Esports team DRX seeks to broaden territory into digital entertainment

DRX CEO Yang Sun-il said during an interview in Seoul that the esports team is expanding into digital entertainment through intellectual property and its esports academy, particularly in Southeast Asia. DRX’s subsidiary Webs Creative has joined two Korean drama projects, while the company is building partnerships and training programs in Indonesia. DRX has remained profitable since 2024 and aims to double revenue and operating profit within three years.

The global esports market is projected to grow from $3.02 billion in 2025 to $7.71 billion in 2030, representing average annual growth of about 20 percent.

Webs Creative will participate in The First Seventeenth as an outsourced production company, while it invested in the IP of White Scandal, which stars Song Kang and will be distributed through MBC and Disney+.

DRX’s partnership with PT Nuon Digital Indonesia covers live entertainment, game publishing and talent development, including a pathway linking DRX Academy training with camps in Korea.

DRX operates professional teams across 11 game titles and runs a licensed Seoul esports academy with around 250 students each month.

DRX recorded 34.23 billion won in revenue in 2025, down 2.67 percent from a year earlier, while operating profit rose 162 percent to 250.35 million won.

Published Oct 11, 2026 7:00 am KST

IP-based content business, esports academy set as pillars of growth

Audiences watch a League of Legends Champions Korea match between Kiwoom DRX and Hanwha Life Esports at Vietnam Exhibition Center in Hanoi VEC, May 10. Courtesy of DRX

The esports industry continues to expand, drawing large audiences across game titles and appealing to an increasingly diverse range of people. The Business Research Company expects the global market to grow at an average annual rate of about 20 percent, from $3.02 billion in 2025 to $7.71 billion in 2030.

However, few esports team operators have managed to turn that popularity into profits, as player salaries continue to rise while revenues from competition, such as prize money and league revenue sharing, remain volatile.

DRX has remained profitable since 2024, helped by a diversified portfolio across multiple esports titles and a stable revenue base built through its advertising agency subsidiary.

During an interview with The Korea Times, CEO Yang “Can” Sun-il said he is seeking to transform DRX into a broader digital entertainment company, expanding beyond esports through intellectual property (IP) and its esports academy, particularly in Southeast Asia.

“K-culture has certainly become much more sophisticated and valuable than it was 10 years ago,” Yang said. “If you go to countries such as Vietnam, Malaysia or Indonesia, you can see many Korean commercial products already deeply embedded in the market. The value of K-culture has grown to a point where we no longer need to approach esports and content separately.”

DRX CEO Yang "Can" Sun-il speaks during an interview with The Korea Times at DRX headquarters in Mapo District, Seoul, Sept. 17. Korea Times photo by Nam Hyun-woo

As part of those efforts, DRX’s wholly owned subsidiary Webs Creative has recently joined two Korean drama projects — “The First Seventeenth” and “White Scandal.”

Webs Creative will participate in “The First Seventeenth” as an outsourced production company. The drama’s script was selected through a tvN contest and is scheduled to air on the network next year. For “White Scandal,” starring Song Kang, the company has gone a step further by investing in the drama’s IP, with distribution secured through MBC and Disney+.

“We are still at an early stage, but our ultimate goal is to participate in coproductions or secure IPs, develop them further into various formats and sell the resulting content to broadcasters while retaining a stake in the IP’s future expansion,” Yang said. “Korean drama IPs has already performed very well in Southeast Asia, so we believe it can become a strong growth driver for us.”

DRX has already been testing its Southeast Asian strategy through esports. It held a League of Legends (LoL) tryout in Vietnam in 2023 and brought two players to Korea. One of them, Tran “LazyFeel” Bao Minh, became the first foreign player to debut in the League of Legends Champions Korea (LCK) last year and was invited to a state dinner for the leaders of Korea and Vietnam in August 2025.

In May, DRX held two LCK regular-season matches in Vietnam with approval from Riot Games, selling out all 10,000 seats.

DRX has identified Indonesia as its next key market. On Aug. 26, it signed a strategic partnership with PT Nuon Digital Indonesia, a subsidiary of Indonesia’s largest telecommunications company Telkom Group, covering live entertainment, game publishing and talent development.

The partnership includes plans to combine DRX Academy’s training programs with training camps in Korea to create a pathway for promising Indonesian players to enter the region’s professional esports scene.

