At G-STAR, fun games and serious business
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G-STAR 2013(Nov. 14-17, BEXCO)
Korea’s largest game festival, G-STAR, will be held at BEXCO in Haeundae from Nov. 14-17. Photo shows the Starcraft booth from last year’s gathering.
In its ninth year, Korea’s biggest game festival will be held under the theme of “Game Together, Dream Forever.
More than 450 game-related businesses, including Nexen, Neowiz, Kakao, Blizzard and Nintendo, will occupy 2,261 booths. This is a 7.1 percent increase from last year’s 2,111 booths.
The key characteristic of G-STAR 2013 will be an expansion of the B2B (business-to-business) Hall for domestic and foreign buyers. This year’s B2B Hall will have a staggering 1,026 booths, a 41.3 percent increase from last year’s 726 booths. The size of the exhibition space is 18,000 square meters (193,750 square feet), compared to last year’s 13,200 square meters.
The B2B Hall is a space where game-related companies and entrepreneurs hold consultations. Game companies participating in the B2B Hall include domestic firms like Nexen, Daum, Neocyon and Xenics, and foreign companies like Blizzard Entertainment, Wargaming, Nintendo, Sony, Nvidia and SanDisk.
G-STAR Investment Market, which connects promising game development companies with potential investors, has also expanded. The number of small and midsize companies participating in the G-STAR Investment Market has increased to 50 this year, while the number of investors has risen to 40. These figures are double from last year.
For the first time this year, the G-STAR Conference will include companies from around the world, proving G-Star’s status as a premier game event. G-STAR Conference will have about 30 sessions divided into two categories: game business and game technology.
Executives of global IT companies such as Google, YouTube, DeNA and Oculus VR will make presentations. Brendan Iribe, CEO of Oculus VR, who won the Best Hardware Award at the 2013 E3 event, will be the keynote speaker and interact with domestic and foreign game industry participants.
Participating companies in the B2C Hall include Nexen, Daum, Neocyon, Monawa, Nuri Star Ducks, Lucy Media, Blizzard, Wargaming, Nintendo, Sony and Nvidia.
- Ticket prices: Adults 6,000 won and 3,000 won for age 18 and under.
- Hours: 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
- How to get there: Walk five minutes from Centum City Station, Metro line 2.
- Information: G-STAR Secretariat (02-6000-6694, www.gstar.or.kr)
The source of news: Dynamic Busan
