#26 - Nick Plott

While some may believe Starcraft II to be “just a video game”, it is one of the most famous titles played competitively by professional gamers. “eSports”, as the discipline is called, is a fast growing, dynamic and profitable industry with full-time players who regularly compete for six-figure prize money.

Seoul has become a global hub for eSports, due to the presence of top-ranked players, a solid industry ecosystem, and large audiences eager to watch competitions live. eSports in Korea have become a cultural phenomenon in their own right: successful gamers have their own fan base and train like professional athletes, big companies are eager to sponsor teams and competitions, there are television channels devoted to live gaming and the government is actively promoting eSports abroad.

Our guest for this episode, Nick Plott, is at the very center of eSports in Korea. A former professional StarCraft gamer in the United States, Nick moved to Seoul to work for the Korean broadcasting company GOMTV and became the first Western StarCraft commentator in the country. He and his co-caster Dan Stemkoski, known in the industry under the nicknames Tasteless and Artosis, are now considered the most famous eSports commenting duo in the world and have become major celebrities in their own right.

Nick kindly agreed to talk to us about his work as a professional “caster”, the unique features of Korean video game culture and, of course, the rise of Seoul as a major hub for eSports worldwide.