The academy is another business Yang hopes to develop into a stable source of revenue. DRX currently operates a licensed esports academy in Seoul with around 250 students each month, which Yang said ranks second in Korea’s esports academy market by enrollment.

“Just as taekwondo is taught around the world through a Korean training system, we can take our know-how directly to local markets or scale and standardize it through joint ventures with local partners,” Yang said. “If we establish teams in Southeast Asia and demonstrate that our system works better, the next step will be to bring our academy there as well.”

Kiwoom DRX's Tekken 8 player Bae “Knee” Jae-min competes in the esports fighting games event at the Asian Games at Aichi Sky Expo in Japan, Sept. 26. Yonhap

DRX plans to leverage its experience operating professional teams across 11 game titles, the largest portfolio among Korean esports team operators. Its roster spans League of Legends and Valorant as well as Tekken, Street Fighter and eFootball. Kiwoom DRX’s Tekken 8 player Bae “Knee” Jae-min won gold as part of Korea’s team in the esports fighting games event at the Asian Games last month.

DRX Chief Investment Officer Lee Jae-young said esports titles tend to have relatively short life cycles, requiring a strategic approach to investment. He said DRX’s ability to identify titles with growth potential and its experience across multiple games will be an asset as it expands.

Though Yang and Lee declined to comment, rumors allege that DRX is preparing for a listing in Singapore. Some market observers have raised concerns because esports companies that went public during the COVID-19 pandemic had poor track records. Yang said that if DRX were to go public, it would be a different case because the company is already profitable and has stable sources of revenue.

DRX posted 34.23 billion won ($25.56 million) in revenue in 2025, down 2.67 percent from a year earlier. Operating profit grew 162 percent to 250. 35 million won. It seeks to double both revenue and operating profit within three years.

DRX首席执行官杨善日（Yang Sun-il）在首尔接受采访时表示，这家电竞战队正通过知识产权和旗下电竞学院拓展数字娱乐业务，尤其是在东南亚地区。DRX的子公司Webs Creative已参与两部韩国电视剧的制作，同时该公司也在印尼建立合作关系并开展培训项目。DRX自2024年以来一直保持盈利，并计划在三年内实现营收和营业利润翻番。

全球电子竞技市场预计将从 2025 年的 30.2 亿美元增长到 2030 年的 77.1 亿美元，平均年增长率约为 20%。

Webs Creative 将作为外包制作公司参与《第一个十七岁》，同时投资了宋康主演的《白色绯闻》的 IP，该剧将通过 MBC 和 Disney+ 发行。

DRX 与 PT Nuon Digital Indonesia 的合作涵盖现场娱乐、游戏发行和人才培养，包括将 DRX Academy 培训与韩国训练营联系起来的途径。

DRX 旗下拥有 11 个游戏项目的职业战队，并在首尔运营着一家获得许可的电子竞技学院，每月招收约 250 名学生。

DRX 2025 年营收为 342.3 亿韩元，比上年下降 2.67%，而营业利润增长 162% 至 2.5035 亿韩元。

发布于2026年10月11日 上午7:00（韩国标准时间）

基于IP的内容业务和电子竞技学院将成为增长的支柱

5月10日，观众在河内越南展览中心（VEC）观看Kiwoom DRX与韩华生命电竞（Hanwha Life Esports）之间的英雄联盟韩国冠军联赛（LCK）比赛。图片由DRX提供。

电子竞技产业持续扩张，吸引了众多游戏玩家，并吸引了越来越多不同类型的受众。商业研究公司预计，全球电子竞技市场将以约20%的年均增长率增长，从2025年的30.2亿美元增长到2030年的77.1亿美元。

然而，很少有电竞战队运营者能够将这种受欢迎程度转化为利润，因为选手薪资持续上涨，而比赛收入（如奖金和联赛收入分成）仍然不稳定。

自 2024 年以来，DRX 一直保持盈利，这得益于其在多个电子竞技项目上的多元化投资组合，以及通过其广告代理子公司建立的稳定收入基础。

在接受《韩国时报》采访时，首席执行官杨“Can”善日表示，他正寻求将 DRX 转型为一家更广泛的数字娱乐公司，通过知识产权 (IP) 和其电子竞技学院，尤其是在东南亚地区，将业务拓展到电子竞技以外的领域。

