◎ ‘Faker’ Sang-hyeok Lee appeared in the Samsung Galaxy Unpacked promotional video

• T1’s mid laner and legendary LoL pro gamer Sang-hyeok ‘Faker’ Sang-hyeok participated in the Samsung Galaxy Unpacked event. He participated in a promotional video related to the Galaxy S23 game performance released by Samsung Electronics, and the video was released during the Galaxy Unpack event. In addition, world-renowned film director Ridley Scott, as well as director Na Hong-jin and BTS, participated in the promotional video and drew attention. Meanwhile, some esports fans expressed concern because the Galaxy Unpacked event and the T1 match were held on the same day. This is because there were rumors that ‘Faker’ could participate live in the middle of the event. However, ‘Faker’ appeared only in a pre-filmed promotional video.

◎ Open call for cities to host the LCK Summer Finals

• The LCK and KeSPA announced that they are openly calling for cities to host the 2023 LCK Summer Split finals. Interested local governments can submit a letter of intent to KeSPA by the 17th. The LCK side held the 2022 LCK Summer Finals at Gangneung Arena, which was the first final held in an area other than the metropolitan area and Busan. Accordingly, the LCK set up a plan to hold the spring finals in the metropolitan area and the summer finals in the provinces.
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◎ VALORANT tournament organizers unable to pay prize money, financial crisis

• Earlier this month, it was reported that North American VALORANT pro gamers and cast members had not received their prize money from the tournament organizers. Later, foreign media reported that the organizer was in a financial crisis. An organization named Nerd Street Gamers (hereinafter referred to as NSG) was a group that played three stages of the VALORANT Challengers Tour in North America.

At the time, the issue of non-payment of prize money arose and angered fans, but according to this additional report, NSG is considering the option of maintaining external investment or selling the company due to serious management difficulties. Already at the end of January, 25% of NSG’s total staff was cut. If this report is true, it seems that it is not easy for many people who have not been paid prize money and appearance fees to achieve what they want.

◎ IEM Katowice 2023 CS:GO ‘weapon evaporation’ bug occurred

• A bug occurred where weapons evaporated during the IEM Katowice 2023 CS:GO match. The bug was related to the system that allowed players to pass weapons they owned or purchased to their teammates. FURIA wanted to exchange main weapons between team members during the weapon purchase stage. At this time, the AK-47 dropped by ‘arT’ disappeared without being delivered to the team member ‘drop’. To be precise, the weapon fell into the ground and landed in a position that could not be reached by any means. Fortunately, FURIA won the round. As there is a high possibility that the same bug will occur at any time, there are many fans who want a quick response from the developer, Valve.

◎ On-site fans can take off their masks at Roll Park

• The LCK has partially changed the rules for wearing masks in Roll Park in accordance with the government’s lifting of the indoor mask duty, which took effect on the 30th of last month. Fans no longer have to wear masks in all areas of LoL Park. However, as the LCK Arena is a 3-cylinder (closed, dense, close) indoor environment where ventilation is difficult, wearing a mask is strongly recommended. As a result, some of the fans watched the game without wearing masks, but most of the fans who visited the site still wore masks and visited the LCK Arena.

◎ KOCCED cooperates with Dongguk University-Hansung University to recruit e
-sports scholarship students – The Korean University E-sports Development Council (KOCCED), a non-profit organization, announced that it is recruiting e-sports scholarship students for the first semester of 2023 in cooperation with Dongguk University-Hansung University. This is a scholarship project that is supported by e-sports players and officials who have had their educational background cut off. Students will major in physical education at Dongguk University’s Future Convergence Education Center and digital art at Hansung University’s Design Art Education Center. You can apply until 7pm on the 13th.

◎ 2023 PUBG global partner team list revealed

• Krafton has revealed the list of 2023 PUBG global partner teams. This is a new system established this year and was introduced to create a sustainable PUBG league environment. For the 2023 global partner team, Gen.G, Natus Vincere, 17 Gaming, Twisted Minds, Petrico Road, Sonics, Four Angry Men, and Phase Clan were selected. They receive the ‘Team Branded Item’ benefit and the ‘PGS Slot Guarantee’ benefit.