Two TV shows, mobile games, Southeast Asian expansion anchor broader entertainment push Kiwoom DRX LoL players pose for a photo with Vietnamese fans in Hanoi on the sideliens of the first overseas LCK matches in May 2025. (DRX) DRX, the Korean esports organization behind the 2022 League of Legends World Championship run that popularized the phrase “unbreakable spirit,” is setting its sights beyond gaming.Korean shows backed by its subsidiary are set to debut in the fourth quarter, marking the first major step in DRX’s bid to become an entertainment group, said CEO Yang Sun-il.“The boundaries between content such as games, K-dramas and films have already collapsed,” Yang said in an interview with The Korea Herald at the company’s headquarters in Seoul on Wednesday."They are all ultimately part of the entertainment business. What differs is simply how they give people enjoyment.”Yang highlighted two examples: Blizzard turned World of Warcraft, one of the world's most successful massively multiplayer online role-playing games, or MMORPGs, into a theatrical feature film; Tencent and Smilegate produced a popular Chinese series based on the latter’s shooting game Crossfire, which was a megahit in China.According to the DRX CEO, both TV show projects run through Webs Creative. The local marketing agency founded in 2002 is now a DRX subsidiary and has spent two decades working in the entertainment industry. The agency operates as a production partner in the first project, while investing in the intellectual property of the second project to secure a stake in future decisions and returns.“Until now, Webs Creative’s revenue has largely come from marketing agency work,” Yang said without disclosing details about the dramas.“What we want is to move one layer higher in the ecosystem: from promoting other people’s content to participating directly in content creation and IP ownership.”The two shows represent the company’s first major test of that strategy. While DRX remains an esports organization whose value rests on tournament results and fandom, Webs Creative not only supplies various IP and marketing power, but also expands into the game publishing business.Based on Webs Creative’s experience distributing games for its subsidiary studio’s projects in the past, Yang said the firm has selected several mobile casual titles to begin service in the fourth quarter. Yang Sun-il, CEO of DRX (DRX) "What we are after is a complete entertainment package," he said. "Game publishing, K-drama-centered IP, and our own fandom business as an esports team. Grow each of those in Korea, then transplant the whole package to Southeast Asia."The Southeast Asian ambition is where the pieces are ultimately meant to lock together. DRX has already run its pilot in Vietnam, a key nation in the region. Three years ago, the organization recruited two Vietnamese LoL players. Tran Bao Minh, whose in-game moniker is LazyFeel, debuted in League of Legends Champions Korea, or LCK, last season as the first foreign national player to play in the LCK.The ripple effect has been tremendous. Vietnamese is now the second-most watched language for LCK broadcasts. The Vietnamese LCK player was even invited to a state banquet at Cheong Wa Dae when To Lam, general secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam, visited Seoul to meet President Lee Jae Myung in August 2025.“Imagine if LazyFeel builds a career that wins the LoL World Cup and becomes an MVP,” said Yang. “We could make a drama or a film based on his story.”In May this year, DRX staged the first overseas LCK matches in Hanoi. The three-day event drew about 28,000 gaming fans while livestreams of the matches broadcast via Vietnam’s largest IPTV platform TV360 reported some 30,000 concurrent viewers. Yang noted the outstanding viewing numbers, given that football matches usually log about 100,000 concurrent viewers as the country’s most popular source of entertainment."We had a vague idea that combining these things would work," Yang said. "It turned out it does."The demographics do the rest of the math, according to the DRX chief. Southeast Asia has a population of some 700 million, roughly 60 percent of whom are under the age of 35 and are more likely to consume entertainment content such as K-dramas and games.“If you visit a country like Vietnam now, Korean culture is practically everywhere,” he said. “Expanding into the (Southeast Asian) region isn’t a choice. It’s a necessity.”DRX was acquired by private equity fund ATU Partners for 6 billion won ($4.3 million) in 2019. According to DRX’s audit report, the esports organization logged 34.2 billion won in consolidated sales and 250 million won in operating profit last year.