LCK Determined to “Maximize” Players, Faker is No Exception
In a financial report about a month ago, LCK indicated that although the region has continuously achieved glory in international competitions, the investment in Esports is still suffering significant losses. Additionally, issues with the Chinese market, resulting in LCK matches no longer being broadcast live there as before, have also impacted LCK. Therefore, the tournament organizers have to employ every possible method. Recently, one direction that LCK is preparing to implement is: players will participate in co-streaming matches. Even Faker is required to join the program.
However, this raises a problem. For co-streaming to be truly engaging, the streamer must possess enough professional knowledge, but more importantly, the ability to guide and convey the match to the audience. Meanwhile, Faker himself is famously known as a player who streams… extremely blandly. In fact, there have been streaming sessions where Faker only sat and said “thank you” when receiving donations.
Additionally, this could affect and make the schedules of players more congested. Moreover, names like Faker and Chovy mainly attract viewers due to their competitive fame rather than their streaming style. LCK itself always has many conduct rules for players, and this will greatly limit the appeal of co-stream channels, especially for less known names.
The Effectiveness of This Method by LCK May Not Be Realistic, Even with Faker
Utilizing the fanbase of selected co-streaming players is understandable to attract more views for matches without big names like T1, Gen.G, or HLE… But this method may not necessarily succeed, especially since there are already many more effective and reputable streaming channels around the world.
However, LCK will likely still experiment, and players like Faker and Chovy will be key figures in this project. But how long this project will last and whether it will succeed remains to be seen.