Yao Zhuangxian (, born 1969), also known as Johnson Yau, is a Taiwanese computer game producer, working in

Softstar Entertainment Softstar Entertainment Inc. (), abbreviated as Softstar (), is a Taiwanese video game developer and publisher based in Zhonghe District, New Taipei, with Mainland subsidiary branches in Beijing, Shanghai, and Xiamen. Softstar is famous among ...

as the general manager of Softstar Technology Beijing. He was best known for developing ''

The Legend of Sword and Fairy ''The Legend of Sword and Fairy'' (), also known as ''Sword and Fairy'' () or ''Chinese Paladin'', is a Chinese language fantasy video game series and media franchise centered on a series of nine Chinese mythology/'' xianxia''-themed adventure ...

'' (also known as ''Chinese Paladin'') series, earning him the nickname "Father of Sword and Fairy" (仙劍之父) or "

Saint In Christianity, Christian belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of sanctification in Christianity, holiness, imitation of God, likeness, or closeness to God in Christianity, God. However, the use of the ...

Yao" (姚仙).

Career

Yao was born in

Hualien County Hualien () is a County (Taiwan), county on the east coast of Taiwan. It is Taiwan's largest county by area, yet due to its mountainous terrain, has one of the lowest populations in the country. The county seat and largest city is Hualien City. Hu ...

eastern Taiwan The regions of Taiwan are based on historical administrative divisions. However, most of the definitions are not precise. Division into two regions * Eastern and Western Taiwan: the Central Mountain Range separates Taiwan into east and west. :* ' ...

, living in the countryside during his childhood. He graduated from the National Taipei Institute of Technology. In 1989, as a college student, with the interest in computer technologies, Yao developed ''

Richman Richman is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Adam Richman (born 1974), American actor and TV host * Adam Richman (singer) (born c.1983), American indie pop singer-songwriter * Alfred A. Richman (c.1892–1984), American orthop ...

'', a ''

Monopoly A monopoly (from Greek language, Greek and ) is a market in which one person or company is the only supplier of a particular good or service. A monopoly is characterized by a lack of economic Competition (economics), competition to produce ...

''-like digital board game that was published by Softstar. This marked the beginning of his long association with the company. In the summer of 1995, when Yao was 26, the game ''

'' developed by his project team, the "Crazy Boys Production Group" (狂徒創作群), was published in Taiwan, and all the 10 thousand copies were sold out during the first day. The game became a

runaway hit A hit song, also known as a hit record, hit single, or simply hit, is a recorded song or instrumental that becomes broadly popular or well-known. Although ''hit song'' means any widely played or big-selling song, the specific term ''hit record'' ...

overnight and broke the record of

role-playing game A role-playing game (sometimes spelled roleplaying game, or abbreviated as RPG) is a game in which players assume the roles of player character, characters in a fictional Setting (narrative), setting. Players take responsibility for acting out ...

s in the history of Taiwan

electronic game An electronic game is a game that uses electronics to create an interactive system with which a player can play. Video games are the most common form today, and for this reason the two terms are often used interchangeably. There are other commo ...

s. In 2000, Yao took the initiative to move to

Mainland China "Mainland China", also referred to as "the Chinese mainland", is a Geopolitics, geopolitical term defined as the territory under direct administration of the People's Republic of China (PRC) in the aftermath of the Chinese Civil War. In addit ...

, founded Softstar Technology in

Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...

with several collaborators, which was the

subsidiary A subsidiary, subsidiary company, or daughter company is a company (law), company completely or partially owned or controlled by another company, called the parent company or holding company, which has legal and financial control over the subsidia ...

of the

parent company A holding company is a company whose primary business is holding a controlling interest in the Security (finance), securities of other companies. A holding company usually does not produce goods or services itself. Its purpose is to own Share ...

Works

* ''

'' (1989) * '' Richman 2'' (1992) * ''

'' (1995) * '' Richman 3'' (1996) * '' Richman 4'' (1998) * '' New Legend of Sword and Fairy'' (2001) * ''Paladin's Inn'' (2001) * '' The Legend of Sword and Fairy 2'' (2003) * '' Chinese Paladin 3'' (2003) * '' Chinese Paladin 3 Gaiden: Wen Qing Pian'' (2004) * '' Chinese Paladin 4'' (2007) * ''Chinese Paladin Online'' (2009) * '' The Legend of Sword and Fairy 5'' (2011) * ''Chinese Paladin: Xiao Yao You'' (2012) * '' The Legend of Sword and Fairy 5 Prequel'' (2013) * ''New Legend of Sword and Fairy: Online'' (2013) * '' The Legend of Sword and Fairy 6'' (2015) * ''

The Legend of Sword and Fairy 7 ''The Legend of Sword and Fairy 7''), also known as ''Sword and Fairy 7'' or ''Chinese Paladin 7'', is a ''xianxia''/''shenmo''-themed fantasy action-adventure role-playing video game developed by Softstar Entertainment (Beijing) and China Mobile ...

'' (2021)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Yao, Zhuangxian Living people 1969 births People from Hualien County Taiwanese computer programmers Video game designers National Taipei University of Technology alumni The Legend of Sword and Fairy