WarCraft 3 Player Snatches 3 Year £350,000 Deal

13 Mar 2009 at 14:19:24 by Gunnar Petzall

Once again we are reminded about just how big eSports and pro-gaming is in Korea.

22 year old Jae Ho 'Moon' Jang, a Korean WarCraft 3 professional gamer who was dismissed from the MyM team just over a week ago, was rumoured to have negotiated a contract with WeMade FOX,a Korean gaming organisation.The rumour was confirmed yesterday with Moon signing a 700 million Korean Won contract (£350,000 GBP, €390,000 EUR or $470,000 USD) over three years. There were thousands of people present during the signing, where he also was presented with his new uniform, the typical WeMade FOX colours: green, white and black.

This quite sizeable salary would make Moon the second highest paid pro-gamer in the world, following Yoon Yeol 'NaDa' Lee who signed a 750 million Korean Won contract in 2007. Further contracts were signed by WeMade FOX, around the 200 million Won mark, significantly lower than Moon's and NaDa's contracts.

Next to Moon, WeMade FOX also hosts one of the best Starcraft and Counter-Strike teams in the world and they are describing this player acquisition as a part of their global strategy. Players like Moon will bolster their competitiveness in the eSports scene.

In an interview (English translation by Readmore.eu) with Moon and his new manager, he says he's very happy with joining the team, but feels the pressure to perform well. He had received multiple offers from different organisations, but signed with WeMade FOX because they provided the "best contract and suitable environment for [him] as a progamer to progress." His new employer will among other things arrange lodgings and a permanent training ground, besides the activities and events the gaming company normally arranges.

Military service is mandatory in Korea, but his manager is not worried,as Moon is still in school, and other pro-gamers have returned to their gaming leagues after military service before. Worth noting is that the Korean military often take special care of famous pro-gamers, just like western militaries do with other sorts of celebrities, so the service will likely not be a problem for Moon. The only thing he's really worried about is a lack of similar-skilled Korean players for Moon to practice with.

His manager also commented on StarCraft 2, and its possible impact on Moon and gaming in general:

It has been estimated to be released this year, Moon iscurrently Warcraft’s most successful progamer, we won’t be so silly asto import Warcraft players to the team to play Starcraft. If we were toexpand, say a Starcraft division, we will groom 2 progamers on our own.If it comes to that time, Moon himself wants to change to Starcraft 2,we will have to look at how Korea’s response to Starcraft is in orderto make further judgment on this matter.

Interesting how they expect StarCraft 2 in 2009. Of course, we do as well, and there have been numerous signs pointing to a 2009 release, but the pro-gamers must surely have an upper hand in knowning these things?

You can catch all the images from the signing press event over at WeMade FOX official gallery.

Source Fomos.kr

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