G-Star 2015 To Host The Largest Game Show

Hosted by the Korea Internet Digital Entertainment Association (K-iDEA), G-Star 2015 started yesterday and will be held at the BEXCO Center till November 15. It will be the largest in its 11-year history. “This year’s G-Star will host a total of 2,636 exhibitions booths, up 2.7 percent from last year, with 633 companies from 35 countries participating,” the association said. “We have prepared diverse exhibition booths and business networking events both for enterprises and gamers. We expect the show to vitalize the nation’s game industry.”

Alongside Nexon and NCSOFT, Korea’s top online game companies, mobile game company Four Thirty Three and Japan-based game console maker Sony Computer Entertainment Korea (SCEK) have established massive booths in the business-to-customer (B2C) section. In particular, Nexon said it has prepared the largest number of booths this year.
Four Thirty Three, which won the top game prize with its mobile action role-playing game “Blade” last year, is the main sponsor of G-Star 2015. NCSOFT will present a musical based on its online role-playing game “Blade & Soul” at the Busan Cinema Center on November 13.

In the business-to-business (B2B) sector, more diverse enterprises including Kakao, Smilegate, Com2uS and Gamevil will set up booths to invite business partners from around the world. Leading game development engine providers Unity and Epic Games will seek to attract game firms and developers as their clients at the show. Nvidia, the world’s leading graphic technology provider, and SCEK will showcase their respective virtual reality (VR) technologies and devices. Nvidia said it will operate a hands-on VR device experience zone for visitors while SCEK will exhibit the PlayStation VR head-mounted display, which provides a VR gaming experience through the PlayStation game console.

In this year’s event, non-game businesses also joined in with collaborations with game firms. Samsung Electronics and Canon Consumer Imaging Korea will cooperate with NCSOFT while LG Electronics will set up its own booth, collaborating with local game firm Eyedentity Games. The 2015 Korea Game Awards, organized and hosted by K-iDEA and the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism were also scheduled to be held Wednesday. They have been the nation’s most prestigious awards in the game industry since 1996.

Expectations are that Netmarble Games’ mobile action role-playing game “Raven” and Nexon’s computer online role-playing game “Maple Story 2” will compete for the top prize this year.

Twitch, the world’s largest gaming video streaming service provider, said Wednesday it will participate in the event as an official global media partner and provide full live coverage. It said it will broadcast not only major exhibitions and announcements but also the 2015 Korea Game Awards and e-Sports competitions such as Naver 2015 League of Legends KeSPA Cup and Blade & Soul Tournament 2015, which will be held on the side lines to the show.

Source: Koreatimes