Online Gaming As A Professional Sport In South Korea

from the predictions-coming-true dept

For a while now we've spoken about how video gaming was approaching a level similar to professional sports, with companies starting to do sponsorship deals and certain gaming contests showing up on television, complete with commentators and fans. Well, it appears that one place where the idea has really taken off is South Korea where professional video gamers can earn more than $100,000 per year. Of course, the article explains that it's not all fun and (well...) games for the players. They are forced to live in "barracks" of the companies that sponsor them and are required to spend 12 hours a day banging away at their console games practicing for major contests (which are televised). Then, the pressure to win (especially when competing against amateurs) is almost unbearable for some. Seems a bit hard-core, but that's what you'd expect in just about any competitive situation. If the players can't take the pressure, then they probably shouldn't have gotten into the competition.

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