Caspar was interviewed by China media for the first time.
In the just-concluded S6 group match, all three Korean teams in LCK Division advanced to the quarter-finals. Although IM was defeated in LPL Division, the remaining RNG and EDG will face SKT and ROX Tigers in the next game. Many people say that this group is simply a "death group".
I have to say that the three teams that South Korea participated in S6 this year all played well. It seems that when it comes to the largest country in e-sports, everyone always thinks of South Korea first. So how awesome is South Korea's e-sports industry? Why are they awesome?
Why is South Korea's e-sports so strong that national e-sports can be sent to universities after retirement?
In the last playoff game of LCK Summer Games, the Silkworm Indoor Gymnasium in Seoul, South Korea was packed. This is the final between ROX Tigers and Kappa Tau. ROX unexpectedly lost in the fourth set after winning the first two sets. Sitting next to the reporter was a couple. When the girl saw that ROX was abused in the team battle, she choked up. I'm surprised, but Wang Xia, who has worked in Korean e-sports association KeSPA for many years, is an ordinary person.
So I took her out to chat, and she gave me a detailed description of Korean e-sports. This is also the first time Caspar has been interviewed by China media.
National e-sports is not blowing!
"This venue is not big and can only accommodate about 5,000 people." Wang Xia, who works in Caspar's business department, explained to me, "Our spring competition is held in the Olympic Stadium, which can accommodate nearly 20,000 people." Although it sounds a lot, it is still hard to get a ticket. My best friend studying at Ewha Women's University told the reporter that Luoyang paper, the admission ticket for the spring competition, was very expensive and sold out after half an hour's sale. "Most people will choose to watch it on TV or online." This shows the rich atmosphere of Korean e-sports.
Wang Xia told reporters that South Korea is a "national e-sports" country, and grandparents and children are full of enthusiasm for e-sports culture. As the only government-supported e-sports association in Korea, KeSPA plays the role of manager. It not only manages teams and clubs, but also plays an important role in discovering and cultivating new people. "Taking League of Legends as an example, the association directly cooperates with fist companies, from non-professional to professional, forming a systematic and perfect competition chain."
"Little Bucket" is the national amateur e-sports competition of the association. You can smell the support of Korean politicians for e-sports from their names. The competition system has the flavor of the National Games-players from Korea 16 states are selected to participate in various competitions, but the competitions are only selected from Korean local competitions. "In principle, anyone can sign up. This is a real national e-sports campaign."
Compared with the "keg" carnival, KesSPA Cup seems to be a little entry threshold. This is an event that both non-professional players and professional players can participate in together, but it is often more interesting. According to the reporter's understanding, last year's "League of Legends" Caspar Cup, an unknown team from the people defeated SKT and became famous for a while. Singles and off-court players of this team have also started to play professional games. "Holding regular competitions at all levels not only promotes the exchange and integration of e-sports culture, but also explores potential newcomers." Wang Xia commented, "At present, we have a very sound system to operate."
At present, the list of S6 quarterfinals has been announced, and all three teams from LCK Division are on the list, which shows the strength of LOL in South Korea. According to the previous colleagues, S6 KeSPA specially sent an employee to North America with the team, whose duty is to take care of the daily life of the team members. In this regard, Wang Xia said that it is a tradition to send commissioners to "escort". In S5 last year, the Commissioner spent most of his time looking for delicious food for the contestants, so he was nicknamed "Mr. Bento". Zheng Dawei, coach of the ROX team, also said that the association was very considerate. "Commissioner is very conscientious, have what matter can find him. It is with their strong backing that we can play games with peace of mind. "
Players can be sent to college after retirement.
South Korea's e-sports boom At the end of last century and the beginning of this century, Koreans who had just emerged from the financial crisis did not have much spare money for high-cost entertainment activities such as tourism. At this time, it coincided with the rapid development of the Internet and many young people played video games. 1998, the Korean e-sports association KeSPA was formally established, which belongs to the Korea Tourism, Culture and Tourism Bureau. In 2000, Korea International Electronic Marketing Company founded the World E-sports Competition (WCG) known as "E-sports Olympics", which gave a shot in the arm for the popularization of e-sports in Korea. The Star Trek series was the most popular at that time, followed by War 3. With the rise of League of Legends, Koreans quickly fell in love with this simple, well-made and beautiful game. At present, League of Legends is already the most popular game in Korea.
Wang Xia told reporters that by the end of February last year, the association had registered more than 160 professional players and more than 4,000 non-professional players, most of whom were in League of Legends. The average age of professional players is around 20 years old.
