[Daejeon = E-Daily Reporter An Yu-ri ] “This is the first time I’ve competed in an esports tournament in such a crowded place. I think the experience of standing in front of so many people will help me feel less nervous when I enter the workforce later on.”

The e-Sports Arena in Yuseong-gu, Daejeon, where the “Youth e-Sports Festival” was held on the 11th. A player from the “Sam-sotneun Regional Children’s Center” team, which won the “KartRider Rush+” division, made this remark.

The Youth Esports Festival is a corporate social responsibility event that provides children and teenagers from community children’s centers across the country with opportunities to experience gaming culture and explore career paths. It began in 2022 as “Pro Dreamer,” an esports career education event, and is now in its fourth year.

The venue where the matches took place was so filled with the children’s cheers that it was almost deafening. Every move the players made drew cheers and gasps from the stands. Just like the excitement on-site, the scale of the event is growing rapidly every year. Participation, which stood at 460 participants from 20 organizations in 2022, has expanded to 7,470 participants from 258 organizations this year.

Kwon Yeon-ju, Director of Smilegate’s Corporate Social Responsibility Division, said, “I feel a deep sense of pride when I see children who are usually quiet at the center become stars among their peers at esports tournaments and take on leadership roles to guide their friends.”

Lee, a third-year middle school student who has participated in the festival for four consecutive years, shared his thoughts: “At first, I entered the tournament just for fun, but now I think I’ve been playing the game more seriously, with the mindset that I need to do well.”

Lee’s team was unfortunately eliminated in the quarterfinals this year. Competing under the nickname “Teleportation Master,” Lee said, “Since I’ve been focusing solely on Speed Mode, I didn’t get to practice Item Mode much,” and vowed, “Next year, I’ll practice both modes equally.”

A distinctive feature of this event is that it is operated using the “Collective Impact” model, in which various companies and organizations beyond the gaming industry contribute their respective expertise. Twelve entities participated, including Smilegate Hope Studio, the Nexon Foundation, Supercell, Kakao Games Corp., the Korea Creative Content Agency, and Amazon Web Services (AWS)—spanning game companies, public institutions, and IT firms.

The gaming industry provided content by leveraging its respective areas of expertise. The Nexon Foundation and Supercell provided the intellectual property (IP) for “KartRider Rush+” and “Brawl Stars,” respectively, while Kakao Games Corp. unveiled “Friends Game Land on the Go,” an experiential corporate social responsibility (CSR) program.

Collaboration with local communities was also significantly expanded. This year, the Gwangju Information and Culture Industry Promotion Agency and the BusanIndustrial Information Industry Promotion Agency joined as new partners. Together with the existing Daejeon Information and Culture Industry Promotion Agency, they supported the event by providing free venue rentals and assisting with tournament operations, thereby linking local esports infrastructure with the event.

At the quarterfinals held in the Gwangju region on the 15th of last month, university students majoring in esports and gaming from the Gwangju area participated as interns and directly managed the tournament. In essence, the event—which began as a social contribution initiative for children and adolescents—is now expanding its reach to provide local youth with professional experience and job opportunities.

Director Kwon said, “I was impressed by the passion of the students from esports-related departments in the Gwangju area who participated as interns,” adding, “Since this initiative has expanded beyond social contribution for children to include the creation of local jobs, I hope partner companies will participate next year as well to help broaden these work experience opportunities.”

Companies from various sectors, including retail and manufacturing, also lent their support. Hankook Tire provided a 45-seat “Tteum Bus” to enable children living in remote areas to visit the venue. Representatives from Nongshim, which operates the professional esports team “Nongshim RedForce,” also attended the event for the first time this year.

The event has established itself as a platform where participants can not only enjoy games and competitions but also explore career paths in esports. The T1 Esports Academy distributed T1 merchandise and its own academy merchandise on-site and conducted career counseling sessions related to esports.

A T1 official said, “Many students came because they were curious about what esports is and what T1 does,” adding, “It was a meaningful experience to help children who had never had any exposure to esports before learn more about both esports and T1.”