The recent triumph by a Taiwanese team at an international video-game tournament in Los Angeles was an example of cybergaming diplomacy, Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) said yesterday.
In defeating favored teams from Russia and South Korea, the title-winning Taipei Assassins demonstrated the determination and team spirit of Taiwan’s youth, Hau said before he presented the team’s members with trophies for their efforts.
Further praising the team’s performance, he described their victory in the League of Legends world championships in Los Angeles on Oct. 13 as “very successful gaming diplomacy.”
Riding the wave of cybergaming’s sudden popularity, Hau said he plans to turn Taipei into a digital-technology hub and that his administration has sought to attract more businesses from the cloud-computing and technology sectors.
Taipei City’s Department of Economic Development said that Taiwan has made development of the digital content industry a priority and that Taipei has great potential because of its strong infrastructure and the presence of a telecommunications cluster.
The city has also chosen seven pieces of land on which to build industrial parks for cloud-computing-related sectors, the department said in a statement.
The Taipei Assassins edged out all their local rivals in a competition in Taipei on July 15 to earn the right to represent Taiwan in the tournament in Los Angeles, where they ousted NaJin Sword of South Korea and Moscow 5 of Russia to make it to the final.
The Taipei-based team then defeated Azubu Frost of South Korea 3-1 in the grand final to win the US$1 million first prize.
Moscow 5 and Azubu Frost were ranked among the world’s top three teams prior to the tournament, while the Taipei Assasins, ranked in the 80s worldwide, were considered also-rans.
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