Article from SBS:

Korea Has Best Gamers in the World, But Gaming Industry Falling Behind China

[Anchor]

In the Starcraft Game Convention held in the U.S., Korean gamers took home the world championship. Koreans are the most skilled players in the world, but in Korea, the gaming industries are in danger.

Reporter Jung Young-taek has more.

[Reporter]

The convention hall that housed the Starcraft II World Championship was filled with excitement.

The competition was fierce, and when it came to the finals, the players were all Korean.

Thousands of people cheered excitedly and witnessed the birth of a new champion.

[Im Seung-hyun, Starcraft 2 World Champion]

At the Blizzcon next year, I will definitely win again. I want to become known as the best Starcraft 2 player.

The Blizzcon exhibition, held during the convention, gathered together 25,000 people worldwide.

The game market, worth an annual 1.3 billion won, will continue to grow.

[Mike Mohaim, Blizzard CEO]

A number of people have access to devices capable of high-quality entertainment. I think gaming is becoming more popular and mainstream.

Online games are building up a strong reputation worldwide. In Korea, annual game exports amount to 2.6 trillion dollars, 11 times more than K-pop, and 130 times more than movies.

However, recently they have been overtaken by the leading Chinese companies, and growth has halted.

There are many young people that dream of being game developers, but there are still negative views towards games.

[Choi Seul-gi, Anyang Keunmyung Girl’s Information High School, Sophomore]

The game market is very narrow, so you don’t see a variety of games. Instead there are only uniform and boring games, so games with enjoyable content are few and far between.

The gaming industry is not just an object to be regulated, but an industry that also incorporates IT skills and cultural content. It’s time to use intelligence to grow the industry further.

Comments from Naver:

duri****:

The Ministry of Women takes the lead to kill the industry. It never gets old to bash the ministry.

rlae****:

Of course, the Ministry of Women should be brought up for an article like this, keke.

ll09****:

And you know whose fault this is.

yks5****:

Ministry of Women, please enter the arena.

송환진:

I was so surprised to hear that Korea is a strong country when it comes to worldwide gamers. But I hope that the gaming market develops to be as strong as our gamers’ skills.

rkda****:

Keke, they cut off our arms and legs, and now they ask why we can’t run.

skyc****:

They were eager to promote K-pop, but actually it doesn’t even compare to the gaming industry, which is being constrained as a “drug”. The true nature of our politicians can be seen from the Ministry of Women. They keep making trash laws.

azec****:

The goose that lays the golden eggs was already killed. It’s too late… What’s the point of an article like this now? They used to publish articles that only shed negative light on gaming and tried to just regulate it, keke. How great. No wonder Nexon’s head office moved to Japan.

mach****:

I applaud the reporter who wrote this article, it’s great to see a well-written piece. The Ministry of Gender Equality and Family and the government only try to regulate it, but our online games were actually taking in a lot of foreign money. Foolish parents tend to abuse their good sons. Our country is so idiotic.

psyc****:

Everyone who agrees that we should disband the Ministry of Women, raise your hand!

kyso****:

China: Thanks, Ministry of Women, keke.

joyc****:

If you play games, you are on the same level as a druggie, kekeke. Pathetic crazy government.

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