'G-Star 2021' Closes... Gamer Passion Unstoppable Even by COVID-19

[Asia Economy Reporter Kang Nahum] After two years, the largest domestic game exhibition 'G-STAR 2021' returned offline and concluded its five-day schedule on the 21st.

Prioritizing quarantine measures, the event allowed entry only to all visitors regardless of age, including exhibitors from participating companies, who had completed vaccination or confirmed a negative PCR test. The exhibition hall was also operated under strict quarantine rules.

This year, it was estimated that about 28,000 people visited BEXCO in Busan over five days. Compared to the 240,000 visitors in 2019, this is only about 10%, but the enthusiasm of attendees for games was no less than in previous years, as daily admission tickets (limited to 6,000 entries per day) were sold out.

Before the event, there were many concerns that G-STAR would struggle to succeed. The number of booths and participating companies decreased by about 50% compared to previous years, and even the three major domestic game companies known as the 3N (NCSoft, Nexon, Netmarble) did not participate.

However, thanks to solid preparations by emerging industry leaders like Kakao Games and Krafton, known as the '2K', as well as mid-sized game companies, the event was considered a relative success. In particular, Kakao Games, the main sponsor, shone at the venue by showcasing a total of seven game lineups, including some of this year's most popular titles such as ‘Odin: Valhalla Rising’, ‘Friends Shot: Anyone’s Golf’, ‘Guardian Tales’, and ‘Eternal Return’.

Krafton attracted visitors' attention by offering various events and experiences along with its new release ‘PUBG: New State’, while Gravity welcomed fans with a total of 12 games, including new titles ‘Ragnarok Begins’, ‘Ragnarok V: Resurrection’, and ‘PROJECT T (tentative)’.

Shift Up created a booth space where visitors could watch the trailer videos of its new game ‘NIKKE: Goddess of Victory’ and another highly anticipated title ‘Project: Eve’. Angel Games drew attention by presenting new games ‘Tower of God M’ and ‘Wonderous: The Arena’, while Tencent Aurora Studio showcased ‘Moonlight Blade M’.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

The BTB hall set up in the second exhibition center was held offline for three days from the 17th to the 19th, and online for four days until the 20th. Ultimately, a total of 1,367 participants from 693 companies across 44 countries attended the BTB business matching.

Compared to 2020 (45 countries, 527 companies, 655 participants), the number of participating companies increased by 166, and buyers more than doubled. With the resumption of offline meetings, on-site paid buyer registrations expanded, and the BTB live business matching (non-face-to-face video meetings) introduced last year created a synergistic effect.

The hottest issues at this year’s G-STAR were undoubtedly the metaverse (extended virtual world), blockchain, and non-fungible tokens (NFTs). Notably, Wemade became the most spotlighted game company without even setting up a booth in the BTC hall. Wemade CEO Jang Hyun-guk sharply criticized regulatory authorities on blockchain games during a press conference, gaining industry sympathy.

CEO Jang said, "In Korea, if the game economy or assets move outside the game, it is defined as gambling. There is serious doubt whether this standard fits game play," and argued for a new definition regarding gambling-related laws. He added, "Wemade is leading the paradigm shift toward P2E, but Wemade did not create it alone, nor is it indispensable. The flow of games cannot be stopped by anyone or any company."

The G-STAR conference was also dominated by the two keywords metaverse and blockchain. Lee Ki-yong, CEO of Realcheck, gave a lecture titled ‘Application of Blockchain and NFT in Games’, highlighting the negative aspects of NFTs. He said, "Currently, numerous NFT platforms are thriving, and game companies are developing their own platforms, but each platform differs in NFT issuance processes, rules, and underlying blockchain technology. From the user’s perspective, this inevitably causes confusion, and the burden of determining which NFT platform is most stable and how to utilize it falls on the users."

Lee Seung-hee, Head of Korean Business at The Sandbox, attracted attention with a lecture titled ‘Games and the Metaverse’. He explained The Sandbox’s business based on the metaverse and NFTs, stating, "The metaverse is one of the hot keywords in 2021, and the next-generation games incorporating the metaverse will be ‘NFTs’, whose future will surpass imagination."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.