"General professional players will choose to retire after the age of 24 due to injuries and other reasons." Wang Xia said that unlike most star players in China who choose to be anchors or commentators after retirement, Korean retired players seem to have chosen more directions. "There are even performing stars, and Hong Zhenhao (ID:Yellow), a professional player of StarCraft 1, is currently an actor."
According to the reporter, there are not many Korean retired star players as anchors. Most people will choose to find a company to work or engage in different industries. "They just regard playing a career as a stage of life, just like you went to college for four years and still have to find a job after graduation." Insiders said, "There are also excellent players who have successfully transformed into team coaches. For example, the coach of the ROX Tigers turned out to be a professional player. "
For the players who are eager to return to school after retirement, Caspar gives them a special benefit-starting from 20 14, there will be a number of places for them to enter the university every year. "There won't be many places, and it is a single digit every year." Wang Xia said, "Caspar will conduct interviews and selection according to the registration. Last year, Central University had several places and was very popular. "
For such benefits, many domestic e-sports people are envious. After Wings won the championship on Ti 6 this year, Team Y also revealed the idea of going to school. In this regard, Wang Xia said that the problems encountered in the development of e-sports in China are the same as those encountered in South Korea, and the improvement of the system also needs a process. I believe that the Information Office of the State Sports General Administration can also introduce relevant systems in the future.
"After all, Yao Ming went to Jiaotong University to study, and the education of e-sports athletes needs to be valued like traditional sports." Some people say: "In this way, parents can send their children to work with less worries." "China e-sports is experiencing what Korean e-sports has experienced." Not long ago, after China's Ministry of Education recognized the major of e-sports management, many higher vocational colleges set up related courses and hired star teachers in the industry to teach. According to "Ren Huang" Sky TV, he has received many invitations. In South Korea, where e-sports is booming, education related to e-sports began as early as middle school.
"Our association invited some local teams to shoot a short film last year and made it in the form of VR." Wang Xia told reporters that this film will be used as an elective course related to e-sports in the second year of Seoul Middle School.
According to the reporter's understanding, Korean universities set up e-sports related majors years ago, but the scale is not large, and there is no special so-called "e-sports university". "In fact, Korean e-sports practitioners have no formal background. Many companies and clubs only consider whether you like this field when recruiting people. " Wang Xia disagreed with the so-called "e-sports major". "I think the quality of those e-sports majors in South Korea is not particularly good now."
Compared with universities, the work of e-sports education and publicity is mainly undertaken by KeSPA. KeSPA holds vocational education and training conferences for players twice a year, requiring all registered professional players who have not participated in the competition to attend. The main purpose of the conference is to train the professional etiquette and norms of the players. "These associations have done a lot." Wang Xia said so.
Regarding the phenomenon of capital influx but chaotic management in China's e-sports industry, Wang Xia said that all South Korean e-sports that China is experiencing now have also experienced it. "China's e-sports is probably South Korea four years ago and is developing at a high speed."
However, with more and more Korean players joining the China team, the association has also encountered a very big problem-Korean players can't get protection in China because they can't get work visas starting with the word Z. According to Korean media reports, as of June this year, there were more than 60 Korean League of Legends players in China, and more than half of them were active in the 12 teams of LPL. But none of them have legal visas.
"Most of them entered China with tourist visas, but they did not get legal work visas for various reasons." Wang Xia said, "At present, the association is trying to solve this problem through consultation with relevant departments in China."
According to the reporter's investigation, in addition to the objective factors of immature e-sports environment, the main reason for not getting a work visa is that most domestic teams are not operated by enterprises, but by individuals, and most of them are investors. However, it is necessary to examine the employer when applying for a Z visa, and the evidence of personal strength as an employer is insufficient.
The absence of a legal visa has brought a series of problems. Wang Xia said that the association often receives requests for help from Korean players who are active in LPL, but because visas are illegal, the association can do nothing about the disputes. Although Korean players enjoy a high income in China, they can't legally bring their income back because they don't have a legal identity to apply for a passbook in a bank in China. According to the reporter's understanding, some Korean players choose to trade on the black market or bring cash back to South Korea directly in their backpacks, but these methods are inseparable from the hat of tax evasion and violation of foreign exchange trading laws.
"The China team bought Korean players at a high price, but failed to protect their interests well, laying an unstable factor for the Korean e-sports market." Wang Xia was somewhat worried about this, but immediately said, "China's e-sports policy is good, and it is expected that there will be more stable and longer-term progress in the future."
When I finished the interview and entered the viewing area, I happened to see the ROX Tigers break the opposite crystal, and the girl next to me burst into tears regardless of the image. Not only the girls next to me, but all the girls around me cried when I saw Pray crying. "This is a fan of Korean e-sports. They are all true love fans. " Wang Xia said with emotion, "I cried when I lost, and I cried when I won, all because of that passionate love."