Inven Global

※ Inven delivers a monthly Taiwanese Gaming Market Report. Get a quick look at news from the increasingly important Taiwanese gaming market. This report is provided by HappyTuk (www.mangot5.com), an online/mobile game publisher operating in Taiwan.

In August, Taiwan's gaming market saw a series of exchange and experiential events centered on indie games, esports, and gaming hardware. First, the 2nd East Asia Indie Game Festival (EAIGC), co-hosted by Taiwanese indie developers, was held on Steam from August 5 to August 19. A total of 550 indie titles from across East Asia participated, with over 100 providing free demos and playtests. In addition, relay streams featuring over 50 streamers and content creators alongside sales events gave players the opportunity to discover indie games from various regions.

Regional esports events also began recruiting participants. The 2026 Taipei City Cup International Esports Tournament, hosted by the Department of Sports, Taipei City Government, introduced League of Legends' ARAM mode as an official event this year, in addition to its existing Street Fighter 6 city exchange competition. Both events will select participants through online qualifiers, while the offline grand finals in November will offer spectator programs such as sim racing experiences and event booths alongside the matches.

Meanwhile, Intel hosted Intel Gamer Days 2026 alongside six PC brands: Acer, ASUS, Gigabyte, HP, MSI, and Lenovo. From August 14 to September 10, an experience hall set up at Syntrend Creative Park in Taipei featured gaming zones where visitors could enjoy the latest titles, as well as AI PC and AI Agent demo zones. Designed to let users experience real-world AI applications such as personal assistants alongside gaming performance, the event also featured brand discounts and promotional giveaways during the period.

▣ August Taiwan PC Game Rankings

At the end of August, the MapleStory IP dominated the top spots in Taiwanese PC gaming communities. As of August 31, MapleStory took 1st place, MapleStory Classic 2nd place, and MapleStory Worlds 3rd place on Bahamut's PC game popularity rankings. Local interest focused heavily on the MapleStory IP expanding in distinct formats—the currently live main game, Classic evoking nostalgia, and Worlds allowing users to enjoy player-created content.

However, Classic's high ranking did not fully reflect player satisfaction. In particular, delayed responses to bot farms and auto-hunting, monopolies over certain hunting grounds, class balance issues, and fatigue from repetitive content led to an increased proportion of negative posts recently, making stable live operations and content improvements key challenges.

Following the MapleStory IP, Where Winds Meet ranked 4th, Ragnarok Online 5th, and Path of Exile 6th. League of Legends and Final Fantasy XIV came in 8th and 9th, respectively, while Lineage Classic placed 10th and Black Desert 11th. With classic versions and long-running online games occupying top spots together, Palworld recorded 14th place.

▣ August Taiwan Mobile Game Rankings

On mobile, SD Gundam G Generation Eternal took 1st place in Bahamut's popularity rankings as of August 31. It was followed by Mabinogi Mobile in 2nd place and Wuthering Waves in 3rd. Mabinogi Mobile ranked high not only in community interest but also on app store charts. According to Sensor Tower data, it ranked 8th on Google Play and 10th on the App Store in free downloads as of August 31, while placing 6th and 9th, respectively, on the August revenue charts.

Long-running mobile title Tower of Saviors reached 4th place on Bahamut's popularity rankings driven by summer events. This was attributed to heightened community buzz created by the overlap of its annual 2026 Shenma Festival event and new character events. Key factors included distributing 10 summon coupons as a login reward following the August 17 maintenance, along with introducing new limited characters, 5 minigames, and various collection rewards. Progression support content was also offered to encourage participation from new and returning players.

In the free download category, Meowdoku took 1st place across both major app stores, while Seer: Peak Battle (賽爾號：巔峰之戰)—which ported a nostalgic Taiwanese web game IP to mobile—also drew attention. Released on August 12, the game ranked 10th on Google Play and 5th on the App Store. Its key feature is data linking, allowing players to carry over characters and currency nurtured in the web version to mobile. Additionally, a collaboration with the mascot of Taiwanese portal Yam aimed to encourage returning players and boost local brand awareness.

Taiwanese developer USERJOY's new title Heroes of the Three Kingdoms: Strategy of the Nine Provinces (三國群英傳：策定九州) reached 2nd place on Google Play and 4th place on the App Store in free downloads. Released on August 13, this strategy game utilizing the Heroes of the Three Kingdoms IP highlights Unreal Engine 5-based visuals and real-time strategy gameplay. It appealed to existing IP fans and strategy gamers by emphasizing fair competition with no VIP system.

In the revenue category, hololive Dreams made remarkable strides. Launched in July, the title ranked 4th in August revenue on Google Play. HappyTuk identified the limited-time summer events and swimsuit skins as key revenue drivers. Limited content featuring Mori Calliope, Nakiri Ayame, and hololive GAMERS members captured the interest of Taiwanese fans, translating into strong financial performance for a music game utilizing a VTuber IP.

Existing hit titles also held top rankings. Star City Online (星城Online) took 1st place on Google Play and 2nd on the App Store in revenue, while Honor of Kings, published by Garena in Taiwan, claimed 1st place on the App Store and 8th on Google Play. Lineage M ranked 2nd on Google Play, Whiteout Survival finished 3rd on Google Play and 4th on the App Store, and Kingshot took 5th and 8th place, respectively. Alongside strong performances from new releases and subculture games, existing MMORPGs and strategy titles maintained a firm presence at the top of revenue charts.

▣ Ghost Online M

Mgame's flagship mobile MMORPG Ghost Online M officially launched in Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macao on August 12. Local expectations were high, given that Taiwan saw 150,000 applicants during the first CBT when the original Ghost Online debuted in 2006, reaching 75,000 peak concurrent users on its first day. Meanwhile, with server instability issues surfacing occasionally in community feedback, attention is focused on future operational responses.

▣ Heroes of the Three Kingdoms: Strategy of the Nine Provinces

Heroes of the Three Kingdoms: Strategy of the Nine Provinces is a new strategy game based on Taiwanese developer USERJOY's flagship Three Kingdoms IP, Heroes of the Three Kingdoms. Utilizing Unreal Engine 5, it seeks to differentiate itself from previous entries by emphasizing real-time strategy gameplay. Offering a fair competitive environment without a VIP system is another key feature highlighted by the developer. Released on PC and mobile, the title confirmed local interest by ranking near the top of free download charts across both major mobile app stores in Taiwan by late August.

▣ Dave the Diver Mobile

The mobile version of MINTROCKET's hit title Dave the Diver will launch globally on September 17. Pre-registrations in Taiwan began on August 27. Local media and fans are keeping a close eye on the launch, especially considering that since the PC version's official Steam release in June 2023, Traditional Chinese Steam reviews—written primarily by players in Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macao—totaled 6,768 with a 98% positive rating.

▣ BanG Dream! Our Notes

BanG Dream! Our Notes, a new rhythm game based on Bushiroad's flagship media mix project BanG Dream!, will launch globally on September 24 through a global publishing partnership with bilibili. In addition to critically acclaimed anime bands MyGO!!!!!, Ave Mujica, and Mugendai MewType, the game will feature original tracks and cover songs from two new bands, millsage and Ikka Dumb Rock!, bringing the total to five bands. Furthermore, the game expands its fanbase through enhanced systems and modes, such as Assist Mode for players unfamiliar with rhythm games and "Gekishou Live," a 5-player party-style competitive mode.