earticle

영어

Changes in the external environment such as COVID-19 and the development of digital technology have brought about many changes in the coexistence of humans and machines. In addition to AI(Artificial Intelligence), various technological changes such as VR(Virtual Reality), XR(eXtended Reality), and AR(Augmented Reality) are occurring. In particular, these changes can be easily found in the eSports industry, which is due to the specificity of eSports based on electronic devices. However, most of the existing studies focus on the concept of eSports and the processes of users and viewers, and there is a lack of research on eSports games themselves. This study aims to redefine the characteristics of eSports and suggest marketing directions for eSports, centering on the concepts of “Mechanical economy”, “Thinking economy”, and “Feeling economy” presented from a marketing perspective. Based on the concept of this study, the researcher analyzed the evolution of genre of eSports and eSports users from 2015 to 2022 provided by the Korea Creative Content Agency. The results of the study showed that the “Feeling” factor is increasingly important in eSports over time, and the trends that eSports users enjoy are also changing. Therefore, this study suggests the need for research on new marketing methods to empathize and engage eSports users as digital technology advances.