League of Legends player Lee Sang-hyeok, better known by his game ID, Faker, speaks with reporters in Hangzhou, Sept. 25, where the 19th Asian Games is held. Yonhap
Korea is showing off its status as an esports powerhouse at the ongoing Asian Games that are being held in Hangzhou, China, as the participants are performing well in the various esports games, which became an official sport of the games for the first time, industry officials said Wednesday.
During the 2018 Jakarta Palembang Asian Games, esports became a demonstration event to test the potential of the event as a sport, and this time, at the Hangzhou Asian Games, esports has been included as an official event, with a total of seven game titles being contested in the competition.
Of those seven titles, Korean participants are competing in four of them: League of Legends, FC Online, Street Fighter V and PUBG: BATTLEGROUNDS. The Korean team is hoping to win four gold medals to prove itself as an esports powerhouse.
When talking about the history of esports, no discussion would be complete without mentioning Korea. The country has been hosting amateur esports competitions since the late 90s, thanks to the popularity of Blizzard Entertainment's StartCraft strategy game. Furthermore, the country launched the Korea e-Sports Association in 1999. After that, Korea hosted the first World Cyber Games competition in 2000, pitting players against each other in multiple esports titles.
Given the country’s efforts and status established, Korea’s game industry hopes its national delegation will perform well at the Asian Games and raise the profile of the country’s game industry.
“Esports has now become an official sport at the Asian Games and this will help change the negative perception of playing games into a positive one,” an official from the local game industry said on condition of anonymity. “It is also an opportunity to showcase the status of the Korean game industry to the world, as games made by Korean game companies have been selected for competition.”
As the official said, the FC Online football game and PUBG: BATTLEGROUNDS shooter have been developed by Korean game companies Nexon and Krafton. Among the Korean players, Kwak Jun-hyouk, an FC Online player, is seeking to win a gold medal in the event.
Korean esports players, who have shown their prowess in League of Legends, are also looking to win a gold medal.
Korea advanced to the semifinals with a 2-0 win over Saudi Arabia during the quarterfinals match on Wednesday. They will face another powerhouse, host nation China, in the semifinals on Thursday.
After beating Saudi Arabia, Lee Sang-hyeok, better known by his game ID, Faker, and who is regarded as the No. 1 League of Legends player in the world, shared his thoughts on the gold medal challenge, saying, “I think tomorrow’s game will be the most important as this will be held at the opponent’s home ground.”
“I’m getting a lot of support, so I'll do my best to win the gold medal," Lee added.
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