Inside the ‘Deadly Serious’ World of E-Sports in South Korea

On a recent morning, the sleep-deprived teenagers filed into Elite Open School wearing masks and branded T-shirts and hoodies. Divided into classrooms named after American universities like Columbia, M.I.T. and Duke, they studied English, American history and other required subjects. Some commuted two hours each morning to school.

“​My challenge is how to keep them awake and engaged during class,” said Sam Suh, an English teacher.

The real work began in the afternoon, when two buses carried the young gamers to a modest concrete building in a residential area for another intense training session at the Gen.G academy.

Anthony Bazire, a 22-year-old former Gen.G academy student from France, said he had chosen South Korea as his training ground because he knew the country had some of the best players. Today, top prize winners in League of Legends, Overwatch and StarCraft II are mostly South Koreans.

“When you see people working hard, it pushes you to work hard,” he said.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/19/world/asia/south-korea-esports.html