“Even back then I saw they had potential,” he said. “Their moves were great.”

Though gamers and industry insiders have different theories about how e-sports became so popular in South Korea, nearly all versions start in the late 1990s.

At the time, in response to the Asian financial crisis, the South Korean government focused on telecommunications and Internet infrastructure. By 2000, a vibrant community of gamers emerged, largely thanks to PC bangs that used the new connections. The clubs acted as a sort of neighborhood basketball court where gamers could test their skills.

The government also became involved, creating the Korean E-Sports Association to manage e-sports. Cheap television stations took off as well, a result of the new infrastructure, and it was only natural that one, then more, would focus on e-sports.

“Fourteen years ago, you had a government that gave a thumbs-up to e-sports — it was professionally organized, and it was on television, so it became a mainstream thing,” said Jonathan Beales, an e-sports commentator. “The way soccer is around the world.”

StarCraft, a game released by Blizzard Entertainment in 1998, quickly became a mainstay of South Korea’s professional gaming leagues. With investment and organizational help from Blizzard itself, professional tournaments quickly outgrew the cramped PC bangs, first moving to hotel ballrooms and eventually stadiums. In 2004, the final of the StarCraft pro league attracted 100,000 fans to Gwangalli Beach in the southern beach city of Busan.

“That was the big dog — that really was when we knew, ‘Oh, my goodness, this has gone to an entirely different level,’ ” said Paul Sams, Blizzard’s chief operating officer.