Video games in Taiwan

Video games in Taiwan are a major part of the country’s entertainment and technology industries, with both locally developed and imported titles enjoying popularity. Cooperative and competitive video games are widely played in Taiwan, particularly in Internet cafés, at home, and on mobile devices. Taiwan has also become known for its vibrant esports scene, with tournaments drawing large audiences and significant sponsorships. For example, a Taiwanese gamer – named Chen Yin-hung – won the Apex Legends championship at 2025’s Esports World Cup held in Saudi Arabia, earning the championship and the tournament’s most valuable player title, becoming the first Taiwanese player to achieve both distinctions. Locally developed titles—including massively multiplayer online games (MMORPGs), mobile games, and Indie games—have achieved regional success, while Taiwanese hardware manufacturers such as Asus, Acer Inc, and Gigabyte Technology play a global role in gaming hardware and peripherals.

Taiwan’s video game industry is part of the broader digital content and creative industries that have been promoted by the government since the 2010s. In 2022, with an estimated total of 17.1 million gamers, the value of Taiwan’s digital gaming market exceeded US$2.2 billion, with mobile gaming accounting for the largest share of 63.8%. According to the Taiwan's Ministry of Culture, the nation is both a significant consumer and a producer of online and mobile games, with a growing number of developers and art studios contributing to international projects.

In the early 1980s, video games reached Taiwan primarily through imported Japanese consoles such as the Nintendo Famicom and Sega Master System, which were often re‑branded and distributed by Taiwanese electronics companies. Arcade centers (電玩店) also flourished in major cities like Taipei and Kaohsiung, with cabinets sourced from Japan and the United States. Popular titles included Donkey Kong and Street Fighter II. However, concerns about juvenile delinquency and the presence of unlicensed gambling machines led to periodic police crackdowns in the 1980s. In March 1982, the Executive Yuan banned arcade games for five years, significantly influencing Taiwan’s flourishing electronics industry. At the time, arcade game consoles were the anchor of the nation’s electronics contract manufacturers, where at a certain point, they accounted for as much as 80% of Taiwan's total information industry exports.

During this era, home computing began to rise. Taiwanese companies such as Acer Inc. and MiTAC distributed MSX‑compatible computers, which allowed local hobbyists to program simple games. Nevertheless, most games available were still foreign imports, often sold without localization. The lack of a formal intellectual property framework also meant that unofficial "pirated" cartridges and disks were widespread. Despite this, these early years cultivated Taiwan’s first generation of programmers and hobbyist developers who would later work in the domestic games industry. Two companies stood out — Jingxun Information and Software World (later known as Soft-World) — because they not only sold pirated games but also published gaming magazines, which were a key source of information in that era. Pirated games were even sold bundled with manuals, and these two companies became rivals. Software World gained an edge with its “Three Dollar Plan” (one dollar for production, one for royalties, one for profit) and its own promotional magazines. By the late ’80s, competitors like Jingxun realized they needed to change. They began seeking more licensing opportunities and even considered producing their own games—opening a new path.

The 1990s marked a golden age for Taiwan's single‑player games. In 1988, Lee Yong-jin, a co‑founder of Jingxun, left to create Softstar Entertainment. He formed in‑house teams such as the DOMO Group, Crazy Group, and Angel Group, and quickly began releasing original titles like Destroy and Monopoly alongside the new magazine Software Star.

By the late 1990s, Taiwanese gamers embraced PC gaming, particularly titles localized into Traditional Chinese. Internet cafés proliferated in urban areas like Taipei, Taichung and Kaohsiung. International hits such as Diablo II and StarCraft became common social activities, while domestic studios such as Softstar Entertainment, known for the The Legend of Sword and Fairy (仙劍奇俠傳) series, built strong fanbases in the Sinophone world.

The early 2000s saw a major shift with the rapid rollout of broadband infrastructure. Taiwan's developers had to navigate a rapidly changing landscape. By 2001, Taiwan had one of the highest broadband penetration rates in Asia, which directly fueled the boom of Internet cafés. These cafés, often open 24 hours, became social hubs for students and young adults. Games such as StarCraft, Warcraft III, and Counter‑Strike dominated, and it was common to see groups renting adjacent PCs to play together late into the night. The rise of 2G and 3G networks, the advent of smartphones (2000) and the first iPhone (2007), and the explosion of Facebook users reshaped the industry. Physical magazines—once the heart of gaming news—were quickly outpaced by online media. Iconic magazines like Softstar’s Software Star closed in 2005.

Domestic game publishers began to emerge in this period as well as other Chinese-language RPGs, which achieved strong sales in Taiwan and other Sinophone regions. Taiwan also became a popular server hub for South Korean MMORPGs like Lineage and Ragnarok Online. Licensed Taiwanese servers offered localized interfaces, community events, and in-game festivals timed with Lunar New Year or Ghost Month traditions.