Kangsters aims to enter Paralympic e-sports with its WHEELY-X–based XR game solution | Photo provided by Kangsters
Kangsters, a company specializing in wheelchair exercise solutions, said on the 3rd that its wheelchair racing game has been officially adopted as a formal event by the Korea e-Sports Federation for the Disabled.
The wheelchair racing game is an XR game played on the ‘WHEELY-X’ treadmill designed for wheelchairs, where users operate their manual wheelchairs to control movement in forward, reverse, left, and right directions. The game differs significantly from existing e-sports because real physical performance plays an essential role.
Wheelchair racing made its debut as an official event at the ‘1st Busan Metropolitan City Mayor’s Cup Disabled e-Sports Competition’ held on November 16. Hosted by the Busan Sports Association for the Disabled and organized by the Busan Disabled e-Sports Federation, the competition featured six events across PC, console, and XR categories, and wheelchair racing was designated as an XR-category event for participants with physical disabilities.
Kangsters CEO Tyrion Kang Kim said, “Wheelchair e-sports is not just a game but a culture where people laugh and understand together. With the game now an official event, we hope to see various companies establish wheelchair racing e-sports teams.”
The adoption of the game as an official event is significant because it opens the door for companies to form wheelchair racing e-sports teams. Companies with 50 or more full-time employees are required to hire 3.1% of their workforce as people with disabilities (3.8% for local governments and public institutions). Companies that fail to fulfill this requirement must pay a disability employment levy. Many companies meet this obligation by establishing disabled sports teams and hiring players as employees. Kangsters plans to actively support the creation of corporate wheelchair racing e-sports teams and the employment of wheelchair users once the game’s official designation is in place.
Kangsters’ wheelchair racing game has been selected as an official event at the Korea National Disabled e-Sports Competition from 2023 to 2025. With ambitions to advance into global Paralympic e-sports, the company plans to strengthen the domestic foundation for wheelchair e-sports and lead the spread of barrier-free sports culture.
Kangsters’ ‘Wheely-X Play’ is an expanded game solution featuring eight game types, including wheelchair racing, skiing, gliding, and boating. Recently, the company launched the mobile car-racing game ‘AbleRacer,’ which has attracted strong interest from wheelchair users, disability associations, welfare centers, and public institutions.
