In competitive MOBA game League of Legends, a ranking system is then used to match players of similar skill levels against each other in online games. The League of Legends ranking system has ten levels to indicate the skill level of the gamer. Among North American players, the Bronze skill level was the most common tier as of January 2025, achieved by 21.63 percent of players. Meanwhile, only a small handful of gamers were able to reach the top levels within the game. For casual and professional gamers alike League of Legends has built a loyal and large fanbase in the ten years since its release. The game reached a landmark 100 million monthly active users in 2016, an impressive increase from the 15 million users it had in 2011. As a result of its entertaining and varied gameplay, League of Legends has also become one of the most popular games amongst eSports viewers. The League of Legends eSports championship finals in 2023 became one of the most watched eSports events in history as as viewership peaked at 6.4 million viewers. With so many people watching this event, it comes as no surprise that the prize pool is sizeable. The 2023 edition took place in the Seoul and Busan, South Korea, with a total of 2.23 million U.S. dollars in prize money up for grabs. The South Korean eSports team T1 emerged victorious in 2023, thereby pocketing a whopping 445 thousand U.S. dollars in prize money.

As of July 2025, the top South Korean earner of prize money in League of Legends tournaments was Sang Hyeok Lee, also known as "Faker", who has earned around **** million U.S. dollars. The follower-up was Ho Seong Lee, going by the player ID "Duke", with a total of about ******* dollars. As of December 2024, Faker was the top earner of League of Legends prize money worldwide. League of Legends League of Legends, often referred to as LoL, is a free-to-play MOBA (Multiplayer Online Battle Arena) game developed by Riot Games. Even though the game is more than a decade old, it is still enjoying major popularity among South Koreans. As of June 2025, about **** percent of the total playtime in so-called PC bangs was accumulated by League of Legends. Due to the game’s popularity, South Korea has been holding its own League of Legends championships called "League of Legend Champions Korea" since 2012. Between 2013 and 2017, South Korean teams consecutively won the League of Legends World Championship. Even though the winning streak has been broken, teams from the country have won an additional three times since. PC bangs In the early 2000s, PC bangs, a type of LAN gaming center, formed from regular internet cafés and became a hotspot for gamers. PC gamers use those spaces to meet with their peers and use the high-end computers provided to play games. PC bangs usually take an hourly fee and are open all day. While casual players might just stay a short amount of time, more competitive players stay there for more much longer hours. Due to a high rate of gaming addiction in the country, the government introduced a law prohibiting minors from playing online games during the night. As of 2024, people who visited PC bangs at least once a week stated that they visited those facilities for around *** times per month and stay for an average of ***** hours.

The eSports market has exploded in recent years with more and more viewers tuning in to watch the best gamers in the world do battle. The League of Legends 2024 World Championship became the most watched eSports event of all time, with a recorded 6.86 million peak viewers. The second most viewed tournament was the League of Legends 2023 World Championship in South Korea, with 6.4 million peak viewers. eSports on the rise The eSports audience size in 2021 stood at a considerable 234 million enthusiasts, on top of 240 million occasional viewers. If these figures were not impressive enough, they are forecast to grow even further in the next few years. The enthusiasts are spread across the world, but the Asia Pacific region seems to be a particular hotspot for eSports. In the United States, meanwhile, some 13.4 percent of internet users in 2021 watched eSports, with the figure expected to rise to 15.5 percent by 2023. League of Legends tournaments Although League of Legends was released some 12 years ago, it has only recently exploded into life thanks to the eSports market. With the increased viewership comes increased revenue, and this means that the League of Legends tournaments are worth big money. The game’s cumulative prize pool for tournaments across the world amounted to over 7.82 million U.S. dollars in 2021. As well as the Mid-Season Invitational tournament, the best LoL players also fight it out in the annual League of Legends World Championship. The stakes were higher than ever in 2018 as the total prize pool stood at 6.45 million U.S. dollars. The most recent World Championships in 2024 ended in a final match up between T1 and Bilibili Gaming, from South Korea and China, respectively. T1 emerged as champions following a 3-2 victory, pocketing prize money of almost half a million U.S. dollars.

According to a survey conducted in South Korea in 2024, the largest share of professional e-sports gamers played League of Legends (LoL), with ** out of a total of *** players. Similarly popular games included Valorant and PUBG. South Korea: fertile ground for e-sports E-sports are immensely popular in South Korea, and the country represents an important location for the global e-sports industry. Its market ranks among the biggest in the industry, outpacing larger countries like Japan or France. Local gamers profited from significant governmental support for the industry and the country’s emphasis on strong internet infrastructure. The so-called “PC bang” constitutes an integral part of Korean gaming culture. There, gamers can play multiplayer games for relatively low hourly fees on high-end computers. As many gamers enjoy going there with friends, these facilities contribute to a strong presence of multiplayer games in South Korea. E-sports empire The conditions in South Korea supported the rise of an internationally strong e-sports scene in the country. League of Legends has proven to be especially successful, with most World Championships in the game having been won by Korean teams. Accordingly, South Korean fans made up the single largest share of the tournament’s followers in 2023. Developed by a South Korean company, PUBG is another popular e-sports game, whose top earners have traditionally been Korean. The game, like the industry more generally, has been pivoting towards mobile versions, and has also become a huge success in China.

