Gaming in Korea is a real career path, not for the short of temper

Industry

Published: 30 Apr. 2023, 07:00

Gaming in Korea is a real career path, not for the short of temper

DRX members lift the Summoner's Cup after winning the League of Legends World Championship held at the Chase Center in California on Nov. 5, 2022. [RIOT GAMES]

There's a certain phrase that goes, “No matter how good you are at gaming, there’s always a Korean better than you.” And there's a good explanation for this.

A hagwon (cram school) in central Seoul bustles with teenagers after school hours as students break into different classes that best fit their skill levels. After three hours of intense learning, students are encouraged to stay as late as 10 p.m. to try their hand at subjects in which they feel less confident.

Plot twist: This hagwon doesn’t teach calculus or English comprehension. It teaches League of Legends (LoL) and eight other games, including Battlegrounds, Apex Legends and Valorant.

Yang Hyun-jik, a junior at Seonyoo High School in Yeongdeungpo District, western Seoul, is one of 2,000 students who registered at Seoul Game Academy in Jongno District, central Seoul, in hopes of becoming the next Faker, Chovy or Deft.

Like many other Korean teenagers, Yang began playing games in elementary school for entertainment and to hang out with friends. But when he became a middle schooler and started giving thought to what he wanted to do for the rest of his life, he chose a path that many dream about, but few young gamers actually take a shot at — going pro.

The high salaries of the professional LoL league may be one of the factors that inspires Korean youngsters to pursue the career.

In 2018, the average annual salary of players in the League of Legends Champions Korea (LCK), the top league in the country, was reported to be around 176 million won ($132,000), according to the Survey on the Korean Esports Industry by Korea Creative Content Agency (Kocca). The LCK does not disclose official pay figures.

Deft, captain of DRX, kisses the Summoner's Cup after winning the League of Legends World Championship held at the Chase Center in California on Nov. 5, 2022. [RIOT GAMES]

Some reports say the average salary for LCK players in 2022 mounted to around 600 million won.

For comparison, the K League's football players were paid 280 million won on average and the Korea Baseball Organization's baseball players were paid 153 million won as of last year, according to each league's data.

“I was inspired by watching professional gamers play in championship games and aspired to be like them,” Yang said. He eventually found himself often consumed by LoL but felt like he was getting nowhere, so he came to Seoul Game Academy in March 2020 to seek out certified, professional guidance.

Before attending a game hagwon, Yang had thought the key to becoming a pro gamer was devoting hours of practice to playing the multiplayer online battle arena game. But, unlike the typical Korean hagwon that squeezes students’ brains with practice questions and mock test booklets, the game hagwon does not cram games into the heads of students.

Students at Seoul Game Academy are advised to keep their gaming hours to below two hours a day. Some are even advised to not play a single game when they’re not in their best form.

“It’s about strategic time management and who minimizes the weaknesses and maximizes the strengths well in that span of time,” said Park Se-woon, director of Esports and game development education institution Seoul Game Academy.

The pro gamer course at Seoul Game Academy opens seven days a week. Weekend classes are filled with students from all over the country — Daejeon, Daegu, Gwangju, Sejong, Yangyang and Samcheok, to name a few — who come to learn about the best combos of Q, W, E and R.

Students at Seoul Game Academy, located in Dongdaemun, eastern Seoul, play a game of League of Legends. [PARK SANG-MOON]

Contrary to the common belief that pro gamer prospects abandon their academic studies and spend 10-plus hours a day in front of the monitor to stay virtually “fit,” student gamers are imposed a two-hour cap on games.

“Training efficiency peaks after an hour or two. The human brain loses concentration beyond those hours, and results in a steep dive in performance, just like it would for any other physical sport,” Park added.

Jang Jung-hoo, an 11th grader at Jawoon High School in Dobong District, northern Seoul, adjusts the number of sets he plays depending on his condition each day. He limits himself to three or four games even when he is on a “carrying” spree — a LoL term for playing excellently — and sometimes would power off the computer after just a single game of “feeding," or playing poorly.

The high school junior sets his maximum number of games per week and plays flexibly around the quota.

“I play more on days I do better and fewer on days I don’t do so well,” Jang said. On the bad days, he spends more time replaying the games to analyze what he did and did not do well, and reminds himself of the hagwon lessons.

