Taiwan taps Asian growth in e-games with opening of dedicated venue, launch of HK$2m international tournament
Eight teams, including one from Hong Kong, compete in inaugural event at eStadium in Taipei, launched to capitalise on rising ranks of pro gamers beyond e-sports’ big three of China, South Korea and the US
When it comes to recognising and understanding the industry of competitive video gaming – and the investors pouring money into it – government officials in Beijing are way ahead of their counterparts in Hong Kong and Taiwan. After all, China’s General Administration of Sports declared competitive gaming an official sport back in 2003. Today China is a power, along with South Korea and the United States, in the industry now widely known as e-sports.
Now Taiwan is poised to join the fray; US video-game publishing giant Blizzard launched its first “eStadium” in Taipei this month, dedicated to hosting live video game tournaments up to six days a week.
Near the Taipei 101 tower, the eStadium is hosting as its first event the Overwatch Pacific Championship, a 13-week tournament that sees eight teams from Hong Kong, Japan, Australia, Thailand and Taiwan compete for a combined prize pool of NT$8.3 million (HK$2.1 million, US$273,000).
Eddy Meng, managing director of Blizzard’s operations in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau, says the venue was built to provide a platform for Blizzard’s games – which are among the most popular eSports titles, and include Overwatch and World of Warcraft – and to help grow e-sports on the island.
“Taiwan has a good foundation for developing e-sports,” Meng says. “If you look at viewership numbers on [e-sports streaming platform] Twitch, Taiwan is always in the top three to five markets globally. There’s just a lot of interest here.”
Indeed, according to figures from Twitch, one-fifth of Taiwan’s population (about 4.5 million people) watches e-sports every month. If the stadium is successful, it should help convince the government that e-sports is a very real and lucrative industry.
