Pangyo Techno Valley Powers “G-STAR,” South Korea’s Premier … – AsiaTechDaily

The largest-scale game exhibition in Korea, ‘G-STAR 2023,’ will be held at BEXCO in Busan from November 16th to November 19th, spanning four days.

This year, it is expected to be held on the scale of events before COVID-19. Surpassing the 3,208 booths of the largest-ever event, ‘G-STAR 2019,’ a total of 3,250 booths (2,386 booths for B2C and 864 booths for B2B) have been prepared as of August 31, 2023.

Game companies of all sizes, including indie, small, and large game developers within Pangyo Techno Valley, will participate in the domestic game festival. Following 2022, WeMade (CEO Jang Hyun-guk), the developer of MIR 4 and MIR M, has been selected as the main sponsor for this year as well. As the fourth-time main sponsor, WeMade, through this sponsorship, plans to unveil its blockchain game platform, WEMIX PLAY, in the B2C section and introduce new games at G-STAR.

NCSOFT (CEO Kim Taek-jin) is also participating in G-STAR. At G-STAR 2023, they will showcase their new games, including the shooting game “LLL,” the melee-style competitive action game “BATTLE CRUSH,” and the collectible RPG “Project BSS” (hereinafter referred to as BSS) through demonstration booths.

The MMORPG game ‘THRONE AND LIBERTY’ (hereinafter TL), scheduled for release in December 2023, will showcase demo gameplay at G-STAR. The TL development team will personally demonstrate the latest version on stage. Furthermore, the new puzzle game ‘PUZZUP AMITOI’ (hereinafter PUZZUP) will be available for direct play at the event booth, allowing participants to engage in the event.

Since 2017, NCSOFT has been operating a startup booth at G-STAR every year, aimed at supporting innovative game startups. Over the past seven years, they have sponsored and assisted over 100 startups in fundraising. This year’s sponsored startups at G-STAR include Pumpkin ENM (CEO: Eom Yong-jun, MMORPG development / Wonderland, Queens Cuss), M&M Soft (CEO: Yoo Myeong-ho/Choi Mi-hyang, mobile and online software development / Operation Blood), Devs United Games (CEO: Choi Min-kyung, VR game development / Real VR Fishing), and Mokum (CEO: Lee Ye-seok, game production / Soul Archer: Defense Surviva, Tuna Frenzy: Escape Jump Game). The sponsored startups can be found at the ‘Startup with NC’ booth in the G-STAR BTB (Business to Business) section.

The developer of the MMORPG Lost Ark, Smilegate RPG (CEO: Seong Jun-ho), is also joining G-STAR 2023 after a hiatus of 9 years. At this event, Smilegate RPG will unveil for the first time the product ‘Lost Ark Mobile,’ based on the intellectual property (IP) of the Smilegate hit product ‘Lost Ark.’ Additionally, Smilegate plans to operate exhibition booths for its showcased works and the indie game exhibition area, ‘Stove Indie Zone.’

Mu Origin, Mu Monarch developer Webzen (CEO: Kim Tae-young) is also participating in G-STAR after a 7-year hiatus. At this event, they will showcase subculture games as the main focus, deviating from the Mu series. They have prepared a demonstration area where attendees can directly experience the new game ‘TERBIS,’ which is making its debut for the first time. In addition, they plan to introduce other subculture games, such as ‘Ragna Doll’ and The Eminence in Shadow ‘ through exhibitions. Furthermore, various events, including cosplay, are arranged for subculture game fans.

Pangyo Techno Valley’s representative large game company, Nexon (CEO: Lee Jung-heon), will not be participating in this year’s event. A company representative stated that they plan to concentrate on developing new games and strengthen their internal operations. While Nexon has been a regular participant in G-STAR every year since 2005, they did not attend during special circumstances such as internal issues in 2019 and the pandemic in 2021. This absence is a source of disappointment for gaming fans.

Although not participating with a booth, Nexon will host the ‘FC PRO Festival.’ This event marks the first esports competition held since the popular games FIFA Online and FIFA Mobile were rebranded as FC Online and FC Mobile by EA Korea Studio and are currently serviced by Nexon. The ‘FC PRO Festival’ will feature events such as the ek League Championship Season 2 Finals and League Challenge Representative Selection Matches.

Moreover, an event related to Nexon’s flagship game, Dungeon & Fighter, is planned. On November 18th, from 3:00 PM to 6:00 PM, the ‘Dungeon & Fighter Director Conference in G-Star’ will occur. During this conference, the Nexon development team plans to respond directly to various questions sent in by users.

During this year’s G-STAR, the game conference event ‘G-CON 2023’ will be held at BEXCO Conference Hall. G-CON 2023 will feature speakers such as WeMade’s CEO Jang Hyun-guk, Torishima Kazuhiko, the editor-in-chief of ‘Dragon Ball,’ Kim Kang-seon, CCO of Smilegate RPG, Mikami Shinji, the representative of Tango Gameworks, known for the ‘Biohazard’ (Resident Evil) and ‘Ace Attorney’ series, and Nakayama Takayuki, the director of ‘Street Fighter 6.’ The conference provides a platform for communication with global gaming companies and professionals.

Hopes are high once again for Pangyo Techno Valley game companies to be at the forefront of the global gaming market at South Korea’s representative game festival, G-STAR.

For inquiries and connections with Korean tech companies mentioned in this article, contact us at [email protected]. We’re here to facilitate valuable partnerships.

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