Asia's largest esports carnival, WirForce, grandly kicked off on the 23rd with the theme "Virtual Frontier," built around the highly anticipated topic of AI. Delving into the subtle intersection between the real and virtual worlds, the event features nearly 30 renowned domestic and international companies. It combines the iconic BYOC (Bring Your Own Computer) area and, for the first time, an international performer—Yoko Takahashi, singer of the theme song for "Neon Genesis Evangelion"—who took the stage for the opening act. This launches a series of spectacular concerts and stage events, creating the biggest entertainment extravaganza of the year! 4Gamers CEO Howie Huang predicts that this year's on-site attendance will surpass 250,000 people and shared his views on Taiwan's advantages in the global digital entertainment market. Through the powerful influence of WirForce, Taiwan is poised to continue its ascent to the pinnacle of the global esports stage!
4Gamers CEO Howie Huang Analyzes Three Key Advantages with a Focus on Asia, Injecting Vitality into Taiwan's Esports Industry Through WirForce
According to market forecasts from Statista, the global gaming market revenue is projected to be $187.7 billion in 2023, with an expected annual growth rate of 2.6% from 2023 to 2025. Data from App Annie reveals that the spending power of Taiwanese players is astonishing, with revenue per player ranking 6th globally. 4Gamers CEO Howie Huang stated, "Taiwan is a crucial hub for content distribution from Northeast Asia to Southeast Asia, holding a significant position in the overall digital entertainment market. The Taiwanese market has three main advantages: hardware, talent, and a strategic market position. Additionally, Taiwan's high degree of cultural integration means players are very receptive to games of various styles, which is why many gaming companies use Taiwan as a market for trial runs and testing, establishing its important status in Asia and globally."
Recognizing the immense potential of Taiwan's gaming market, Huang has been organizing WirForce since 2014. Starting in 2015, he even sent the WirForce organizing team to the birthplace of LAN parties—DreamHack in Sweden—for a four-day, three-night observation trip. The goal was to bring a new entertainment benchmark to the Taiwanese market. Now, nearly a decade later, WirForce continues to break new ground with an increasingly ambitious vision, setting its sights on the entire Asian market and committed to creating the largest esports entertainment event in all of Asia. This year, for the first time, an overseas performer was invited to grace the event: Japanese superstar Yoko Takahashi, the singer of the "Neon Genesis Evangelion" theme song. Beyond providing players with an exciting entertainment experience, the hope is that WirForce will allow Asia, and even the world, to see Taiwan, continuously moving onto the international stage and promoting the growth of Taiwan's esports market. Chen Chun-An, Commissioner of the Taipei City Department of Economic Development and CEO of the Taipei Expo Foundation, also mentioned in his speech that he is very optimistic about WirForce's tenth-anniversary development and looks forward to everyone's collective efforts to contribute to Taiwan's esports industry.
Yoko Takahashi, singer of the "Neon Genesis Evangelion" theme song, makes a surprise appearance at WirForce
WirForce Demonstrates Its Influence in the Esports Entertainment Market! Collaborating with Domestic and International Companies to Create a "Consumer Esports" Environment
Since the International Olympic Committee recognized "esports" as a "sporting activity" in 2017, the esports industry has reached a new peak. Today, the market scale is quite substantial. According to a data report from market research firm Newzoo, global revenue for the esports industry in 2022 will exceed $1 billion, reaching $1.384 billion (approximately NT$37.36 billion), and it is estimated that the total revenue of the global esports market will reach $1.86 billion by 2025. Gen Z players already account for 30% of all gamers, totaling nearly 3 billion people. This group of players uses "personalized products" to express their individual style. 4Gamers CEO Howie Huang emphasizes, "Video games and esports are different. Video games are the gaming industry; esports is the entertainment industry." WirForce, as the year's biggest entertainment event, hopes to bring a new wave of energy to the Taiwanese market. Observing that post-pandemic players are paying more attention to hardware competition and constantly upgrading their own equipment, WirForce has championed the slogan of upgrading and extending "Consumer Esports." This year, the number of BYOC seats increased from 800 last year to 1,090, and achieved impressive results, selling out in just 10 minutes after tickets went on sale!
Furthermore, WirForce serves as a platform for interaction between players and companies, gathering esports energy from all over and collaborating with numerous renowned domestic and international companies to jointly create a "Consumer Esports" environment. They actively participate in the equipment upgrade race and continuously expand upon the foundation of esports. The variety of participating vendors has become more diverse, with the hope of showcasing the powerful influence of the esports entertainment market through various cross-industry collaborations. The goal is to drive the growth of Taiwan's esports industry through its own strength!
WirForce 2023 Makes a Grand Debut! Breaking Traditional Boundaries with an AI-Powered Theme: "Virtual Frontier"
In the post-pandemic era, AI has become the most watched topic, profoundly impacting various industries. WirForce has recognized this trend this year, creating "Virtual Frontier" with AI as its central theme, symbolizing that when the density of digital information reaches a certain point, the boundary between the virtual and the real begins to blur, and may even merge into one. Therefore, this year's theme transitions from "World Reboot" to "Virtual Frontier," exploring two major topics. First, 4Gamers CEO Howie Huang believes that esports has transformed from the entertainment sector into a powerful force that spans multiple industries. The inseparable interaction among players, equipment, and entertainment creates an innovation circle unique to digital entertainment, influencing technology, culture, and even the education industry.
The second topic is the rise of AI, including the rapidly growing phenomenon of VTubers. YouTube officially stated last December that viewership for VTuber channels experienced rapid growth in 2020, reaching a milestone of over 1.5 billion monthly views for the first time in October. Therefore, WirForce 2023 has specially created the V-Live Fantasia program, inviting over 50 VTubers to perform in rotation, creating the year's biggest entertainment event through a variety of spectacular performances and interactive segments. 4Gamers CEO Howie Huang further pointed out, "The predicted on-site attendance is expected to grow to 250,000 people." Before the opening, large crowds were already lining up at the entrance of the Taipei Expo Park's Expo Dome, marking the largest scale since the event's inception and showcasing WirForce's formidable strength in esports! The hope is to push esports into a more futuristic realm by breaking traditional boundaries, creating a fusion of the virtual and real, and connecting with different industries to expand esports across all fields.
