Games were the beginning for Nvidia. Korea is the country that gave birth to esports.
At about 2:40 p.m. on the 5th at the T1 Basecamp PC cafe in Mapo District, Seoul. Jensen Huang, Nvidia chief executive officer (CEO), appeared here, which is operated by T1, the esports club to which Faker Lee Sang-hyeok belongs, together with his eldest daughter, Madison Huang, Nvidia senior director.
When Huang entered, the PC cafe instantly buzzed. Users who had been enjoying games rose from their seats in unison and cheered, and applause broke out in places. Some users stood out as they pulled out their phones to start filming.
After a brief greeting, Huang immediately walked past reporters and began looking around the PC cafe. Fans repeatedly asked for selfies and autographs, and Huang stopped along the way to oblige.
After spending about 10 minutes with fans, Huang met the waiting T1 squad. In attendance were the T1 League of Legends (LoL) players, including Faker Lee Sang-hyeok, Doran Choi Hyun-jun, Oner Moon Hyun-joon, Peyz Kim Su-hwan, and Keria Ryu Min-seok.
After greeting the squad, Huang signed a GeForce RTX 5090 he had brought and then received Faker's autograph. The graphics card was given to a fan through an on-site drawing. Huang sparked laughter by saying, "It will be worth a million dollars," and, "I want to keep it."
The first destination on Huang's Korea visit schedule that day was none other than a PC cafe. The industry views this move as symbolic, showing how importantly Nvidia regards the domestic esports industry.
Korea is considered an indispensable market in Nvidia's growth. In the late 1990s, the PC cafe industry boomed domestically along with the "StarCraft" craze, and demand for gaming graphics cards surged. It is also well known that at the time Huang personally went around Yongsan Electronics Market to sell graphics cards.
Huang has repeatedly noted before that Korea's PC cafes had a major impact on growth. At the 25th anniversary event for the GeForce launch in Korea held at COEX in Seoul, he personally chanted "Faker" and said, "If there had been no PC games, PC cafes, and esports, there would be no Nvidia as it is today." He added, "The graphics processing unit (GPU) Nvidia invented, as well as G-Sync and Reflex, are all thanks to esports and thanks to Korea."
The share of gaming in Nvidia's business has shrunk significantly compared with the past. According to IT outlet The Information, the share of gaming GPUs in Nvidia's total revenue fell from 35% in 2022 to 8% from February to October last year. Although data center GPUs have taken the place of gaming GPUs as Nvidia's core business, Huang still expressed gratitude for Korea's esports culture.
After finishing the meeting with the T1 squad, Huang is scheduled to meet major domestic corporations at a samgyeopsal restaurant near Hongik Univ. Station that evening. Chey Tae-won, SK Group chairman, Koo Kwang-mo, LG Group chairman, and Lee Hae-jin, Naver chairman, are reportedly set to attend. They are expected to discuss cooperation centered on Robotics and physical AI.