Digital Entertainment Leadership Forum Concludes Successfully with 2,800+ Online and In-person Participants

Deep Dives into Future Trends in Digital Entertainment and Showcases an Immersive Entertainment on Metaverse

HONG KONG SAR - Media OutReach - 31 August 2022 - The annual signature event, Digital Entertainment Leadership Forum (DELF) concluded on 28th August at Cyberport by generating 110 hours of rich content, which drew over 2,800 participants from close to 30 countries and regions.

Under the theme "Transcending Entertainment Beyond Reality and Virtuality" this year, the three-day event gathered more than 70 overseas and local speakers to share industry insights, and introduced new and thrilling elements. The three experience zones featuring Metaverse, ArtTech and SportsTech offered a rich array of hands-on interactive experience and games, including a virtual reality (VR) art appreciation tour, the move-to-earn blockchain game by StepN, a free trial of the augmented reality (AR) game based on the Warriors of Future movie, AI Coach with artificial intelligence (AI) powered data analytics and more. The Forum also featured various esports tournaments and show matches with local and Southeast Asian players, and a total of more than 80 interactive experiences and workshops, giving the general public and esports enthusiasts a sense of personal excitement at DELF. DELF is also presented on a metaverse arena at Decentraland for online participants to watch livestreamed conference and tournaments, and visit the digital art gallery, metaverse and NFT-themed start-up showcases and more interactive immersive fun experience.

Peter Yan, Chief Executive Officer of Cyberport, says, "The digital entertainment industry has continued to thrive, recording notable increase in the number of users and robust growth against the impact of the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic. With the emergence of metaverse and the evolution of Web 3.0 era, we see a promising future in digital entertainment. Riding on the great success of DELF last year in a hybrid mode, we continued to explore how to help the industry break through barriers, and examine issues on integrating metaverse into our daily lives, from standards setting to policy and law making. We are thrilled with the success of the DELF metaverse exhibition, with a strong turn out to try out new digital entertainment experiences in sports, esports as well as ArtTech."

Another spotlight event this year was the APRU Metagame Conference 2022, organised by APRU (the Association of Pacific Rim Universities) on the second day of DELF. The Conference brought together academic and industry leaders from North and South America, and the Asia Pacific, to discuss policy making for esports as well as new generational learning on metaverse, which includes the advantages of gamification of education, elite esports in universities, and the potential of esports in enhancing our social well-being. During the Conference, students from the Asia Pacific also took part in the APRU Rampage Invitational.

Cyberport also began co-organising the Senior Esports and Experience Day with various organisations since 2018, as a mean to broaden the appeal of esports and encourage seniors to maintain an active lifestyle. Focusing on interactive mahjong games this year, the Day was jointly organised with the Hong Kong Innovative Technology Development Association and the Rotary Club of Smart Hong Kong officiated by Peter Yan, Chief Executive Officer of Cyberport, the Honourable Duncan Chiu, Legislative Council Member, Technology and Innovation Constituency, and Dr Norman Lee, District Governor of Rotary International District 3450, with the participation of 115 seniors to play the game "Mahjong World 2" developed by a Cyberport start-up. Congratulations to Chung Chaulung (68 years old), who demonstrated his sharp mind in winning the Guangdong e-Mahjong Tournament!

With esports making its debut as an official medal sport at the Hangzhou Asian Games in September 2023, "Street Fighter V" is one of the eight medal game titles. DELF has brought the "Cyberport Presents: TOROS powered by Red Bull" show match, a "Street Fighter V Champion Edition" invitational with official authorisation from CAPCOM in Japan to DELF. The 8 local elites (top players), namely Buster_Claw, Chris Wong, ComboStrike, Denesis, Papa Eric, RaInPrO, Saisak and Tse4444, battled in the esports classic. RaInPrO won the invitational tournament and took home HK$5,000 in prizes.

The DELF virtual platform will remain online until 26 September 2022. For more details on the event and the full list of speakers, please visit the DELF 2022 website: http://delf.cyberport.hk/

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Captions:
Digital Entertainment Leadership Forum concludes successfully with more than 2,800 online and in-person participants.

Cyberport's annual signature event, Digital Entertainment Leadership Forum officially opened on 26 August 2022. The Guests of Honour are (from left): Dr Yu Shenggao, Inspector at Level 2, Department of Youth Affairs, Liaison Office of the Central People's Government in the Hong Kong SAR, Professor Sun Dong, Secretary for Innovation, Technology and Industry of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR), and Simon Chan, BBS, JP, Chairman of Cyberport, and Peter Yan, Chief Executive Officer of Cyberport.

Under the theme "Transcending Entertainment Beyond Reality and Virtuality" this year, DELF introduces three new experience zones themed in Metaverse, ArtTech and SportsTech.

DELF presents an exciting array of esports competitions, selection tournaments and show matches, to enable industry players and enthusiasts with a personal taste of the excitement of esports, including Microsoft Interschool Minecraft e-Sport Champions League, the 2022 HKDSA Junior Racer Drone Racing Competition, and the the SEFHK Invitational Tournament.

APRU Metagame Conference 2022 invites industry leaders to share new trends in esports, presents digital art design competition entries, and holds the APRU Rampage Invitational.

In this year's Senior Esports and Experience Day, the oldest participant is 90, while the Champion of the Guangdong e-Mahjong Tournament, Chung Chaulung, is 68 years young.

For more details on the event and the full list of speakers, please visit the DELF 2022 website: http://delf.cyberport.hk/

Hashtag: #Cyberport

About Cyberport

Cyberport is an innovative digital community with over 1,800 members including over 800 on-site and 900 off-site start-ups and technology companies. It is managed by Hong Kong Cyberport Management Company Limited, wholly owned by the Hong Kong SAR Government. With a vision to be the hub for digital technology, thereby creating a new economic driver for Hong Kong, Cyberport is committed to nurturing a vibrant tech ecosystem by cultivating talent, promoting entrepreneurship among youth, supporting start-ups, fostering industry development by promoting strategic collaboration with local and international partners, and integrating new and traditional economic by accelerating digital transformation in the public and private sectors.

For more information, please visit www.cyberport.hk