Esports superstar Lee "Faker" Sang-hyeok of League of Legends team T1 and his teammates for League of Legends T1 play an event match with fans using Samsung Electronics' Odyssey gaming monitors in Chengdu, China, Sunday. Courtesy of Samsung Electronics

Samsung Electronics is trying to expand its presence in the high-priced gaming monitor market by collaborating with esports superstar Lee "Faker" Sang-hyeok, and its gaming monitor brand Odyssey in China, the company said Monday.

On Sunday, players from the popular esports game League of Legends team T1 and fans had an event match using Samsung's Odyssey gaming monitors in Chengdu, China.

T1 is one of the world's most popular esports teams, having won the League of Legends World Championship held in Korea in 2023.

With last year's win, the team became the first to win the championship four times, with Faker playing a key role.

Lee and his teams are currently in the Chinese city for the 2024 Mid-Season Invitational, a mid-season world championship tournament for the game.

"The event was attended by a total of 150 people, including T1, local game influencers, media and Odyssey fans," Samsung said. "It featured a Q&A session with T1 and an event match with Odyssey fans, as well as an opportunity to experience the Odyssey gaming monitors firsthand."

After the event, Lee said, "This event with Chinese Odyssey fans was a very meaningful opportunity. I am very glad to have experienced the top-performance Samsung gaming monitor Odyssey's new product firsthand."

Members of League of Legends team T1 play in an event match with fans using Samsung Electronics' Odyssey gaming monitors in Chengdu, China, Sunday. Courtesy of Samsung Electronics

Samsung has had a partnership with the esports superstar Faker since 2020 as the company has been providing gaming monitors to Lee and the T1 players through an official partnership.

Gaming monitors are specialized for video games with a refresh rate of 100 hertz (Hz) or higher. A high refresh rate decreases signal latency and enables users to enjoy a smoother gaming experience.

The market is currently experiencing significant growth as the gaming monitor market size was $9.8 billion last year and is expected to grow to $18.40 billion by 2033, according to Future Market Insights.

Samsung and other monitor market players are looking to increase their market share in the rapidly growing high-priced gaming monitor market, particularly among the broad consumer base in China.

"Samsung's Chinese branch recently launched the new 2024 model gaming monitor Odyssey G50D with a high refresh rate of 180 Hz and a 1-millisecond response time, targeting the Chinese gaming market," Samsung said.

Lee also serves as a promotional model for other Samsung products, leveraging his superstar image in the esports scene, which is a culmination of information technology.

In March, Samsung released the S24 Hours MOVIE SERIES, a series of short films themed around the AI features of the company's latest smartphone, Galaxy S24.

Lee made a cameo appearance in one of the four short films starring actress Go Min-si.