Asia’s biggest LAN party returns after two-year hiatus
Asia’s largest esports event, WirForce, has made a big return on Thursday after a two-year hiatus due to the pandemic. With four days of non-stop events, organizers hope to attract over 200,000 visitors to the festival, which will feature bring-your-own-computer esports competitions and special offers on electronics. Let’s take a look at the scene.
With their eyes glued to the screen, gamers step on the gas and have a blast racing. Here, another racing game simulates driving a real car. Asia’s largest esports extravaganza, WirForce, is making a grand return after a two-year hiatus.
Gamers flocked to wait in line three or four hours early with their bags, lugging their own monitors, consoles, and even uninterruptible power sources to the bring-your-own-computer esports competitions.
BYOC esports competitor
We all brought the basic equipment from home. Players from northern and southern Taiwan can’t usually meet in person. At the BYOC event, we can finally get together!
BYOC e-sports competitor
I arrived here at 3:20 a.m. Right now, high-performance graphics cards, motherboards, and such are very expensive. So to be able to buy them cheaper here is fantastic.
Besides participating in various esports competitions, there are also those who attend for discounts on merchandise, as a graphics card can cost up to tens of thousands of new Taiwan dollars. This year, WirForce has come back with a bang, and participating industries have also changed to fit consumer habits.
Santiago Huang
Esports competition organizer
In the past, we may have been very much in hardware. But this year, we have increased the number of games, consumer goods, and even brands. We estimate that we will exceed our past record of 200,000 visitors, and may reach 230,000 to 250,000.
The organizers estimate that with an annual growth of 5%, the esports industry will be worth NT$16 billion in 2026, and will continue to gradually expand.
2022-11-03
