[Alpha Biz=(Chicago) Reporter Kim Jisun] E-sports competitions that utilize Krafton's representative IP (Intellectual Property Rights) "PUBG: Battleground (Battleground)" are struggling.

The outflow of users due to the use of illegal programs in the game is also serious, which also reduces the inflow into the e-sports league. Although it has been expanding its e-sports market based on huge prize money, it seems that it is hardly making any effort.

According to the industry on the 8th, Krafton's e-sports business is struggling with League of Legends (LoL· Roll) in Korea and counterstrike and Valorant in the global market.

According to the "e-Sports Chart," a global e-sports statistics website, the average number of viewers for the Korean preliminary round of the Battleground International e-Sports Competition (PUBG Global Series 2 and PSG 2), which ended on the 4th of last month, is 23,046. It is one-third of the Asian average (63,310 people).

The situation in the Middle East (22,562 people), North America (15,925 people), and South America (11,508 people) is not much different. Considering that more than 90% of battleground game users are "global," it is a painful figure.

The audience size of PSG 2 is only about 3% compared to the League of Legends Champions Korea (LCK), the representative e-sports league in Korea. The average number of viewers for the LCK 2023 Summer Season, which took place around the same time, reached 760,000.

Krafton even offered a huge prize money to revive the league, but the effect is minimal. According to data from "eSports Ernings," the tournament's prize money statistics analysis platform, Crafton spent a total of 157 billion won on the Battleground Mobile League (about 92.8 billion won) and the PUBG League (about 63.9 billion won).

This year, the mobile league has offered about 13 billion won in prize money. It is the largest prize money ever in the global e-sports league, and the number of viewers (850,000) is far below the counter-strike league (1.53 million).

 

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