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A school drop-out dubbed "Michael Jordan of eSports" helped make South Korea a major powerhouse in the video game industry. The famous "Faker", the real name of Lee Sang-hyeok, is the best League of Legends player in the world and in hyper-wired Korea, he enjoys the same fame and fortune as basketball.
Faker, 22, will be one of the biggest stars of next year's Regional Olympics, the Asian Quadrennial Games in Indonesia, where electronic sports will be presented as a demonstration event for the first time.
go from the front in the game efforts to be considered a genuine sport, maybe even win a slot at the Olympics in the future – good news for the world powers eSports as South Korea .
The South enjoys a high-speed broadband and a vibrant Internet culture, and many cybercafés, boasting powerful high-end computers for school-aged gamers, are found at several street corners
. Last year, Faker started playing video games at elementary school and excelled at League of Legends – an online battle game introduced by Riot Games in 2009.
As he has Climbed the online rankings LoL mounted on his identity, and he has formed a team with friends to participate in amateur tournaments.
He leaves high school after being offered a job as a professional, makes his debut in 2013 and crushes the best players one after the other.
Korea's eSport scene is reminiscent of the German football culture, with grassroots talents fed from a very young age, some of them going to amateur leagues and, after years of competition and 39, effort, professional teams.
Many leading companies have their own eSport teams. 3 million won ($ 2.6 million) a year by its sponsor SK Telecom, the first wireless operator in the South
"C is a country where eSports has been adopted as a sport among young people, and even the eSport Events sports championships, "said Kim Cheol-Hag, secretary general of the Korea eSports Association.
Last year, eSports was ranked the third most popular sport among South Koreans aged 15-29 after football and baseball, according to a poll by Nielsen Korea.
Several television channels are dedicated to broadcasting eSport competitions, held in large football stadiums, to thousands of fans, or to elegant arenas designed to present games. In the mid-2000s, many pro eSports teams were created, ahead of other countries, "Kim said.
With 25 million players – half the population – the South is the world's sixth largest video game market. ] But many South Korean players and coaches have been hired to work in the world's best teams, including China and the United States – the two largest eSports markets. "The United States and China now have the same systems and have caught up with us," Kim told AFP, "but we have decades of accumulated know-how and culture helping us stay at the top. of the game "
" IMPROVE YOUR SOCIAL POSITION "
South Korea's obsession with video games dates back to the 1990s when Starcraft – a science fiction strategy game American – enjoyed tremendous popularity. Nowadays, teens who hope to become professional players – or popular among their crazy gaming peers – are flocking to a growing number of private schools, after hours of work, causing them to better play video games.
A typical "game academy" has rows of teenagers or men in their twenties playing Overwatch or League of Legends, with a coach – usually a former pro – watching their performance and suggesting better movements.
"If you become a good player, this can improve your social status and help you make more friends," said Kim Han-eol, a student at the games academy, at the YTN information channel of Seoul.
Six more players will accompany Faker to Indonesia next month for the competition.
"The Asian Games are not just an event watched by the players but something watched by the entire nation," Faker said. "I will win the match no matter what."
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