Classes at Seoul Game Academy include real-time screening, one-on-one feedback and simulated play instructed by coaches who are former pro gamers or former high rankers. The hagwon gives out assignments, which often involve watching pro league games for discussion in the next lesson.

But above all, most of the emphasis is placed on character development.

Many Esports games, like LoL, are team games that require an extensive amount of teamwork, according to the director.

Park Se-woon, director of Seoul Game Academy [PARK SANG-MOON]

“Players can’t win games just by choosing champions [LoL characters] and buying items they want. They need to take into account the champion combination of the blue force as well as the matchup against the opposing team.”

The first thing Seoul Game Academy teaches its students to be teamwork-ready is letting go of their bad gaming habits.

“Smash the desk, keyboard or mouse, and you’re sent out of the classroom, and into a counseling room,” said Kang Dong-yun, who attends Yumkwang High School in Nowon District, northern Seoul. Students who blurt out swear words pick up another extra 30 minutes of counseling with their coach, and are lectured on all the possible ways of how poor anger management kills team chemistry.

Spewing negativity does no good to neither the player nor the teammates, because it clouds their judgment and interrupts their concentration. At pro or semi-pro levels where a single miss could jeopardize the entire game, the importance of keeping cool and cooperating with teammates is that much higher.

“Clubs take note of the trainee’s character more than anything else, because players who control their temper well tend to perform better in the long run,” Park said in a classroom with a banner listing Faker’s top 10 pieces of advice for becoming a successful pro gamer. The first one says to put your team’s needs before your own.

Faker's 10 pieces of advice for a successful professional gaming career [SOHN DONG-JOO]

Since emotional control is stressed over and over in the game hagwon, students have come up with their own ways to cool off from stress, including playing musical instruments, reading books and working out at a gym.

"I read books, listen to audio books or go for a run to take my mind off the game," Kang said.

Another stereotype that Seoul Game Academy breaks is that it demands students to prioritize their academics over games. Pro gaming courses are scheduled after school hours during the weekdays for that very reason. Trainees are regarded as student gamers, not gaming students.

Juggling academics and gaming opens more paths in a students’ career, giving them a second shot at the industry should they not make the professional leagues as a player, according to the hagwon's director.

The hagwon advises its trainees to learn a second language since the overseas game market is much larger than the domestic market.

The global market size for the Esports industry is estimated to have reached $1.38 billion at the end of last year, up 21.7 percent from the previous year, according to games analytics firm Newzoo. The Korean Esports market made up 9.9 percent of that.

The global size is set to grow to $1.87 billion by 2025.

The mixture of these factors — having kids chase after their dreams and learn self-discipline in the growing market — is enough to earn an approving nod from parents.

G-Star 2022, an annual game festival in Korea, hosts a show at the Bexco convention center in Busan on Nov. 20, 2022. [YONHAP]

“Many parents these days talk their kids into signing up at a game hagwon, because they would rather have their kids learn good gaming habits than fall into an addiction,” said one of the coaches at Seoul Game Academy. "The support from parents brings down the absence rate close to nil."

The open-mindedness toward games comes from the fact that three out of four Koreans were gamers last year.

In 2021, 74.4 percent of Koreans played games in some form, whether it be mobile, PC or console, according to the White Paper on Korean Games published by Kocca and the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism in January. In 2019, 65.7 percent were gamers.

More gaming parents meant a more forward-looking approach to games. Of the 1,028 parents surveyed by the contents agency in 2022, 47 percent said games interrupt their children’s academics, while 54 percent thought the same in 2021.

“Esports are being perceived more as a competitive sport than just entertainment, and it’s been adopted as an official sport in the upcoming Hangzhou Asian Games,” said the instructor.

Pro gamer prospects are willingly and gladly pursuing their dreams, though the road is not completely worry-free.

"Very few of my peers show sympathy when I tell them my doubts for the future," said Kang. "People assume I'm just one happy kid playing for fun."

Some 0.001 percent of pro gamer prospects in Korea make it to the LCK, according to the game hagwon.

From left, pro gamer prospects Jang Jung-hoo, Kang Dong-yun and Yang Hyun-jik pose for a photo in the lobby of the Seoul Game Academy. [PARK SANG-MOON]

BY SOHN DONG-JOO [sohn.dongjoo@joongang.co.kr]