Buzz
The League of Legends community also agrees with the CEO Gen.G's assessment of Faker.
Since Faker rose to fame in the League of Legends (LoL) scene, the influence and reputation of the Mid Lane superstar from T1 have spread worldwide. No longer confined to just one Esports discipline, but encompassing the entire Electronic Sports community, even reaching into other fields to some extent. The number of his fans, even those outside the gaming circle, is not insignificant. Even in regions like LPL, the community here must acknowledge Faker as the most influential figure.
However, Faker's influence becomes even more apparent in his absence. As previously mentioned, according to statistics from the Esports Chart website, the total views of matches in the LCK have drastically declined. The match with the highest viewership at the time Faker took a break was T1 versus DRX with over 392k views. The fact that this number hasn't exceeded the 400k mark is truly alarming, especially for a prestigious tournament like the LCK.
According to CEO Gen.G, Arnold Hur, who stated during a talk show at that time, he emphasized Faker's importance when discussing Gen.G's situation. According to the CEO, Faker's absence from competition has caused financial difficulties for Gen.G. Many viewers predicted that this could be related to the sharp decrease in views due to matches without Faker and continuous losses by T1. In addition, viewers also pointed out that when Faker and T1 win, streamers also benefit. For example, Wolf's channel (former Support for SKT T1) increased from 10 - 15k views normally to 30 - 50k views when T1 played and won. At its peak, it could even reach over 100k viewers.
Of course, when CEO Gen.G has affirmed that his team is affected by Faker's absence, it is likely that other teams in the LCK will also struggle with a similar situation. Turning to the LPL, not long ago, the organizers of the ASIAD also hoped for Faker's speedy recovery from injury and participation in ASIAD. The purpose is nothing other than Faker's allure and reputation, which will be a crucial factor directly influencing the attraction of this year's ASIAD.
It's hard to imagine how LCK will fare when Faker officially retires. And on a broader scale, the entire LoL community may also falter once their legend formally steps away from the professional stage. This becomes even more apparent in recent times, especially after people have gained the fullest insight into the LCK, both before and after Faker's injury.
