Inside world’s esports capital: Seoul’s PC bangs and pro gaming scene

Hanwha Life Esports and Gen.G face off in the opening match of the 2025 League of Legends Champions Korea (LCK) regular season at LoL Park in Jongno District, Seoul, April 2, 2025. Newsis

Outside Jonggak Station in central Seoul on a chilly Saturday evening, the air carried a hum of anticipation as an escalator climbing toward the third floor of a downtown office complex funneled hundreds of fans toward a single glowing destination: LoL Park, the home of Korea’s League of Legends Champions Korea (LCK) and the beating heart of Seoul’s esports scene.

An hour before the big match between KT Rolster and Gen.G began, the concourse felt like a high-stakes cross between a football derby and a movie premiere. Fans in team-branded beanies lined up for BBQ chicken and beer, while others posed for photos under towering character statues.

While only 450 fans can fit inside the arena, hundreds of thousands more tune in online — on platforms such as SOOP, Chzzk and YouTube — turning what is billed as a regional Saturday match into a globally watched event.

Esports fans watch a livestream on big screens before entering the arena for a match between KT Rolster and Gen.G at LoL Park in Seoul, Jan. 17. Korea Times photo by Lee Hae-rin

Gamer's pilgrimage

Inside LCK Arena — a modern colosseum where seats wrap 360 degrees around an open stage — the intimacy is staggering. Players sit barely 5 meters from the front row, close enough for fans to witness the players’ intense focus and listen to their rapid-fire in-game communications.

This proximity fuels a unique fan culture centered on the “cheerful” — hand-drawn placards created by fans in the arena’s communal zone. Using markers, fans decorate these boards with intricate game character drawings and messages of encouragement.

Chae Yu-lim, a 32-year-old KT fan, traveled alone from Incheon after winning a “midweek ticket scramble.”

“I love being here, but I truly wish we had a larger stadium to welcome more fans who share this passion,” she said, clutching a hand-drawn cheerful. For Chae, who started watching in 2022, the draw is the “sense of belonging” found among those who speak the same gaming language.

Korean esports fans wave hand-drawn signs with messages of support for KT Rolster and Gen.G ahead of a match at LoL Park in Seoul, Jan. 17. Korea Times photo by Lee Hae-rin

This sentiment is echoed by international visitors. Linh Le, a 23-year-old student from Vietnam, visits almost every week, fueled by the hope of attending a postmatch fan meeting.

“I come here to see players in real life. I recommend fans to buy some gifts and write letters and give them to players in person after the game,” she said, referring to how winning teams greet supporters outside the gates, receiving letters and gifts while interacting with fans. “If I don’t have a ticket, I just watch from outside.”

For fans like Chae and Linh, Seoul is an esports pilgrimage site as significant as Manchester and Barcelona are to football devotees, where postmatch fan meetings turn into emotional encounters.

From crisis to national pride

Seoul’s status as a global hub is the product of three decades of strategic evolution.

Following the 1997 financial crisis, the Korean government pivoted toward IT infrastructure as a national survival strategy. This led to the birth of the PC bang — neighborhood gaming rooms that provided affordable access to high-speed internet. When StarCraft arrived in 1998, it found a ready-made ecosystem.

The StarCraft Master 2000 main tournament is underway at ASEM Tower in Samseong-dong, Seoul, in this Aug. 27, 2000, file photo. Korea Times file

By 2000, Korea had already established the world’s first game-specialized TV channel (OGN) and a governing body, Korea e-Sports Association (KeSPA), under the Ministry of Culture and Tourism. What began as a subculture in smoky basements was rapidly formalized into a professional industry.

Major conglomerates like Samsung, SK Telecom and KT invested heavily, creating regimented training systems and “gaming houses” that turned teenagers into disciplined athletes.

This journey from “gaming addiction” concerns to “national soft power” was completed when esports debuted as a medal event at the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games, where Korean players were celebrated as national heroes alongside traditional athletes.

While LoL Park is the cathedral, neighborhood PC bangs remain the chapels of this faith — though they have undergone a radical transformation.

An interior view of the Gen.G Gaming Experience (GGX) PC bang in Dongdaemun, Seoul, which opened in June 2025 / Screenshot from GGX website

Once seen as dim, cigarette-hazy dens in the 90s, new-generation venues like Gen.G’s Gaming Experience (GGX) in central Seoul's Dongdaemun or RedForce PC rooms in southern Seoul's Sinnonhyeon are high-end lifestyle hubs. Some are even officially designated as “esports facilities” by the government.

They feature high-end gaming computers, ergonomic chairs and menus curated by professional chefs, blurring the line between a hobbyist and an aspiring pro, as amateur tournaments and academy programs are hosted in the same seats where fans eat gourmet pasta.

LCK star players' giant photos hang on the walls of LoL Park in Seoul, Jan. 17. Korea Times photo by Lee Hae-rin

Niche market, high potential

This cultural juggernaut has moved beyond screens to become a key pillar of Korea’s tourism strategy. While the industry is still in the early stages of quantifying this specific target demographic, the qualitative evidence is overwhelming.

“Esports is emerging as one of the key pillars of the new wave of Korean culture, and Korea possesses the world’s best infrastructure as an esports travel destination,” said an official from the Korea Tourism Organization (KTO) who is in charge of sports tourism.

KTO now explicitly markets the country as an “esports pilgrimage” hub, targeting young travelers from Taiwan, China and Vietnam with specialized tour programs, including fan meetups and pro player coaching sessions, to turn digital viewership into physical tourism. In Vietnamese cities like Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh, LCK player appearances at Korea’s inbound tourism promotion events have drawn crowds “more intense than K-pop stars,” the official explained.

This fervor suggests that while esports fans may currently represent a niche market, they are remarkably high-value tourists, considering that they are ready to spend on international airfare, LCK tickets that sell out in seconds and limited edition merchandise. Moreover, their interest extends to “premium PC bang sessions,” where they seek out the highest-spec gaming experiences, available only in Seoul.

“This is an amazing experience for people who love esports and sports in general,” Linh said. “I plan to watch as many games as possible while studying in Seoul.”