The Gap in Taiwan’s Creative and Gaming Industries: From Leadership to Licensed Operations

More than ten years ago, when the VC community evaluated Taiwan’s gaming industry, local firms typically replied that Chinese games were low-quality and lacked culture. In less than ten years, most Taiwanese game businesses became licensed operators of Korean and Chinese games, while Chinese games have recently begun expanding overseas. Taiwan once had leading companies such as Softstar (大宇) and games such as 軒轅劍 (Xuan Yuan Jian) and 仙劍奇俠 (Xian Jian Qi Xia) that profoundly influenced Chinese-speaking audiences. Taiwan’s film, television, and music industries have also gradually lost their role in leading the Chinese-speaking world. Music may be what remains, but after Jay Chou, A-mei, Wang Leehom, Jolin Tsai, S.H.E, and Mayday, which Taiwanese singers or bands still have comparable influence? The gap over the past decade-plus is substantial. China’s huge market turns quantity into quality. Twenty years ago, which Taiwanese networking company considered Huawei a rival? It was seen as unreliable and limited to low-priced products. Yet 20 years later, even the United States is deeply wary of it. Personally, I think Taiwan’s limited resources and small population require us to understand world trends more actively and find our cultural strengths and distinctive qualities, rather than follow whatever others do well. Over the next 10–30 years, US–China conflict may actually bring Taiwan more opportunities. We must move faster and be ready to ride the next major wave. One more point: China’s government still favors centralized control, strongly influenced by its leader’s will and beliefs. Hu Jintao and Xi Jinping represent very different leadership. Recent crackdowns have spared virtually no sector—gaming, e-commerce such as Alibaba, internet businesses such as Didi and Ant, education, and livestreaming. Pandemic-driven supply-chain restructuring and Shanghai’s lockdown also affect foreign investors’ perceptions and future actions. New opportunities and room may therefore open for Taiwan.