Tens of thousands of WaYou users gathered in Chengdu—what happened at the one-year anniversary of ShouWa?

"Memories of the East Suburbs," which is always bustling with people, became even livelier this weekend. Along the way, classmates, couples, families with children… all kinds of people gathered here for the same reason: "Shouwa Land"—the Shouwa First Anniversary Player Party.

Valorant has long been a highly popular FPS game in China, and “playing Valorant” has become an important social phenomenon among young people in recent years. Our own version of Valorant, *Valorant: Source Energy Operation*, was born against the backdrop of this nationwide “Valorant craze” over the past few years.

Amid all the anticipation and concern, Shouwa has now celebrated its first anniversary. The Teahouse Host was fortunate enough to attend this anniversary party and join many Shouwa friends in witnessing this grand celebration for Shouwa. This was not only a celebration for the Shouwa community but also a milestone for Shouwa itself.

Launched in August 2025, "Shouwa" has now completed its first full operational cycle. For a game that has been live for just over a year, its anniversary is certainly worth celebrating; and for "Shouwa," this past year seems to have been particularly special.

From the doubts expressed by veteran PC players at launch—wondering, “Can we actually play ‘Wa’ on mobile?”—to the growing number of new players joining our community, “Mobile Wa” has rapidly matured in just one short year. So for this “Mobile Wa Festival,” what I’m most curious about is how “Mobile Wa,” having grown so much over the past year, will celebrate its own birthday.

01

From the players themselves

In my opinion, the location for this player party was carefully chosen.Dongjiao Memory has long been a popular attraction in Chengdu; its industrial-style setting embodies China’s youngest culture, much like an iced Coke served in an enamel mug—it has a unique charm. Hosting the Shouwa Festival here is like adding a sprig of mint to that glass of Coke, giving it an even more distinctive flavor.

Instead of being held in a closed venue, this event was fully integrated into the broader setting of Dongjiao Memory, truly transforming it into a “Shouwa Paradise” for the players.

On the one hand, the event centered around the “Shouwa” theme park, allowing “Wa Friends” to first experience the warm atmosphere through interactive activities at the theme park, thereby naturally carrying that positive energy over to the main stage and maximizing audience engagement;On the other hand, the event fully leveraged synergies with the authentic content of Dongjiao Memory, ensuring that even casual visitors unfamiliar with the game could feel Wa’s warmth through every cup of milk tea and every scoop of ice cream at Dongjiao Memory.

The Shouwa Birthday Celebration District Was Packed with People

This curatorial approach is inextricably linked to Shouwa’s player-centric philosophy.The success of Fearless Covenant over the past few years would not have been possible without the support of our vast community of players. It’s safe to say that without the community’s immense enthusiasm, neither the PC version of Fearless Covenant would have succeeded nor would the mobile version have been created. Therefore, this event organized by Shouwa is not only a key component of the Fearless Tour’s Chengdu stop but also a response to the passion shown by our players.

Traditional offline gaming events often devolve into simple exhibitions. It’s common for players to arrive, take a few photos, look at the installations, and then sit in the stage area waiting for the show to begin. But Shouwa is clearly not satisfied with this; they want their community members to truly immerse themselves in the space and “get moving” there.

Therefore, in terms of the layout, the Shuwa Festival did not design the theme park as a one-way tour route, but instead scattered numerous interactive activities throughout the entire area.From Rez’s Bumper Cars, Pidan Arcade, Zero’s Tripwire Maze, the Armory, the Shooting Range, and the Wagu Exchange Program, all the way to the mobile game duel arena outside the park, each area offers its own unique gameplay experience.

The Super-Popular Bumper Cars

What left the deepest impression on me was “Zero’s Tripwire Maze.” As a Sentinel player, I also played as Zero when I first started the game, and his tripwires left a very deep impression on me.

Normally, when we see Zero’s tripwires up close in the game, they’re essentially just a game mechanic—but this time, players must navigate the maze on their own,and those tripwires, which previously existed only on the screen, have become obstacles that require observation, judgment, and evasion. You must first clearly map out the route and then figure out how to navigate through it; if you move too quickly, you might bump into them.

Inside Zero's Tripwire Maze

The same goes for other game projects.From Rez’s bumper cars to Pidan’s arcade, the event transformed in-game characters and mechanics into part of the offline experience. Some game mechanics that could originally be completed in a matter of seconds suddenly became challenges requiring hands-on participation once brought into the real world, creating a form of “playful intertextuality” between reality and the game.

This kind of gameplay intertextuality has become a common language between the games and players at Showa Land.

