The Korea e-Sports Association (KeSPA) announced on July 4 that it has designated League of Legends (LoL) and FC Mobile as official eSports for national team development. (Image courtesy of the Korea e-Sports Association)
SEOUL, Jul. 5 (Korea Bizwire) – In a move to bolster its position in the rapidly growing world of competitive gaming, the Korea e-Sports Association (KeSPA) announced on July 4 that it has designated League of Legends (LoL) and FC Mobile as official eSports for national team development.
The association stated that it chose these games based on their high potential for inclusion in international competitions and the need to expand their domestic player base.
KeSPA’s national team development program is divided into two categories: “continuous development” for games with an established domestic following that require ongoing management, and “new development” for games with high potential for international competition but limited domestic presence.
Riot Games’ League of Legends, a global eSports phenomenon, was selected for the continuous development category. Nexon’s FC Mobile, a soccer simulation game, was chosen for new development. The association plans to gradually increase the number of games in its development program.
To support this initiative, KeSPA has designated the 2024 KeSPA Cup as a quantitative assessment tool for selecting national team players. The LoL portion of the 2024 KeSPA Cup is scheduled to run for approximately eight days from late November to early December. The FC Mobile competition will be held over two days during the FC Pro Festival event.
Starting this year, KeSPA will require potential national team members for international multi-sport events to be registered as competitive players and have a record of participation in designated assessment tournaments. Performance in these events, including rankings and individual statistics, will serve as quantitative evaluation metrics for team selection.
The association expressed its commitment to building on the success of the recent Asian Games in Hangzhou, where eSports made its debut as a medal event. “We will not rest on our laurels from the Asian Games,” a KeSPA spokesperson said. “Working together with all members of the domestic eSports community, we will strive for even greater achievements in the future.”
Kevin Lee (kevinlee@koreabizwire.com)