杨表示：“韩流文化如今的成熟度和价值远超十年前。如果你去越南、马来西亚或印尼等国家，你会发现许多韩国商业产品已经深深扎根于当地市场。韩流文化的价值已经发展到我们不再需要将电竞和内容创作分开看待的地步。”

9月17日，DRX首席执行官杨善日（音译，Yang “Can” Sun-il）在首尔麻浦区DRX总部接受《韩国时报》采访。照片由《韩国时报》南贤宇（Nam Hyun-woo）拍摄。

作为这些努力的一部分，DRX 的全资子公司 Webs Creative 最近加入了两个韩国电视剧项目——《第一个十七岁》和《白色绯闻》。

Webs Creative将以外包制作公司的身份参与电视剧《第一个十七岁》的制作。该剧剧本是通过tvN电视台举办的比赛选出的，预计将于明年在该电视台播出。对于由宋康主演的电视剧《白色绯闻》，该公司更进一步，投资了该剧的IP，并已与MBC和Disney+达成发行协议。

杨表示：“我们目前仍处于早期阶段，但我们的最终目标是参与联合制作或获取IP，将其进一步开发成各种形式，并将最终内容出售给电视台，同时保留IP未来发展的部分权益。韩剧IP在东南亚已经取得了非常好的表现，因此我们相信它能够成为我们强劲的增长动力。”

DRX 已通过电子竞技测试其东南亚战略。2023 年，该公司在越南举办了一场《英雄联盟》（LoL）选拔赛，并带了两名选手前往韩国。其中一位选手 Tran “LazyFeel” Bao Minh 于去年成为首位在《英雄联盟》韩国冠军联赛（LCK）亮相的外籍选手，并于 2025 年 8 月受邀参加了韩国和越南领导人的国宴。

5 月，DRX 在 Riot Games 的批准下，在越南举办了两场 LCK 常规赛，10000 个座位全部售罄。

DRX已将印尼确定为下一个重点市场。8月26日，该公司与印尼最大的电信公司Telkom集团旗下子公司PT Nuon Digital Indonesia签署了战略合作协议，合作内容涵盖现场娱乐、游戏发行和人才培养。

该合作计划将 DRX Academy 的训练项目与韩国的训练营相结合，为有潜力的印尼选手进入该地区的职业电子竞技领域创造一条途径。

杨希望将这所学院发展成为另一项稳定的收入来源。DRX目前在首尔运营着一家获得许可的电竞学院，每月招收约250名学生。杨表示，按招生人数计算，该学院在韩国电竞学院市场排名第二。

杨表示：“就像跆拳道通过韩国的训练体系在世界各地传播一样，我们可以将我们的专业知识直接带到当地市场，或者通过与当地合作伙伴成立合资企业来扩大规模并实现标准化。如果我们能在东南亚建立团队并证明我们的体系更有效，下一步就是将我们的学院也带到那里。”

9月26日，Kiwoom DRX战队的《铁拳8》选手裴“Knee”宰民在日本爱知天空博览会举行的亚运会电子竞技格斗游戏比赛中亮相。（韩联社）

DRX计划充分利用其在11个游戏项目上运营职业战队的丰富经验，这是韩国电竞战队中涵盖游戏项目最多的。其阵容涵盖《英雄联盟》、《Valorant》、《铁拳》、《街头霸王》和《eFootball》等项目。Kiwoom DRX战队的《铁拳8》选手裴“Knee”宰民上个月代表韩国队在亚运会电子竞技格斗游戏项目中夺得金牌。

DRX首席投资官李在英表示，电竞游戏的生命周期通常较短，因此需要采取战略性投资策略。他指出，DRX识别具有增长潜力的游戏的能力以及其在多个游戏领域的经验，将成为公司扩张的宝贵资产。

尽管杨和李拒绝置评，但有传言称DRX正准备在新加坡上市。一些市场观察人士对此表示担忧，因为在新冠疫情期间上市的电竞公司业绩普遍不佳。杨表示，如果DRX上市，情况将有所不同，因为该公司目前已经盈利，并且拥有稳定的收入来源。

DRX 2025 年营收预计为 342.3 亿韩元（约合 2556 万美元），较上年下降 2.67%。营业利润增长 162% 至 2.5035 亿韩元。该公司计划在三年内实现营收和营业利润双倍增长。