The Largest Game Show in the Seoul Metropolitan Area, 'PlayXpo', Opens on the 11th of Next Month

by Lee YeongKyu

Published 10 Apr.2023 09:53(KST)

Poster for '2023 PlayX4' hosted by Gyeonggi-do next month

The largest game show in the Seoul metropolitan area, '2023 PlayX4,' will be held from June 11 to 14 at KINTEX in Goyang.

Hosted by Gyeonggi Province and organized by the Gyeonggi Content Agency and KINTEX, this event is themed 'Enjoy Game! Make Chance!' and is divided into ▲'opportunities to enjoy' for families, couples, and friends ▲'growth opportunities' for indie and emerging game companies ▲'convergence opportunities' where diverse gaming cultures interact.

The event is broadly divided into an export consultation meeting (May 11?12) and an exhibition (May 11?14). Additionally, there will be campus competitions, tournaments for people with disabilities, and influencer invitation events.

Since esports has been officially included as an event in the Hangzhou Asian Games to be held this September, a national team evaluation match will be held at this festival.

At the export consultation meeting, domestic developers participating offline will be provided one-on-one connections (business matching) with domestic and international buyers, and developers participating online will receive 24-hour interpretation support. So far, 160 companies, including buyers, have confirmed offline participation.

Among them are Nicalis, a U.S. indie-specialized distributor highly regarded in the domestic indie game community; Tilting Point, one of the top 10 U.S. distributors; Gameforge, Germany’s leading PC online game distributor; China’s esi games, which is expanding investments in Korean games; Garena, the largest distributor in Southeast Asia; and VTV Live, a Vietnamese state broadcaster and esports company.

In addition, a special pavilion will be operated to support diversity expansion linked to intellectual property (IP) and export routes to overseas markets. CJ ENM, Xbox, and Bilibili are currently discussing the pavilion’s composition.

Furthermore, seminars will provide strategies for entering emerging markets such as the Philippines, Thailand, and Brazil, along with local trend information. The exhibition will showcase new titles across various game genres, focusing on console games, including arcade, indie, PC, and mobile games. Side events suitable for all ages, such as cosplay competitions, retro markets, and game culture talks, will also be held.

An official from the province stated, "Through this event, we aim to create an opportunity to revitalize the encounters between game companies and gamers, which had been subdued, and to promote a healthy gaming culture once again."