Esports Athlete Games 2023 kicks off on Friday, May 21st

The '2023 Esports Enthusiast Competition', which aims to revitalize the living esports culture based on esports facilities across the country, will begin on Friday, May 21.

Esports facilities are those designated by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Korea Esports Association as suitable for living e-sports facilities based on whether they have established an e-sports environment and their track record of holding e-sports competitions, according to the Act on the Promotion of Esports (Electronic Sports). The total number of eSports facilities is 93, including five new facilities designated this year, and they will play a role in revitalizing local eSports culture and serving as basic living eSports facilities.

An esports enthusiast tournament is an amateur esports competition held for enthusiasts who are members of an esports facility. By regularly participating in competitions at esports facilities, enthusiasts gain social interaction and a sense of accomplishment through esports, and esports facilities play a role as local esports infrastructure. This year, the Esports Enthusiast Competition is making a number of changes to encourage more enthusiasts to participate and organize competitions.

This year, there will be three official sports. This year, there will be three official events (StarCraft: Remastered, Eternal Returns, and FIFA Online 4), compared to two last year (League of Legends and FIFA Online 4). We're also adding six free-to-play events (League of Legends, Valorant, Battlegrounds, StarCraft II, Audition, and Hearthstone) to encourage more competitions to be organized and participated in.

There are also changes to the competition structure. To make it easier to understand the structure of competitions, we've renamed them "Seasons" and "Playoffs" instead of "Regular" and "Semi-Regular". The first and second seasons will be organized autonomously by esports facilities, and the winners of both seasons will participate in the playoffs. We have also unveiled a new logo that depicts the figure of an esports enthusiast.

The benefits for competitors will also be expanded. This year, in addition to cash prizes and memorabilia, competitors will receive prizes and in-game coupons for competing in official events, and playoff qualifiers will have the opportunity to participate in skill-building workshops.

The 2023 Esports Enthusiast Competition is scheduled for April-June for the first half of the season, July for the first half playoffs, August-October for the second half of the season, and November for the second half playoffs. The exact competition schedule for each season is subject to change depending on the competition status of esports facilities.

Meanwhile, the Korea Esports Association held a business briefing on Monday (March 3) for e-sports facility owners, providing information on the benefits of designating facilities and how to run competitions. At the same time, 한국야동 the organization is in the process of upgrading the functionality of its website for enthusiasts and facility owners.