Lee “Life” Seung-Hyun was on his way to becoming one of the greats in the strategy game StarCraft II. However, in 2016 a major scandal rocked the Korean e-sports scene, ending the career of the promising player.
Which player is it about? Lee Seung-Hyun, better known by his gamer tag “Life”, began his e-sports career in 2011 in the strategy game StarCraft II at just 14 years old. At 17 he became world champion, but two years later his career was over.
The beginning of an impressive career
This is how it all began: In 2011, Life became the youngest South Korean professional player to join Team Zenex, where he proved himself to be a promising talent. He even achieved an All-Kill against the 5-man team of Liquid: He defeated all team members in a row.
After the casual Team Zenex was absorbed by StarTale in 2012, a “real team”, Life’s career really took off. The young professional celebrated his first major successes: In the fourth GSL season in October 2012, he won the tournament and took home $45,000 in prize money.
One and a half months later, Life was able to triumph over his teammate PartinG in the finals of the GSL Blizzard Cup and received another $63,000 all at once – a lot of money for the then 15-year-old.
17-year-old wins the world championship
How did Life’s career go from there? In 2013 the expansion “Heart of the Swarm” was released, bringing many changes to StarCraft II. This led to problems for Life, who could only slowly acclimatize to the new changes.
Only in mid-2014 did the player return to his former form and secure victory at the Dreamhack in Bucharest.
What was his greatest success? The highlight of his career was the BlizzCon 2014, where the world championship in StarCraft took place. Life was able to defeat Mun “MMA” Seong Won and at 17 years old was the best StarCraft player in the world.
Even after winning at BlizzCon, Life continued to do wonderfully. Until mid-2015, he achieved further successes and collected enough championship points to qualify for the world championship again. However, at BlizzCon 2015, he lost to Kim “sOs” Yoo Jin in the finals 3:4.
The bitter end
What went wrong? By the age of 19, Life was considered one of the greatest StarCraft players ever, having amassed nearly half a million US dollars in prize money. However, the young professional developed a gambling problem. It was rumored that he lost up to $20,000 in a single night.
When Life switched to KT Rolster in February 2015, it seems the support from his former manager Yun Hee-Won also fell away. He claimed he was aware of the player’s problems and tried to hold him back. The 19-year-old apparently continued to spiral downwards.
How did his career end? In 2015, a major fraud scandal shook Korean e-sports. It turned out that a whole gambling network had formed that operated through the manipulation of matches and the associated betting stakes.
Several players and officials were arrested. The colleagues from GameStar reported on the case at the time.
In January 2016, Life was also arrested by the Korean authorities on suspicion of having lost 2 matches in the KeSPA Cup 2015. Life allegedly received around 70,000 Korean won, which was about 60,000 euros at the time (via GameStar).
This was more than six times what he could have earned for a first place in the KeSPA Cup. With the knowledge of his gambling addiction, it is not hard to imagine why Life accepted the bribes.
Life receives a lifetime ban
How did the story end? In April 2016, Life was ultimately found guilty. He not only had to repay all the money that he had received for match-fixing, but he was also banned for life from all events of the Korea e-Sports Association (KeSPA).
In addition, the 19-year-old was reportedly sentenced to 18 months in prison, which he would only have to serve if he committed another crime in the following 3 years. However, the world championship title in 2014 was stripped from him (via Twitter).
What happened to Life afterwards? It is unknown what happened to the former star player after his conviction. He no longer appeared in public. Many fans still remember him as one of the best StarCraft players ever despite his transgressions.
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