South Korea Announces Esports Investments

The fact that you have to spend money to make money is true for all business models, including esports. South Korea, arguably the world leader in esports, is seeking to build on their strong history of supporting video gaming professionals at the player and developer level. According to The Korea Times, President Park Geun-hye promised 100 billion won — around $90 million — from the government for startup companies in the gaming community, the internet of things and financial technology.

According to Esports Earnings, South Korea has been particularly dominant in StarCraft: Brood War and StarCraft II. Players hailing from South Korea have collected over $5.9 million in tournament winnings from SC:BW compared to China’s second place of almost $87,000.

The gap in SCII is Korea dominating the scene to the tune of over $11 million versus Sweden’s coming in at a tick above $530,000.

In addition to being the top earnings in both iterations of StarCraft — so much so the gaming community calls it the “Korean scene” versus the “foreign scene” with foreign meaning every single country that isn’t South Korea — League of Legends has also been largely dominated by Koreans. China is relatively close in winnings, though it is still barely half of what Korean teams and players have raked in.

With so much money coming in and going out in Korean esports, it should come as no surprise there is a governing body, the Korean e-Sports Association, better known as KeSPA. From proposing a minimum salary for players, ensuring travel for Korean citizens to foreign events and vice versa, as well as partnering with game developers for feedback, KeSPA’s is an organization looking out for sponsors and players alike. While not perfect, KeSPA — and South Korea as a whole — has inarguably played a major role in bringing esports to its current level of popularity.

(Header image via Blizzard)