Platforms used by gamers South Korea 2024
According to a survey conducted in South Korea in 2024, around 91.7 percent of gamers stated that they had played mobile games that year. In 2023, the South Korean gaming market was valued at almost 23 trillion South Korean won.
Mobile gaming haven
Mobile gaming is popular among all age groups in South Korea. While interest declined with age, the share of mobile gamers in their sixties stood at a remarkable 28 percent in 2023. The country is famous for having one of the fastest internet connections worldwide, a high smartphone ownership rate among all age groups, as well as a competitive gaming culture. Given the circumstances, it is hardly surprising that South Korea became one of the largest mobile gaming markets in the world.
Competitive gaming
When StarCraft was gaining popularity in South Korean PC-bangs, LAN-gaming centers that developed out of internet cafes, South Korea became one of the first countries to develop professional gaming leagues. In 2005, South Korea even build the world’s first e-sports stadium. While StarCraft is still popular today, another game has taken the lead; as of December 2024, League of Legends (LoL) taken up around 41 percent of the total play time in PC bangs. South Korea’s top League of Legends player had earned around 1.8 million U.S. dollars in prize money alone. Gamers are sponsored by the biggest corporations in the country, and get a salary during each season of their professional leagues. In a 2020 survey, around 38 percent of gamers stated that, given the chance, they would quit their job in order to become a professional gamer.
