From Naver, 7/26/2004:

100,000 people!

The event organizers were shocked by the turnout at the round 1 final of the Sky Proleague 2004 on the 17th in Pusan. About 100,000 came out on the Pusan beach. On the same day, the All-Star baseball game in Pusan attracted only 16,000. Though it was free, it was the moment confirming the popularity of StarCraft in South Korea.

As the crowd shouted out for their favorite players, the OSL director Hyungjoon Hwang (34) was there.

He started working in media in 1998, as a comedy writer for SBS TV going into the role of PD at the anime channel Tooniverse. However, his team was disbanded due to the economic downturn, and what he started then to kill his time became the legend of the 100,000 people.

The 1988 was the year of the France World Cup. Just playing game at home waiting for his pink slip, Hwang had an idea, “How about using soccer simulation game to predict the results of the World Cup?” To make things exciting, he tried to find a cybercaster and commentators. Starting from the round of 16, the idea went successfully as the simulation correctly predicted 12 out of 16 games.

Then he started working on baseball simulation. It was a huge failure. In contrast to the World Cup where win/loss is important, the attention was on statistics. It was impossible to predict all the various statistics of baseball.

“Total failure. We couldn’t even predict win/loss, not to mention RBI, win %, and etc.,” Hwang said.

The simulation broadcasting was all about accuracy, and there was a certain limit to that. Then he found out about StarCraft. He applied the same concept that he used for the simulation, gathering players and digging casters and commentators. But nobody would sponsor it. The concept of game tournament was still new, and therefore nobody was willing to give six-dollar-figure event fees. He knocked on numerous doors, all to nothing.

“I felt like I met everyone that I’ll ever meet in my life. I was thankful not to be kicked out, not to mention having a chance to talk,” Hwang recollected.

At the end, he got Hitel’s sponsorship and pulled the first game tournament ever, Hitel Tournament. There was not even a studio, not to mention any kind of the big stage in Pusan. The team put tablecloth on the pinp-pong tables in Tooniverse waiting room for the desks and connected the regular monitor to the computers, just to have a visual of the games. But it was a big hit. The birth of StarCraft tournament.

The rest is the history of StarCraft leagues. The first live broadcasting at 1999 Progamer Korean Open. The birth of game channel OnGameNet in July 2000. The first outdoor final match at Yonsei University. The gym for 7,000 people for Boxer vs Yellow final sold out. Game tournament in the South Korean baseball mecca of Seoul Stadium. And the record of 100,000 people.

“I have to show something new every time, and that’s a pressure. It’s time for 1,000,000 crowd culture,” Hwang said.

His obsession with new ideas sometimes got him in trouble. Once he got criticized for organizing a gambling tournament and ultimately was stopped by Korean communications commission.

“I was too ahead of my time. I couldn’t see why I can’t do it,” Hwang said.

He promised to his team that if OnGameNet becomes a top 10 in cable ratings, he will get married. Currently, it’s at the 11th. However, the Pusan final changed his mind.

“When I saw the 100,000 crowd, I developed a bigger desire than marriage; I will not get married until it reaches 1,000,000,” Hwang said.

His obsession with new ideas yielded the record of 100,000 crowd. It was also confirmed that game is not a side culture. His e-sports legacy continued.

Related posts:
OSL Emotional Moments
The First StarCraft Progamer