Across the street, the large glass windows provide a clear view of the department store building. Inside, the space is decorated with white stone and brightly lit by more than 100 lights, creating a welcoming atmosphere. People sit at their tables, eating instant noodles or drinking beverages, with the faint smell of noodles in the air. At first glance, it looks like one of the increasingly popular unmanned instant noodle shops or cafes. However, this is actually a PC café operated by Nongshim, called RedForce PC Arena.
RedForce PC Arena is a PC café franchise run by Nongshim’s subsidiary, Nongshim Esports. The name comes from Nongshim Esports’ professional League of Legends team, Nongshim RedForce (NS RedForce). Nongshim Esports was established in 2020 when Nongshim invested 13.5 billion won to acquire Team Dynamics, a professional League of Legends team, as part of its strategy to market instant noodles and snacks to younger generations. Nongshim owns a 90.3% stake in this subsidiary, which recorded 2 billion won in revenue and 2 billion won in operating losses last year.
When ChosunBiz visited the Bucheon City Hall branch of RedForce PC Arena on June 3, even on a weekday afternoon, more than 30 seats were occupied. Lee Dong-woong, a manager at Nongshim Esports, stated, “Considering that PC cafés operate 24/7, an average utilization rate of 30 to 40 percent is considered high. Most of our branches maintain this level of utilization. In the evenings or on weekends, many customers have to leave without finding a seat.”
Lee pointed to the ‘Nongshim signature menu’ as a key factor for this high utilization rate. Since RedForce PC Arena is operated by Nongshim, they exclusively offer Nongshim snacks and instant noodles. But Nongshim Esports took a further step and created unique recipes based on popular Nongshim products like Shin Ramyun and Chapagetti.
The menus are named after NS RedForce players’ nicknames. The best-selling items, “Sylvie’s Shinpagetti” and “Peter Pan The Gomtang,” are named after players Lee Seung-bok (Sylvie) and Jeong Yoon-su (Peter), respectively. Sylvie’s Shinpagetti combines Shin Ramyun and Chapagetti, while Peter Pan The Gomtang features Sari Gomtang with beef brisket. Lee mentioned that the menus are developed in collaboration with various external distributors and focus on creating delicious dishes from popular staple products as well as lesser-known items. New menu items are tested at direct-operated stores before being rolled out to all locations.
Lee also highlighted the interior design and PC performance as other strengths of RedForce PC Arena. Though it is a PC café, it also serves as a promotional space for Nongshim’s brand. At the Bucheon City Hall branch, Nongshim products are displayed like a museum, and monitors and large LED pillars throughout the space continuously play Nongshim advertisements. Lee explained, “We aim to maintain a bright and pleasant interior that doesn’t harm the brand image, and we invest significantly in PC performance.”
Leveraging these advantages, RedForce PC Arena is rapidly expanding. After opening its first store early last year, it has grown to 30 locations within a year, with plans to reach 60 by the end of this year and 100 by the first half of 2025. Nongshim intends to use RedForce PC Arena not just as a sales outlet but as a platform to enhance consumer brand experience, similar to a pop-up store. On weekdays, an average of 11,000 people visit RedForce PC Arena locations nationwide, with the number rising to 50,000 on weekends. Most visitors are young men in their 20s and 30s, and Nongshim plans to engage in various marketing activities to secure future customers. Mid-June will see the opening of another branch in Eunpyeong-gu, Seoul, themed around Welch’s, tentatively named RedForce PC Arena Welch’s.
