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In 2017, the Korean e-sports industry reached 97.3 billion won, accounting for 13.1% of the global market, ranking third.

Before it, it is the United States and China.

But in recent years, the Korean team has not performed well in major events, and it has also attracted many questions. South Korea is also very concerned about this, increasing investment in the e-sports industry, and the development of the Internet cafe industry has further promoted the professionalization of e-sports.

According to the data of the National Tax Agency of Korea in late February 2019, the number of Internet cafes in Korea was 10,464, of which Gyeonggi Province ranked first with 2,402 homes, and Seoul ranked second with 1,702 homes. In Seoul, you can see an internet cafe every 600 meters.

Internet cafes often hold a variety of amateur esports competitions, providing game users with a platform to discover themselves. Internet cafe culture is an important foundation for the development of Korean e-sports.

Korea E-sports Industry with a scale of 97.3 billion won

On August 20, Blizzard Entertainment Director Allen Brack said in an interview in Seoul: “E-sports is a growing industry and will face more opportunities in the future.”

As the leader in professional e-sports, the size of the Korean e-sports industry in 2017 has reached 97.3 billion won, accounting for 13.1% of the global market. Among them, sales of e-sports live broadcasts and program broadcasts accounted for 67% of the total, reaching 65.8 billion won, which is the focus of industry investment. The esports club and event bonus revenue was 27.49 billion won, accounting for 28.3% of the total sales of the industry.

In 2018, there were 86 game events held in Korea, and the prize amount was nearly 7 billion won. The cumulative number of visitors was 187,000.

The 86 events included 83 individual events and 3 comprehensive events. The three comprehensive events are the KeG President’s Cup, the KeSPA Cup and the “National Disabled Student e-festival”. “League of Legends” “StarCraft 2” and “Watching Pioneer” are the three most frequently held events.

The KeSPA Cup is hosted by the Korean Sports Association and the game company Nexon. OGN is in charge of three events, namely, “League of Legends”, “Royal War” and “Kart Run”, with a total prize of 132 million won.

There were 13 e-sports projects selected by the Korean Sports Association in 2018. On the basis of the original, the “Royal War”, Hearthstone, “Football 2018” and “Audition” were added.

Audition is a large-scale casual dance online game created by the original “Audition” original team.

Many electric competitions provide a platform for Korean professional players to develop. In 2018, the average annual salary of Korean professional players is 170 million won, which is about 1 million yuan.

Most players earn between 2 and 50 million won, or about 12 to 300,000 yuan.

South Korea currently has 10 professional game alliances, all sponsored by large companies such as SK Telecom and Samsung.

There are a total of 421 Korean professional e-sports players in 2018, including 82 players from the 11th team of the LCK (League of the League of Korea), LK Challengers Korea 8 (58), “Overwatch Contenders League” 12 teams (92), “PUBG PKL” 32 teams (148), and other projects operated by LCK.

Korean professional players are also active in overseas teams. As of June 2018, a total of 152 professional players have entered overseas.

Many events and the full name of the e-sports culture also led to electricityThe development of live broadcast and program delivery industry has become the main source of sales in the eSports industry.

OGN, SPOTV Games are two TV channels dedicated to e-sports-related content. In 2017, the total sales of these two channels reached 45.28 billion won, accounting for about 70% of the entire e-sports broadcast industry.

The status of cable TV is being replaced by online media. Mobile media such as Twitch TV and Afreeca TV have a total of 50 professional game anchors and 3.3 million followers. This is also the screen platform chosen by many amateur e-sports players. In addition, YouTube is also an active platform for e-sports bloggers.

The rise of online media has increased the demand for professional directors. Whenever new game projects appear, few professional directors can express and understand these projects, and with the explosion of global e-sports media, the demand for such talents will further increase.

10464 Internet cafes, the Internet cafe industry for e-sports

The development of e-sports requires high equipment and environment, and the popular Internet cafe industry in South Korea provides such a professional environment.

According to the data of the National Tax Agency of Korea in late February 2019, the number of Internet cafes in Korea was 10,464, of which Gyeonggi Province ranked first with 2,402 homes, and Seoul ranked second with 1,702 homes.

