Korean League of Legends Faces Challenges with Promotions and Finances

by Annabelle Stephenson
in *AR, *KO, Action, News, Release, xDA, xLT, xRS, xSV
on 26 January 2024

Wycofanie się Huyi z nadawania League of Legends Champions Korea w Chinach kontynentalnych

The League of Legends Champions Korea (LCK), the highest esports league in Korea, is grappling with challenges related to promotions and finances, despite its success last year at the Asian Games and the World Championships, industry insiders claim.

In 2023, the match between representatives from South Korea and China was a major success for the Korean esports industry, especially for the game League of Legends (LoL), developed by Riot Games, one of the biggest esports titles in the world. Korea won two out of the seven gold medals in the esports category, including one for LoL, at the Asian Games in Hangzhou, China.

T1, supported by SK Telecom, defeated the Chinese team Weibo Gaming in November, winning the annual LoL World Championships.

While this victory was seen as strong evidence of Korea’s status as a global esports powerhouse, the LCK league is starting 2024 on a sour note.

With the start of the spring season of LCK last week, Huya, a video game streaming platform in China backed by Tencent Holdings, the owner of Riot Games, ceased official Chinese-language broadcasts of the new season. This was the first time LCK broadcasts had been suspended in China since 2018, when Huya became the exclusive streaming partner for Riot Games during the regional tournament.

Riot Games Korea informed local media that the suspension was due to the lack of broadcasting rights holder in the country. While the company did not provide further explanations, some industry representatives claim that the issue is related to the recent controversy surrounding the esports club Generation Gaming (Gen.G), one of the top esports clubs in Korea.

In December, Gen.G sparked outrage among Chinese netizens by referring to Taiwan as a country on Facebook. The situation worsened when the club apologized, “confirming its position on respecting and defending China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity”, and then retracted those words, claiming to remain neutral on political matters. This led to widespread criticism from both Chinese and Korean fans.

Ke “957” Changyu, a professional player and commentator for the Chinese League of Legends Pro League (LPL), previously stated on his personal streaming channel earlier this month that the broadcast interruption was related to the recent issues with Gen.G.

A source working in the Chinese esports industry also confirmed to The Korea Times, on condition of anonymity, that Gen.G was the main reason for the suspension.

This decision came as a surprise to many Chinese esports fans, who expressed their disappointment on social media following the incident.

Wang Ruiwen, a 22-year-old LCK fan from Shanghai, said she was “very sad” when she opened the Huya channel and instead of the new season’s broadcasts, she saw replays of last year’s matches. As a result, she had to use the LCK streaming channel on YouTube in English, which is not accessible in the People’s Republic of China without a VPN.

“It’s unfortunate that the actions of one team have affected the access of a whole group of Chinese fans to the tournament,” Wang said.

Both Riot Games and Huya did not respond to requests for comment on the suspension.

South Korea, thanks to strong government support for esports policies and infrastructure, is at a pivotal moment for the global esports industry. The country has a vast pool of talents in all major esports titles in the world, including Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok, a legendary player of League of Legends. Professional teams are backed by some of the largest conglomerates in Korea, such as SK Telecom, KT, and Samsung.

The suspension of broadcasts undoubtedly deals a blow to the profitability of LCK through the loss of licensing fees, especially considering that the regional league is already struggling to ensure revenue growth.

On January 17, the opening day of the LCK spring season, a group of teams associated with the league released a joint statement expressing concerns about the financial stability at Riot Games Korea.

“…viewership, results, and popularity of the league have been steadily growing. However, despite this growth, LCK League Corporation has been unable to increase the business value of the league for the past three years,” read the statement, originally written in Korean.

The financial problem is not limited to LCK but affects the entire global esports industry. “The profitability of esports events often relies on sponsorships from game studios and hardware manufacturers, and is weakly connected to companies in other product categories,” said Zhang Shule, an analyst at CBJ Think Tank. “Opportunities beyond just competitions have also been less explored.”

In the current landscape, the Korean League of Legends faces challenges with promotions and finances, despite its previous successes. Despite winning at the Asian Games and the World Championships, industry insiders believe that the league is struggling.

During the last season, the video game streaming platform Huya, supported by Tencent Holdings, discontinued official Chinese-language broadcasts in China. This marked the first interruption since 2018, when Huya became Riot Games’ exclusive streaming partner. The reason for the suspension was the lack of broadcasting rights in the country.

Some industry representatives suggest that the issue arose due to controversial actions by the esports club Generation Gaming (Gen.G), which referred to Taiwan as a country on Facebook. The club later apologized, stating its neutrality on political matters.

The decision to suspend broadcasts surprised many esports fans in China, who expressed their disappointment.

South Korea plays a crucial role in the global esports industry, thanks to strong government support. However, the suspension of broadcasts is a blow to the profitability of LCK due to the loss of licensing fees.

LCK and the entire esports industry face financial challenges, with profitability often relying on sponsorships from game studios and hardware manufacturers.