In competitive games like the mobile version of *Valorant*, communication is always a central part of the experience. Players call out spawn points, coordinate strategies, review matches, and discuss playstyles. As they play longer, they continue to build their own unique ways of expressing themselves on top of these basics. A character, a playstyle, a catchphrase, or even a detail known only to veteran players can all become secret codes for communicating with one another.

It is inherently difficult for people to truly understand one another, but games provide a unique medium that translates concepts that are otherwise hard to express into a language everyone can understand.

This event essentially brings this language from the screen into the real world. The benefit of this is that even if you weren’t a “Wa You” before, as long as you take a tour of the park, you’ll easily understand what all the people around you are laughing about—and quickly feel like you’re part of the fun.

"Memories of the East Suburbs" provides Shouwa Land with ample space, and the various attractions in the theme park constantly keep visitors moving forward, so they don’t have to linger around the main stage waiting for shows—they can find their own rhythm.

Ultimately, this design creates a simple yet comfortable sense of participation. Every “Wa You” who came to the event took part in the birthday party in their own way, while also reminiscing about their time playing “Hand Wa.” Everyone has their own unique reasons for playing “Valorant,” but no matter what their purpose, in the end, everyone at the “Hand Wa Festival” communicated using a shared language.

Looking at the sea of people and the laughter and joy all around me, I think that over the past year, Shouwa and its players have developed a strong bond.

02

Go out among the players

Over the past year, more and more players have discovered Valhalla through mobile games.

They may have never played a single competitive match on a computer; for these players, "Hand of Stone" was initially just a game they could pick up and play on their phones at any time. But as they gradually became more immersed—and even started discussing a professional player’s gameplay—they were, in fact, already gradually entering the "Valorant" ecosystem.This ecosystem is made up of the PC game, esports, streamers, tournaments, and the community.

And this streamer exhibition match on the main stage was a concrete manifestation of that phenomenon. When familiar faces from the PC and mobile gaming communities fought side by side, the two communities—which had previously been somewhat distant from one another—were brought together in a single match.

The crowd cheering for the guests on stage

This event serves as a bridge connecting two communities of players within the same game, and its existence proves that “Dawa” will become increasingly accepted by more people—which is exactly what we often refer to as “esports for everyone.”

My years of experience watching esports have taught me that for an esports discipline to truly become part of everyday life, it needs many more accessible entry points.

Casual players usually can’t make it to the professional circuit, but they can stay up all night playing with friends in their dorm rooms; they may not understand complex tactics, but they’ll cheer for a spectacular sniper shot in a livestream.It’s only when more and more people are willing to join the discussion that esports truly transforms from a specialized field into a form of popular culture—and this is a significant contribution that Shouwa has made to the *Valorant* ecosystem over the past year.

Mobile games naturally have a lower barrier to entry; players don’t need a high-performance computer and can jump into the action even during short breaks. The competitive gaming experience—which once required specialized equipment—has been brought into the daily lives of more people thanks to smartphones.

And when these players entered this world through the mobile game, Valorscript continued to bring them into a larger community through offline events like the Valorscript Tour, allowing Showa to successfully and continuously bring new users to the entire Valorscript IP.

People often instinctively treat PC games and mobile games as separate categories, but a mature ecosystem should inherently allow for cross-platform flow between different entry points.

Shouwa has drawn ample inspiration from the esports culture of Valhalla, and as the year has passed, it has begun to bring its players, popularity, and new ways of engagement back into the entire Valhalla ecosystem.Now that esports has truly gone mainstream, the identities of participants should naturally become increasingly diverse. While their competitive skill levels may vary greatly, they can all share a common identity: “Wa Friends.”

What struck me most deeply about this event was the term “Wa You.”

Today, the *Valorant* mobile game has begun to fulfill its own mission: bringing more people into the *Valorant* universe through their smartphones, and from there, leading them into the broader world of esports;As more and more people discover *Valorant* for various reasons and come together through their shared interest, “Wa You” will become more than just a term for players—it will evolve into a way for an ever-growing number of people to get to know one another and engage with esports.

Conclusion

A birthday is both a time to reflect on the past and to look toward the future.

A year ago, when Shouwa first came into our lives, it was met with countless discussions about the future of mobile gaming;A year later, when it held its birthday party right on the streets of Chengdu, the answer was already evident on-site—in the players lining up at Dongjiao Memory, in the waves of cheers echoing through the theme park, and in the audience that lingered long after the main stage competition had ended.

A sign that a game has matured is probably when it transitions from needing others to recognize it to developing its own unique voice. And this year, Shouwa has found that voice. “Wa” can be highly competitive or down-to-earth; it can happen in a serious match or in a casual game played among friends.

For Shouwa, this year is just the beginning. Standing among the cheering crowd, I find myself even more eager to see what surprises it will bring us in the future.