The Interweaving of Virtual and Reality: A New Perspective on Digital Entertainment in the Web3 Era

In today's era of rapid technological advancement, digital entertainment is expanding at an astonishing pace, bringing a whole new dimension of experience to people's leisure lives. Imagine embarking on adventures and exercising alongside anime characters in a virtual world, or having your digital avatar strut down the runway in outfits from top designers. These novel experiences that blend reality and the virtual not only enrich people's entertainment lives but also contain enormous commercial potential.

The continuous evolution of innovative technology is one of the main driving forces behind the rapid development of the entertainment industry in recent years. Driven by digital technology, digital entertainment has become a highly promising economic industry. According to forecasts, global online entertainment market revenue is expected to grow from $184.2 billion in 2021 to $653.4 billion in 2027, with an impressive compound annual growth rate of 21%, indicating significant development potential.

In the past decade, the proliferation of mobile internet and smartphone technology has driven explosive growth in areas such as streaming music, video, social platforms, and mobile gaming. The next wave of breakthrough growth is likely to be driven by Web3 and blockchain technology. Concepts such as NFTs, GameFi, "play-to-earn" models, and immersive entertainment are exactly the directions that global entertainment giants are currently focusing their investments on.

Recently, a digital entertainment leaders forum themed "Entertainment Power UP! Web3 New Horizons" was held in Hong Kong. Over 90 experts from more than 30 countries and regions shared how digital entertainment technology in the Web3 era brings new experiences to fields such as art, education, sports, and life, and explored the application prospects of Web3 in daily life. More than 3,500 people participated in the on-site and online events, generating a strong response and highlighting the vigorous development of Hong Kong's digital entertainment industry.

The forum also features interactive projects such as augmented reality games, smart sports walls, simulated racing experiences, and application workshops, along with local specialty snack stalls, providing citizens with a great weekend leisure destination.

A high-quality entertainment experience not only stimulates consumption but also promotes economic development. Hong Kong is actively seizing new opportunities in the development of digital entertainment. Currently, about 170 companies engaged in digital entertainment have gathered here, covering multiple fields such as the metaverse, game development, game big data analysis, and esports equipment research and development.

Among these enterprises, many have begun to apply cutting-edge technologies such as Web3 and have achieved significant results. For example, a local digital health startup has partnered with a well-known entertainment company to launch the world's first immersive interactive fitness adventure application, allowing players to work out alongside comic characters. Another startup game company successfully entered the Japanese market with its metaverse game, attracting over 145,000 members in community channels within just six months.

The application scope of Web3 goes far beyond digital entertainment or virtual assets. Its core technology, blockchain, features decentralization, security, transparency, immutability, and low cost, making it widely applicable in various fields such as finance, commerce, trade, supply chain management, and even daily life, solving many real-world problems through technological innovation.

To accelerate the development of Web3, the Hong Kong government has allocated HKD 50 million to establish a thriving Web3 ecosystem, including attracting enterprises and talent, as well as organizing related educational and promotional activities. Currently, more than 180 Web3-related technology companies have gathered in Hong Kong, including unicorn companies and licensed virtual asset trading platforms, with over one-fifth of the enterprises coming from mainland China and overseas.

At the same time, the government has also established a dedicated task force for Web3 development, gathering industry elites and professionals to assist the government in steadily promoting the sustainable development of Web3 in Hong Kong, focusing on aspects such as regulatory framework, ecosystem, infrastructure, talent training, and educational promotion.

As an international financial center and a hub of innovative technology, Hong Kong must maintain a sense of urgency and seize the major trends in technological development. Under the premise of prudent regulation, it should actively lead and promote innovative exploration and development, enabling Hong Kong to capitalize on this wave of intense technological innovation, develop its economy, and benefit its citizens.