Global gamer congress ends with 10,000 fans on final day

Over 10,000 spectators crammed into the COEX Convention Center in southern Seoul yesterday to watch professional gamers face off in the online games StarCraft and WarCraft. As fans gasped and whooped, staff members dressed up as characters from the games took photos with visitors at the center’s entrance. Organized by U.S.-based game developer Blizzard Entertainment, the “Blizzard Worldwide Invitational 2006” started last Friday and wound up yesterday. Blizzard Entertainment said the event attracted almost 60,000 visitors; on the first day thousands of people waited since dawn for the doors to open. The U.S. game maker hosted its first such event ever in this game-crazed country two years ago, with the second round being held last year in the United States. If you’re wondering why Korea has hosted two of the three events so far, consider this: of the 9 million or so StarCraft game CDs sold globally since the game’s release in 1998, no fewer than 4 million have been bought by Koreans. Even Blizzard’s managers are at something of a loss to explain the game’s spectacular success here. “In other countries, including the United States, StarCraft started losing its shine two years after its release,” said Frank Pearce, vice president and co-founder of the company, in a meeting with the press here. “I want to know why our game gained so many fans in Korea.” According to Wi Jung-hyun, professor of management at Joongang University, the game’s feature of making a group of people gather and play one game together suits the Korean personality. “The fact that the game ends in a matter of half an hour comes as another attraction for Koreas, who tend to prefer fast-moving games,” Mr. Wi said. The trend of treating Internet-based games like sports, or “e-sports,” is another factor that has contributed to the longevity of StarCraft. Lee An-jae, a senior researcher at the Samsung Economic Research Institute, said, “StarCraft gave birth to e-sports in Korea, and the growth of the business further spurred the popularity of the game.” He said StarCraft accounts for 70 percent of Korea’s e-sports market. StarCraft fever in Korea has even resulted in some changes to the design of the game. Blizzard’s Mr. Pearce said that some Korean game fans sent a Korean flag to the company headquarters, so the designers included a terrain map for the game designed in the shape of the flag. by Hong Joo-yun