South Korea’s Esports Industry in Northeast Asia: History, Ecosystem and Digital Labour

Abstract

This chapter analyses South Korean esports industry by shifting a corporation-centred approach to an alternative approach that centres around players and policy model of innovation. The chapter explores how the voices of various esports players can be contextualised in a larger societal structure. The chapter includes a fieldwork report based upon more than 20 in-depth interviews of esports professionals. The chapter shows the dilemmas that esports players face in developing their careers. South Korea has the world’s most dominant esports scene in Northeast Asia. The country’s leadership in esports is not only because of two public organisations that built national and global infrastructure. South Korea’s success benefits from a bottom-up industry innovation model that is player-driven. Many esports professionals dreamed of becoming professional players at the beginning of their career. The vibrant ecosystem appears in the professionalisation process when these passionate players stopped to pursue career in competitive gaming, they stayed with the industry and developed value chains in game publishing, athletics, education, media, and regulations.