In June 2025, around ***** percent of the total playtime of games played in PC bangs in South Korea was spent playing League of Legends. This was followed by FIFA Online, with *** percent of total usage time. PC bang culture A PC bang is a LAN gaming center that emerged from internet cafés. Nowadays, it provides high-end gaming equipment as well as a fast internet connection and serves as a hotspot for South Korean gamers. Furthermore, due to its open spatial structure, PC bangs have a role as a social venue for Koreans to spend time with friends or colleagues. Other reasons to visit PC bangs included spending one's spare time there, as well as having access to high-end PCs.The sales revenue of PC bangs in South Korea has continuously grown. Moreover, it is estimated to improve over the years by earning not only usage fees but also additional revenue from food and beverage services offered in PC bangs. Accordingly, the average length of stays in PC bangs has been on the rise since 2018. South Korean gaming industry in the global market The gaming market in South Korea has grown sharply for over a decade. Moreover, the country accounted for the fourth-largest gaming market worldwide, after China, the U.S., and Japan. In particular, PC games and mobile games are currently the main industries in the global market, led by the top three Korean gaming companies, the so-called 3N: Nexon, Netmarble, and NCsoft. Following the rise of the industry, these leading companies are competing fiercely with each other. For example, offered salaries have risen dramatically to secure valuable game developers. In addition, as the mobile game market quickly grows due to its accessibility and portability, companies are releasing mobile versions of their successful PC games.

In a survey conducted in South Korea in early 2021, gamers stated that they spent most of their time on casual single-player games, with **** percent of their time spent gaming being spent on that game genre. This was closely followed by first-person shooters, at **** percent.

Mobile gaming

The vast majority of gamers in South Korea played games on their smartphones in 2020. Given the high smartphone penetration rate, it is not surprising that playing mobile games is widely popular in South Korea. The game industry in the homeland of smartphone giant Samsung is mostly focusing on mobile games. The biggest South Korean game developer in 2019 was Netmarble, the company behind the mobile MMORPG Lineage 2: Revolution and Disney-licensed Marvel Future Fight. As of 2019, the sales revenue of the South Korean mobile gaming market was valued at multiple billion South Korean won, with further growth in sales revenue predicted.

Gaming culture

Mobile gaming is popular in South Korea, with * out of 10 people of the general population aged between 10 and 65 years old playing such games. The mobile gaming and eSports sector is growing, for example with games like Arena of Valor. Nevertheless, South Korean gaming culture evolved around PC gaming. It became so popular that PC bangs, a type of LAN gaming center formed from internet cafes, became a hotspot for gamers. South Korean PC gamers used PC bangs for their high-end computers and as places to socialize in 2021. It is also possible to buy food and beverages there, so there is no need to leave for such things. As of January 2021, the most popular game in South Korea based on total playtime in PC bangs was League of Legends.

As of July 2025, Lee Sang Hyeok, also known as "Faker", has earned around *** million U.S. dollars in prize money. This makes him the top South Korean earner of prize money from e-sports tournaments. Overall, Korean eSports players have won a total of almost 154 million dollars across around 9,069 tournaments. South Korea ranks third worldwide in terms of earnings, behind China and the United States. League of Legends Lee has earned all of his prize money from League of Legends tournaments. League of Legends, often referred to as LoL, is a free-to-play MOBA (Multiplayer Online Battle Arena) game developed by Riot Games. Even though the game is more than a decade old, it is still enjoying a major popularity among South Koreans. As of June 2025, about ** percent of the total playtime in so-called PC bangs was accumulated by League of Legends. E-sports E-sports are a big part of modern South Korean culture. After the PC bangs, a type of LAN gaming center, formed from regular internet cafés in the early 2000s, they became a hotspot for gamers, both casual and professional. PC gamers use those spaces to meet with their peers and use the high-end computers provided to play games. As users usually play multiplayer games in those facilities, competitions quickly emerged and even got funded by the government as well as big South Korean companies. South Korea was the first country to build a stadium dedicated to e-sports. To this day, gaming and e-sports are enjoyed by many in the country.

The global revenue change in the esports market was forecast to continuously decrease between 2025 and 2029 by in total 6.2 percentage points. After the eigth consecutive decreasing year, the revenue change is estimated to reach 4.7 percent and therefore a new minimum in 2029.