Seo “Shark” Kyung-jong began his pro gaming career in 2002, at the age of 15. His transition from player to caster, following eight years of competition in StarCraft: Broodwar 
, is now a fairly common path that many players walk once their career ends. But only a handful have taken his next step of entrepreneurship; building a gaming brand in an industry where every venture has an added level of risk.
After completing his military service, as is mandatory in South Korea, the former StarCraft pro founded STILL8 (then known as Kongdoo Company) in 2014. The company now employs almost 90 people across offices in South Korea and China, including roughly 45 players, and has raised ₩21.1B KRW ($21M USD) in funding to date from investors including Kakao Ventures, Partners Investments, STIC Investments, and TS Investment.
“As an endemic esports company, STILL8 focused on two things; monetization of the esports industry and globalization of Korean esports.”
“All my business skills were learned after starting this company,” Seo told The Esports Observer. “Kongdoo Company was based on the idea of hiring retired professional gamers, like myself, and giving them a chance to advance their careers. That was the start of STILL8 and we have had many trials and successes over the last five years to become who we are now.”
One of STILL8’s strongest assets today is Team Griffin, a League of Legends outfit that has performed well on its native soil, acquired shortly after qualifying for South Korea’s top league in 2018. But as a pure esports company, STILL8 stands apart from several of the other team owners in the League of Legends Champions Korea (LCK). Many rosters are still run as marketing endeavors, either by telecommunications giants like SK Telecom and KT, or through other industries, like insurance provider Hanwha Life.
“For STILL8, it was both a challenge and an opportunity,” said Seo. “As an endemic esports company, STILL8 focused on two things; monetization of the esports industry and globalization of Korean esports.” Seo believes that there is great investment potential in Korean esports, and many teams in the region have the global market as their main objective—and not just as a source of sponsorships.
The allure of South Korean esports lies not only in its competitive accolades, but a cultural significance that other regions are only now experiencing. However, the avenues for Korean esports brands to gain global recognition remains slim. There are English language broadcasts of the LCK, even if just for Western fans willing to wake up early enough, and Korean stars have only recently started building profiles up on foreign social media sites.
Credit: STILL8
“For example, several LCK teams are working with us to raise their global profile by live streaming via Douyu TV,” said Seo, referring to one of China’s largest live video platforms. “Producing various localized content, winning international competitions, are all efforts to increase the value of the team in the global market.”
Ever since StarCraft: Brood War first took over Korea’s PC Bangs (LAN gaming cafes) in the early 2000s, the country has been at the forefront of esports development; playing host to the very first World Cyber Games in Seoul in 2000, and bringing pro gaming to TV through channels such as OnGameNet (known today as OGN
