Big Time E-Sports

[Anchor Lead]

Some of us might have a negative impression of online games, but the gaming industry known as e-sports is booming. It’s even challenging conventional sports such as professional baseball and basketball.

[Pkg]

The finals of a domestic cyber game competition held last month was attended by some 4,000 spectators. An additional 880-thousand watched the final round which was broadcast live online. Online games were recognized as e-sports since 2001 when StarCraft matches began to be relayed and professional gaming emerged as an occupation. The industry is fast growing with the growing popularity of various gaming leagues in the U.S., Europe and China. Last year, the final round of one game league's global competition was broadcast live in 18 different languages and viewed by 43 million fans worldwide. Fan fever was more exuberant than the pro baseball or basketball finals in the U.S. The value of the winning team of the e-competition was estimated at over 70 billion won by some experts, which is equal to the worth of a pro baseball team in the Korean league.

[Soundbite] Jo Man-soo(cretary General, Korea e-Sports Association) : "Korea's e-sports standards are high so overseas fans also watch the Korean league. Foreign broadcasters also purchase broadcasting rights to air Korean matches in their countries."

E-sports have also been adopted as a sporting event from the 2022 Asian Games. This milestone is expected to expedite the growth of the gaming sector even faster.