LoL World Championship turns Gwanghwamun into esports

[자료제공: 라이엇게임즈]

– 130,000 people visited Gwanghwamun Square over four days from the 16th to the 19th.

– Esports fans go wild with street cheering following live concerts

Worlds Fan Fest 2023, held as part of the 2023 World Championship, filled Gwanghwamun Square with esports.

Riot Games, which develops and services , ​​literally created a festival atmosphere with 130,000 people (estimated by the organizer) attending Worlds Fan Fest 2023 held at Gwanghwamun Square in the center of Seoul from the 16th to the 19th. He said he did.

Riot Games held Worlds Fan Fest 2023 from the 16th to the 19th with the plan to turn Gwanghwamun Square into a venue for an esports festival to mark the 2023 LoL World Championship, which will be held in Korea for the first time in five years.

Riot Games signed a business agreement with the Seoul Metropolitan Government for this event and was permitted to use Gwanghwamun Square in the center of Seoul. This is the first time that the Seoul Metropolitan Government has granted permission to use Gwanghwamun Square for a game or e-sports event.

# Focus on T1 and Weibo Gaming’s ‘Korea-China Finals’

The Worlds Fan Fest held at Gwanghwamun Square was predicted to be a huge hit as soon as the final match-up was confirmed. As a result of the semifinals held at Sajik Indoor Stadium in Busan, Weibo Gaming, representing China (LPL), and T1, representing Korea (LCK), won and advanced to the finals, raising expectations among fans for the Worlds Fan Fest.

Crowds began to gather in the street cheering in the morning. Some fans who heard that the first 5,000 people were allowed arrived at 6 a.m. and took their seats, and audiences began to enter at 11:50 a.m. Fans gathered in groups of 5,000 to fill the first-come-first-served admission capacity of 5,000 at 4:30 p.m. before the game started.

Fans who were unable to participate in the street cheering sat in an orderly line on the mini stage and enjoyed the finals together. As T1 won 3-0, the fans cheered ‘T1’ to cheer them up, and they were also seen picking up trash as they left.

Riot Games announced on the 19th that the number of fans who entered the street cheering area was 5,000, but that the number of people who participated in the event that started in the morning reached 48,000.

# Live concerts are also very popular

On the 18th, when the live concert was held, a whopping 54,000 people visited the site, recording the largest number of people in four days. The live concert, which took place at 5:30 p.m., began with a pre-performance by QWER, followed by Nicki Taylor, Mushvenom, FTISLAND, (G)I-DLE, and Alan Walker.

Fans responded with cheers every time familiar -related music was played. The number of viewers for the live concert broadcast live on the LCK YouTube channel increased as time went on, reaching over 120,000 at one point.

Riot Games said, “The Worlds Fan Fest, which was held for four days, was a great event with a total of 130,000 people visiting the site, including 7,000 on the first day, 20,000 on the second day, 54,000 on the third day, and 48,000 on the last day cheering on the streets. “We have achieved this,” he said.

# Lotte World Mall Pop-up-Hiker Ground is also a ‘hit’

Riot Games announced that it prepared various events from the opening in October to the end of November to celebrate the 2023 LoL World Championship being held in Korea, and that this also gained great popularity from fans.

The Riot Pop-up Store, which was held at Lotte World Mall in Songpa-gu, Seoul from the 7th to the 17th of last month, was a success with over 50,000 people visiting the site, and the World’s Playground, held at Hiker Ground in Jongno-gu until November 26, had a cumulative number of visitors as of the 19th. It is gaining popularity as the number of people exceeds 110,000. In particular, many overseas fans visited Worlds Playground and enjoyed the culture of Korea, the home of e-sports.