ReportKOCCA – Korea Creative Content Agency
2024 E‑Sports Viewership and Engagement Trends in Korea
1 Jan 20247 pages~12 min full read
YouTube dominates the South Korean e-sports market with a 78.5% platform share, significantly outpacing competitors SOOP (14.1%) and CHZZK (7.2%).
E-sports consumption is primarily mobile and desktop-driven, with PCs (38.2%) and mobile phones (35.9%) accounting for 74.1% of all viewing devices.
Engagement is frequent and consistent, as 58.9% of viewers watch e-sports content at least once a week, with 20.4% watching 3–4 times weekly.
Viewer motivation is driven primarily by entertainment (62.1%), gameplay improvement (41.9%), and stress relief (37.5%).
There is strong potential for offline market growth, as 62.7% of the 1,858 surveyed viewers expressed a willingness to attend live e-sports events.
Viewing sessions are longer on weekends, with 8.1% of viewers engaging for five hours or more, compared to 4.7% during the work week.
The analysis aims to map current e‑sports viewership and engagement patterns among South Korean audiences, highlighting how consumption devices, platforms, and motivations shape the market and indicating the potential for offline event conversion. Findings reveal a sharply concentrated viewing environment: personal computers account for 38.2 % of primary devices and mobile phones 35.9 %, together representing 74.1 % of usage, while laptops, tablets and televisions capture smaller shares. Platform preference is even more centralized, with YouTube commanding 78.5 % of respondents, far ahead of SOOP (14.1 %) and CHZZK (7.2 %).
Regularity of consumption is high; 38.5 % of participants watch e‑sports 1–2 times per week and 20.4 % watch 3–4 times weekly, meaning at least 58.9 % engage at least once a week. Weekday sessions cluster around one hour for the majority, whereas weekend viewing extends, with 22 % spending two hours on weekdays and 28.6 % doing so on weekends; longer sessions of five hours or more occur for 4.7 % of weekday viewers and 8.1 % of weekend viewers.
Motivational drivers are dominated by entertainment and self‑improvement: 62.1 % watch because the game is fun, 41.9 % seek to enhance their own gameplay, and 37.5 % cite stress relief. Additional reasons include boredom or free access (27.3 %), support for specific players (22.1 %), and social bonding with friends or coworkers (8.6 %).
The survey, conducted between June and August 2024, sampled 1,858 South Korean e‑sports viewers aged ten and older, with data supplied by C&I Research and the Korea Creative Content Agency. A clear majority—62.7 %—expressed willingness to attend live e‑sports events, while 26.9 % remain undecided and 10.4 %
