It can be easy to forget in today's era of fighting games that this was once a hobby that people looked down upon, something so-called polite society thought was embarrassing. For Bruce "Gamerbee" Hsiang, that was reality growing up in Taiwan, as it was for many kids across the world in the 1980s and 1990s, and even into the new millennium. "The Taiwanese government has long associated video games with a negative connotation," Gamerbee told Protocol Snow in a 2010 interview, early in his international career, back when he was still pursuing his first sponsorship. "People in Taiwan are generally conservative, so they will not actively seek out something like this with a negative stigma."

But that didn't stop Gamerbee. At the urging of his friend and longtime tournament commentator Zhi, he made the trip all the way from Taiwan to Las Vegas for Evo 2010. He had developed an absolutely devastating Adon, and he was ready to show the world.

He was on a strong run, especially for his first overseas tournament. When he reached a losers Top 8 qualifier and was pitted against Justin Wong, though, there was a clear favorite. Who would bet on the unknown against one of the most established gods of fighting games to ever pick up a stick?

Gamerbee came out firing, and got the crowd behind him with an electric Game 1 win. He pushed Justin to set point in Game 2, but the veteran clutched up and forced a decisive Game 3. For the third time in as many games, it went to a final round, but Gamerbee forced Justin into the corner and took a huge life lead. Despite a terrifying moment where Justin lived on a sliver of health with a ton of super and ultra meter to work with, Gamerbee was able to close it out and prove he belonged on stage with the world's best. He wasn't done: Gamerbee would defeat Henry Cen in Top 8 before finally falling to Mike Ross for 5th place.

Gamerbee returned to Taiwan as a hero. A group of friends and supporters from the Taiwanese FGC traveled an hour to the airport to greet him with a celebration and flowers. His local television station even featured his achievement in a news report, showing that his success was at least starting to turn back the stigma against fighting games as a hobby.

Within two years, Gamerbee would earn his first sponsorship with AVerMedia, making him Taiwan's first professional fighting game player. Throughout the rest of the Street Fighter IV era, Gamerbee would reign as the game's best Adon, and he would rack up impressive results all across the world. He took third at East Coast Throwdown 4, second at both Summer and Winter DreamHack in 2014 as well as Norcal Regionals 2015. And he took home his fair share of first place trophies, most notably at Shadowloo Showdown 2010 and Southeast Asia Major 2013.

Although the vast majority of Gamerbee's biggest FGC achievements came in Street Fighter, Gamerbee is a lover of fighting games generally. He credits the genre for helping him find direction during his childhood. He grew up in a single parent household and his father's work forced them to move regularly. Fighting games helped him find something to do with the frustration that resulted.

Street Fighter II was his first game, and he found that his anger dissipated when he would defeat other players at the arcade. He would also grind Tekken — leading to his eventual Canada Cup 2012 win in Tekken 6 — and the series that he still calls his favorite, Virtua Fighter. "I love the design and game mechanics of this series," he said in the Protocol Snow interview. "It is a very technical game where if you're strong, you'll win."

In 2012, Gamerbee was hunting for a return to Evo's main stage for Street Fighter IV. A loss to Daigo in Winners Quarters meant he was going to have to clutch up in losers bracket if he wanted to match his 5th place finish from 2010. He did that and more. By the time all was said and done, he had taken down Dogura, Dieminion, Humanbomb, Xiaohai and PR Balrog before finally bowing out of the tournament at 2nd place.

He continued to showcase his consistency over the next few years. Gamerbee reached a third Evo Top 8 in four chances in 2013 with a 7th place finish, and came one round short of a fourth Top 8 in 2014. 2015 would see him make his most spirited run towards the championship. He was knocked into losers before Top 8, just like in 2012. And just like in 2012, he won five sets in a row to make his way to Grand Finals against some of Street Fighter's strongest players: Daigo, NuckleDu, Tokido, Nemo and finally Infiltration, the one who stopped him in Grands in 2012.

This time, he was able to take the first set of Grand Finals over Momochi. Gamerbee pushed the second set all the way to a final game, but Momochi wound up winning the decisive final round, leaving Gamerbee in second once again. Momochi's stick broke in that final game, giving Gamerbee the free round, but after a long break to find Momochi a replacement stick, breaking the momentum of the fight.

This was a moment Gamerbee had worked so hard for, and a lesser competitor easily could have held a grudge. Not Gamerbee, who confirmed in an interview with Crush Groove in 2017 that Momochi was deeply apologetic after the tournament.

"That kind of regret is really deep, and it will change you," Gamerbee said. "But, when things happen in the moment, everything is okay. When I’m on that kind of stage, I’m confident. I’m ready to face any kind of trouble or opponent. So, I didn’t get affected by anything. Evo is really professional, they make the decision right away. They’re by the book, and it’s fair. Momochi was saying sorry a few times to me, even when we got the trophy. I totally understand. I know it’s not his fault, but I know he will feel he has that responsibility. It was a decent fight. That’s just the result. After two years, I don’t think about it anymore. Everything has started over, and every time I enter Evo, it’s like I’m the only player out of thousands of people, and I want to win. That’s it."

Gamerbee continued to show strong results throughout the Street Fighter V years. He picked up wins at EGX and Japan Cup in 2016 and qualified for Capcom Cup. But as the 2010s continued, he steadily dedicated himself more and more to his local tournament scene. He helped run TWFighter Major, one of the biggest tournaments of the year for Southeast Asia throughout the 2010s.

Gamerbee was also an early adopter of streaming, excited to use the platform as a way to "show off for friends," as he said in an interview with AVerMedia back in 2012. "I was happy because I could make a lot of new friends from streaming, because a lot of people will want to see what a pro player is thinking or what they’re doing." He would soon find a way to integrate his love for streaming and his desire to grow Taiwan's FGC scene. In 2015, Gamerbee became Taiwan's Partnerships Development Lead at Twitch, where he was able to promote Taiwan and its gaming scene to a larger audience.

The fact that he found a position where he could wield the power of the internet to bolster the Taiwanese FGC is a full circle moment in Gamerbee's career. After his 2010 trip to Evo, he talked about the importance of the ability to play online in developing his own strength. "A proper environment is necessary to nurture any fighting game scene and unfortunately we do not have the components to truly develop our community," Gamerbee said of the Taiwanese FGC in 2010. "Our biggest weakness is that we have a small player base. We need a lot more players with a greater variety of playstyles in order to challenge each other and elevate our competitive level. Luckily we have excellent Internet in Taiwan and can challenge Japanese players on Xbox Live and play matches with no lag. Without that experience playing against Japanese players, we would be much weaker. But nevertheless, we always strive to improve and play our best."

Now 45 years old, Gamerbee continues to compete in Street Fighter 6. He isn't at the level he was at in the Street Fighter IV and V days any more, but that's understandable. He has plenty of other stuff to focus on, like his 77,000 stream followers, his wife, and their cats. Gamerbee took home 18 international championships across his years as a competitor, defeated countless legends of fighting games, and became a regular on the biggest stage in fighting games. He's clearly a legendary player. But in changing the way fighting games are seen in Taiwan and helping to build a scene from the ground up, he also made a legendary impact.

See more of GamerBee's story in Evo Legends Powered by Qiddiya Gaming on EvoFGC