G-Star 2024 kicks off in BEXCO, Busan, celebrating its 20th anniversary

Visitors are enjoying games at G-Star 2024, Korea’s biggest game show, which opened in BEXCO, Busan, on November 14. Yonhap News

G-Star 2024, Korea's largest gaming exhibition, kicked off at BEXCO in Busan on November 14. Shortly after the doors opened at 11 a.m., the line for new game demos at the booths of major game companies was full. An hour-long wait was not uncommon.

Visitors watched new game introductions on the big screen, took photos, and waited their turn to decide which booth to visit next. From children dressed as Super Mario in a red hat and suspenders to teenagers who came to the exhibition instead of school on CSAT day and adults in various cosplays, the common denominator was “game fans.”

G-Star, which celebrated its 20th anniversary this year, kicked off with a four-day schedule. According to the Korea Association of Game Industry, which organizes G-Star, 1,375 companies from 44 countries participated in the event. There were 3,359 booths, the largest ever for both B2C (business-to-consumer) and B2B (business-to-business).

Nexon, the main sponsor, has set up a large B2C exhibition space with 300 booths. Nexon, the main sponsor, had a large B2C exhibition space with 300 booths: It will offer four demonstration opportunities, including action games “First Bursker: Khazan” and “Project Overkill,” which take advantage of the world views of its signature movies “Dungeon & Fighter,” as well as “Super Vibe: and “Gensei Online” At the event, models realistically dressed as Game of Thrones' white walkers were the center of attention.

Krafton will showcase shooter games “Project Arc,” “Dingcom Together,” and “inZOI.” Inzoi, a life simulation genre that is rare in Korea, is expected to be the Korean version of The Sims. Other games that attracted visitors included “Crimson Desert” by Pearl Abyss, “Valhalla Survival” by Lionheart Studio, “Architect: Land of Exiles” by HiveIM, and “Dragon Sword” by Webzen. The Indie Showcase booth, which was significantly expanded from last year, featured 60 developers with fresh ideas. Steam, the world's largest PC game distribution platform, also set up a portable gaming PC “Steam Deck” experience area.

This year's Indie Showcase was also characterized by a move away from the one-size-fits-all approach centered on mobile massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPGs) and toward diversifying game platforms and genres. For example, Nexon's Khazan and Pearl Abyss' Desert are standalone titles that can be enjoyed on both PC and console platforms. Netmarble's Mongil will be available on PC, console, and mobile. “We will further broaden the base of game users by diversifying our competitive IPs to multi-platforms such as PC and consoles,” said Bang Joon-hyuk, chairman of Netmarble, who visited G-Star for the first time in five years.

Many of the participants we met were “repeat visitors.” They cited G-Star's ability to try out various new games before they are officially released and meet famous game streamers as their favorite things about the event. High school student Kwon Eun-young (16), who has been coming to G-Star for two years in a row, said, “This year, I'm more excited because my favorite voice actors will be participating in the event,” adding, “I hope there will be a lot of fresh games from Korea.”

A man in his 40s, dressed in a tactical uniform like a first-person shooter (FPS) character, said, “I've been coming every year because I can experience not only new games from big game companies but also games made by university students.” “I hope game companies will make games with high game quality rather than just chasing profits,” he said.

※This article has undergone review by a professional translator after being translated by an AI translation tool.