The protagonists of this incident were current and former E-sports players. Fans were wrapped in shock and betrayal. Because of the incident, the popularity of StarCraft decreased and, at the same time, a new game became famous. That game is League of Legends. Starting from 2011, League of Legends (a.k.a. LOL), has been number one in the domestic game market. StarCraft was popular because it is possible to play diverse tactics and this made users excited. LOL has also stimulated people’s curiosity about strategy games. Moreover, LOL has induced competition between users through a ranking system, and users try to get higher ranks. For these reasons, LOL is getting more and more popular, and the Korean national game changed from StarCraft to League of Legends.

  Various competitions in Korean E- sports
  As E-sports are becoming popular sports that anyone can participate in easily, various competitions are increasing. In the E-sports competitions, there are many competitions that are about games, mostly LOL. Therefore, the most well-known competitions are ‘World Championship’ and ‘LOL Champions Korea’. The E-sports boom has spread to our university. At CBNU, an E-sports competition has been carried out and sponsored by our university student council. In this competition, former professional gamer Kang Min plays and commentates, and everyone can see the electric scoreboard, which makes it able to see a more vivid screen and students’ reactions at the same time.

  Structural problems of E-sports
  E-sports are hiding a fundamental structural problem that the industry itself has. The first is the closure system of the E-sports industry. Simply put, it means that there is no use or great popularity for those who do not understand or know the game, no matter how fun the game is. The second is the implementation of a shutdown system. The shutdown system is prohibiting the provision of internet games to youths under 16 years of age from midnight to 6:00 a.m. However, since the implementation of the shutdown system, it has caused another problem where teenagers are stealing their parents’ residential ID numbers. Finally, high dependence on one game is another problem. If the popularity of these games disappeared, the industry itself would be in crisis. For example, there are many games, but only StarCraft’s and LOL’s popularity have dominated, but League of Legends is the most popular.

  Change of viewpoints toward gamers
  Due to increasing interest in E-sports, it has changed public opinion. Games, which were thought to be entertainment for only students who did not study, changed into one kind of cultural content. Kim Sang-min(’15, School of Business), who enjoys games, said, “Now, games are moving away from the stereotype of the old days, which was unconditionally negative, and moderate gaming helps people to get rid of stress.” In this way, public opinion is gradually changing to a good direction.

  Now, E-sports are not just simple games, and it’s an era when E-sports are regarded as a sport. However, if the present problems don’t change, such as the closure structure and the high dependence on one or a few selected games, the same problems will eventually be repeated. If we show willingness to solve and accurately grasp the problems, it will be possible to make a better E-sports industry than before.

By Choi Ji-su
js36@cbnu.ac.kr