Korea has climbed to the top again on the world's biggest esports stage. On the 9th at Dong'anhu Sports Park in Chengdu, China, the 2025 League of Legends (LOL) World Championship (Worlds) final unfolded as a "civil war between Korean teams" between T1 and kt Rolster. T1 won 3-2 in sets to achieve the tournament's first-ever three straight titles (three-peat) and its sixth overall championship. After DRX's win in 2022, T1 has finished on top for three straight years, cementing the standing of the LCK (Korea league), and Worlds has become "Korea's celebration."
In this tournament's semifinals, three LCK teams — Gen.G, kt Rolster, and T1 — advanced alongside top Esports (TES) from the LPL (China league), but TES lost 3-0 to T1 in the semifinals, dashing China's hopes of reaching the final. Until just a few years ago, the LPL was regarded as the world's strongest league for its aggressive play and massive investment, winning three times from 2018 to 2021. Invictus Gaming (IG), FunPlus Phoenix (FPX), and Edward Gaming (EDG) won in succession to end the LCK's five-year run. But since 2022, LPL teams have repeatedly ceded the title to LCK teams, showing a sharp drop in competitiveness. The industry points to structural changes in "systems" and the "market" as the background for this gap.
The biggest cause is the Chinese government's high-intensity game regulations. In Aug. 2021, the National Press and Publication Administration (NPPA) limited minors' access to online games to 8 p.m.–9 p.m. on Fridays, weekends, and public holidays, one hour per day. With real-name verification and even facial recognition introduced, it has become difficult to even borrow a parent's ID or practice in secret. Most esports pros begin in their early to mid-teens and grow by practicing close to 10 hours a day, but with a three-hours-per-week cap, there is no way to develop prospects. This measure effectively put major constraints on the LPL's youth system. According to market research firm Niko Partners, since the youth playtime limit was implemented, the number of gamers under 18 in China fell from about 122 million in 2020 to about 82.6 million in 2022, and the share of users who play games three hours or less per week topped half.
The youth playtime limit dealt a direct blow to the LPL's youth system. Choi Eun-kyung, a professor at Hanshin University's Graduate School of Esports Convergence, said, "Starting with youth gaming regulations, the overall league structure weakened and it had a negative impact on talent circulation," and added, "The trend is clear that Korean players and coaches who had been active in China are returning to the domestic league." She also said, "Korea has the foundation for players to keep growing thanks to a high-quality competitive environment, a solid fandom, and a well-structured franchise league," and "The higher the level of competition within the league, the more it creates a virtuous cycle that strengthens each player's skills."
Chinese teams had no choice but to rely on recruiting Korean players to bolster immediate strength, and many Korean players now occupy starting lineups on top LPL teams. The NPPA still controls minors' account access time in real time, and major game companies such as Tencent and NetEase, Inc. verify age with their own facial recognition systems. For PC games, facial recognition technology has not yet been fully introduced, but since enforcement toughened, administrative penalties are imposed for violations, making it difficult even for esports academies to secure official match accounts.
From 2021 to early 2022, the Chinese government halted new game approvals (ISBNs) for eight months, shrinking investment capacity across the game industry. The aftereffects still have not been fully resolved. As major game companies cut esports investment, the financial base of league operators and teams weakened, leading to a long-term decline in the LPL's competitiveness. Korea, by contrast, has achieved stable growth of its league ecosystem by completing a pyramid development structure from the 2nd team → Challengers → LCK since 2019.
The growth of the mobile game market also accelerated talent dispersion. Honor of Kings is called the "national game" in China and has significantly eaten into LoL usage on PC. As the scale of KPL, the game's pro league, expanded, a clear trend emerged of teenage prospects preferring the mobile league, which is easier to enter than the PC league.
This Worlds result meant more than just the games. Korea has risen to the very top of the world for four straight years, solidifying its status as the birthplace of esports, and the government also expressed its intent to support the industry. President Lee Jae-myung said on Facebook on the 10th, "I sincerely congratulate the T1 squad and everyone involved on achieving the first three straight titles in Worlds history," and "By shining the name of the Republic of Korea on the world stage, you once again proved the prowess of an esports powerhouse." He added, "We will actively support the development of cultural industries, including esports, so that players can freely pursue their dreams in the future."
Professor Choi said, "It is encouraging that Korea maintains the world's top tier of players in esports, but in the long run, tasks such as fostering domestically developed game titles and securing leadership over intellectual property (IP) also need to be pursued in parallel."