With "G-STAR 2025," the country's largest game exhibition, one month away, worries about its box office performance are growing. Expectations are fading as news spreads that major game companies will not participate and the event is being downsized. Observers say the status of the country's largest game exhibition is wavering as major domestic game companies are attending global game shows such as "Gamescom (Germany)," "ChinaJoy (China)," and "Tokyo Game Show (Japan)" but are skipping G-STAR.
According to the G-STAR Organizing Committee on the 10th, G-STAR 2025 will be held for four days from Dec. 13 to 16 at BEXCO in Busan. The total number of booths at G-STAR 2025 has been set at 3,010. The BTC hall, the exhibition area for general visitors, will have 2,016 booths, with participants including NCSOFT, which is serving as the main sponsor for the first time, as well as KRAFTON, Netmarble, NEOWIZ, Gravity, WEBZEN, Wemade Connect, and Google Korea. The B2B hall, an exhibition area for corporate officials, will have 904 booths, joined by Smilegate, Samsung Electronics, and Tencent Korea.
However, the booth count has decreased from last year. Total booths fell 10.4% from last year's 3,359, and the BTC and BTB halls also dropped 13% and 2%, respectively, from the previous year. The organizing committee plans to recruit additional participants before the opening, but participation by major game companies is uncertain with one month left. Last year, applications for large booths in the BTC hall in Exhibition Hall 1 closed in half a day during early registration.
The problem is that participation by major domestic game companies that would lead the BTC hall exhibition is low. Nexon, last year's main sponsor of G-STAR, will not attend this year's G-STAR. At "G-STAR 2024," Nexon operated a large exhibition space with 300 booths and unveiled four new titles en masse—"First Berserker: Khazan," "Super Vibe," "Hwanse Chuihojeon Online," and "Project Overkill"—but decided not to participate this year. In addition to Nexon, Pearl Abyss, LIONHEART STUDIO, and DRIMAGE (HYBE IM), which built large exhibition booths at last year's G-STAR, will also not attend this year.
Industry insiders point to a strategic shift prioritizing overseas game shows as the cause of domestic game companies "passing on G-STAR." In fact, global game shows such as Gamescom in Germany, Tokyo Game Show in Japan, and ChinaJoy in China featured participants like Nexon and Pearl Abyss, which have declared they will skip this year's G-STAR. Kakao Games, which skipped G-STAR both last year and this year, saw its subsidiary Ocean Drive Studio attend Gamescom for a second consecutive year. With Korea's game industry growth slowing and the need to target overseas markets becoming urgent, companies appear to judge that participating in a domestic game show is not cost-effective relative to the expense.
Another issue is that G-STAR's standing as a global game show has weakened. This is clear from the low participation by overseas game companies. Most overseas companies have introduced and tested new titles through major online and offline game shows from May, including Summer Game Fest, Gamescom, Tokyo Game Show, and Steam Next Fest. Major console makers such as Sony, Microsoft (MS), and Nintendo hold their own online showcases. There is little reason to spend a large expense to unveil new titles at G-STAR, which takes place in November.
Unlike G-STAR, major overseas game shows are rewriting box office records every year. Germany's Gamescom this year was held on a record scale, with 1,568 companies from 72 countries participating. This year's Tokyo Game Show also had 1,138 companies and operated an exhibition hall with 4,159 booths, a 27.9% increase from last year. ChinaJoy, a latecomer, also set an all-time record this year with 313 corporations participating. Notably, 43% of the corporations participating in the B2B hall were foreign corporations.
This year's G-STAR conference expanded its scope beyond games to film, webtoons, and animation under a narrative theme. Speakers include Horii Yuji, the creator of the global game "Dragon Quest," and Jennifer Svedberg-Jen, lead writer of this year's buzzy title "Clair Obscur: Expedition 33." The event for indie games is also being expanded. Through "Indie Showcase 2.0: Galaxy Program," organizers said they will encourage participation from domestic and overseas indie developers and differentiate the show.