Game Academy in Korea

After school, many teenagers in Seoul flock to hagwon, gamer training centers.

The hagwon centers do not teach math or English, but League of Legends (LoL) and eight other video games, including Battlefield Battlegrounds, Apex Legends, and Valorant.

Yang Hyun-jik, a 12th grader, is among 2,000 students at the Seoul Gaming Academy in the central Seoul district of Jongno, hoping to become the country's next legendary gamer.

Like many other Korean teenagers, Yang started playing games in elementary school for fun and to meet friends. In middle school, he began to seriously think about what many dream of but few dare to try: becoming a professional gamer.

G-star 2022 video game exhibition in Busan, South Korea. Photo: Yonhap

The high salaries of gamers participating in the League of Legends Championship Korea (LCK) are one of the factors that motivate young Koreans to pursue this path.

The average annual salary of LCK players in 2022 is about 600 million won ($450,000), which is double the average income of K League soccer players ($212,000), and three times that of professional baseball players ($116,000).

“Watching professional gamers compete in championship matches inspired me a lot,” Yang said. He had a passion but felt like it was going nowhere, so he decided to train at the Seoul Gaming Academy in early 2020.

The academy is open all week, and its weekend classes are packed with students from across the country. Before enrolling, Yang thought the key to becoming a pro gamer was hours of practice. But the academy only encourages students to play games for less than two hours a day. Some even advise them not to play at all if they are not at their best.

“It’s a time management strategy, minimizing weaknesses and maximizing strengths within a certain period of time,” said Park Se-woon, director of the academy. “The training effect peaks within 1-2 hours, after which the human brain loses focus and performance declines, just like other physical sports.”

Students at the Video Game Academy in Seoul, South Korea. Photo: KJD

The academy's coaches are former professional players, or high-ranked gamers. They regularly interact and play simulations with students, as well as assign homework, often requiring them to watch professional games to discuss in the next class.

According to Director Park, many eSports games, such as LoL, are team games that require team spirit. The first thing the academy teaches is about team spirit and giving up bad gaming habits.

In each classroom, there is a banner listing the top 10 pieces of advice from Lee Sang-hyeok, known by his stage name Faker, considered the best LoL player in history. The first is "put the team before yourself."

"You will be sent out of class and into a review room if you bang on the table or the mouse. Those who swear will be reviewed for an additional 30 minutes. They are also lectured on how a lack of anger management skills will affect the team's coordination," said Kang Dong-yun, a student at the academy.

Students’ regular studies are also prioritized. That’s why the gaming academy’s classes run after school from Monday to Friday. According to Park, this ensures that students will have multiple career paths in the future, if they don’t become professional gamers. The academy also encourages students to learn foreign languages, as the international gaming market is larger than the domestic market.

Professional gamer Jang Jung-hoo (left) and students Kang Dong-yun and Yang Hyun-jik at the Seoul Electronic Game Academy lobby. Photo: KJD

The global market size of the eSports industry is estimated to reach $1.38 billion by the end of 2022, up 21.7% year-on-year. The market in South Korea accounts for 9.9% of this.

The scale is expected to increase to $1.87 billion by 2025. "Nowadays, many parents send their children to hagwon because they want them to develop good habits, instead of falling into a state of uncontrolled gaming addiction," said a coach.

This openness stems from the fact that 3 out of 4 Koreans play games.

Potential gamers are happily pursuing their dreams at hagwons, but the path is also thorny. Only about 0.001% of those who pursue the path of professional gamers in Korea are eligible to compete in the LCK.

Duc Trung (According to Korea JoongAng Daily )

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