This means that when all the shops in each area are arranged at the same interval, about 600 meters in Seoul, you can see an Internet cafe every 2 kilometers in Gyeonggi Province. And Internet cafes often hold a variety of amateur esports competitions, providing game users with a competitive platform to discover themselves.

Internet cafe culture is an important foundation for the development of Korean e-sports. During the Korean period, Blizzard President Allen Brack also specially experienced the Korean Internet cafe culture.

StarCraft, which was launched in 1998, has gained popularity in South Korea. Together with the development of the Internet, it has had a great impact on Korean game culture.

According to the survey data of the Ministry of Information and Communication of Korea, from 1999 to 2000, South KoreaThe game population has increased dramatically from 1.83 million to 4.07 million, a twofold increase in just one year.

Korean game population (third column on the left, 10,000 units) and number of Internet cafes

As more and more people play games, the number of Internet cafes has also increased. In January 1998, there were only 100 Internet cafes nationwide, and in October and December after StarCraft went public, the number of Internet cafes increased to 3,000 and 15,150 respectively. Moreover, with the appearance of professional athlete Lin Yaohuan, the e-sports star, “StarCraft” ushered in its peak, and the number of Internet cafes nationwide reached about 23,000 in 2001.

Because of the increase in the number of Internet cafes, Korea has had an environment in which e-sports have been activated. The Internet cafe industry has become the cradle of e-sports talents.

In addition, to provide players with live game equipment, the new Internet cafes that undertake various events and broadcasts are also increasing, the most representative is WDGPC. This service not only provides equipment for the entertainment of the players and additional services such as food and beverages, but also specially prepares the game-specific esports room and the game commentary recording studio and control room. It is a place for recreation and entertainment, and it is a place where you can host e-sports competitions and live broadcasts and broadcasts.

The Internet cafe industry also has a variety of forms of development, and is also one of the best choices for young people to start a business.

KeSPA (Korea E-sports Association)’s e-SportsPC Club is an organization dedicated to e-sports competition. This organization selects Internet cafes with more prominent equipment and operational experience to carry out professional e-sports competitions, shorten the gap between amateur and professional, and push the Internet cafe platform to a more professional game arena.

E-sports enthusiasts can register on the official website, become a member of the club, and participate in various events held by the club. e-Sports PC Club is also working to build more professional e-sports, training amateurs, and providing training venues for professional players.

A live broadcast platform with an annual sales of 100 billion won

From the perspective of the value chain of the e-sports industry, viewers’ pay and live platform revenues are the most fundamental source of benefits.

Game developers and brand companies promote their brands through e-sports competitions, and promote consumers to buy their own games, software, hardware and other products. The benefits of professional e-sports players and alliances through e-sports competitions are only a fraction, and they can directly gain more revenue and attention from the live broadcast platform. The live broadcast industry has been an indispensable part of people’s lives since the initial collective loss.

E-sports industry value chain

In 2017, e-sports live broadcast and program delivery industry sales were 65.8 billion won, accounting for 67%. Now, with the growth of sales of various platforms, its sales have already exceeded this amount. Twitch TV and Afreeca TV are the main live broadcast platforms in China.

Afreeca TV is a comprehensive live broadcast platform, and live games are just a part of their business. In 2018, the total sales of Afreeca TV business was 126.6 billion won.

Afreeca TV’s sales and operating profit for the second quarter of this year were 41.6 billion won and 9.6 billion won respectively. The current net profit was 10.1 billion won, an increase of 119% over the same period of the previous year, of which advertising revenue reached 6.2 billion won. AfreecaTV has an average monthly number of users of 6.6 million. In the second quarter alone, the number of people who bought stars and other items during the live broadcast reached more than 238,000, an increase of 3% over last year, and the ARPPU was 130,000 won. RMB 767 yuan. There has even been a phenomenon of YouTube traffic migrating to Afreeca TV.

Afreeca TV provides users with a live platform and features. Many anchors are broadcast live on the platform, and the video is processed and then shared to YouTube.