Fans from around the world gathered in Seoul for the League of Legends world championship final, known as the Super Bowl of e-sports.
The League of Legends (LoL) world championship, first held in 2011, has grown rapidly to become a major event in e-sports, which are expected to attract audiences of nearly 1.4 billion by 2025.
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T1’s Faker, often called the Michael Jordan of e-sports, expressed excitement at the opportunity to play in South Korea and hopes for a positive result in front of Korean fans.
Faker, whose real name is Lee Sang-hyeok, aims to win a record fourth world title with T1 and enjoys celebrity status in gaming-obsessed South Korea, where fans chant his name during matches.
At the fan zone in central Seoul, people lined up to take photos with life-sized cutouts of Faker and his team.
One fan, Park Jeong-hyeon, compared Faker to K-pop stars and said he is the BTS of e-sports.
Costumed fans posed for photos at the fan zone, showing their support for the event.
League of Legends involves two teams with five players each competing to destroy the opponent’s base in a battleground.
Tickets for the final at the 16,000-capacity Sky Dome sold out within 10 minutes in August, according to League of Legends maker Riot Games.
Dozens of cinemas across South Korea will also screen the final live, with tickets selling out rapidly.