On the first day of Korea's largest game exhibition, G-STAR 2025, the scene was packed with gamers from across the country. From office workers who took a day off to enjoy games to children holding their mothers' hands, people who love games gathered in Busan from all over. Korea's game industry also unveiled a variety of new titles and attractions on site to meet their expectations.
On the morning of the 13th, the area in front of Busan Exhibition & Convention Center (BEXCO) in Haeundae District, Busan, was bustling ahead of general admission. General admission began at 11 a.m., but the queue had stretched long since two hours earlier. Lines split between visitors trying to enter Exhibition Hall 1, where major domestic game companies were concentrated, and those heading to Exhibition Hall 2, home to global game companies and distributors. Twenty minutes before entry, staff kept shouting for people to raise their wristbands. That was to check the wristbands, which serve as tickets, to ensure visitors from all over the country could enter quickly and safely.
Exhibition Hall 1 generated a heated atmosphere around booths from major domestic game companies such as NCSOFT and Netmarble. NCSOFT, participating as the main sponsor, filled the entire right side of the hall. The booth consisted of a central dome theater and two demo zones on either side for Aion 2 and Cinder City. Long lines formed for the approximately 200 PC demo stations, with wait times exceeding three hours. Lee Gyu-ho (35), met in the Aion 2 demo queue that day, said, "I work in Ulsan and took a day of leave to come to G-STAR today," adding, "I usually play a lot of NCSOFT games, and after watching the Aion 2 live broadcast my expectations grew, so I came to try it myself."
Netmarble, which set up a large front-facing booth, was also one of the liveliest spots at G-STAR. The demo queues for four new titles, including Solo Leveling: KARMA, exceeded as long as 1 hour and 30 minutes, and staff were constantly reorganizing the lines. In Netmarble's Project Evilbane zone, game influencers streamed live demo play, while in front of The Seven Deadly Sins: Origin, costumed players dressed as in-game characters appeared to put on performances. Even amid the clamor, the eyes of users trying out the new games were sharp. Wearing headsets to block out surrounding noise, they focused so intensely on the games it seemed as if they might be pulled into the monitors.
On the left side of the hall, KRAFTON's Palworld Mobile demo zone caught the eye. The wait time for this game also exceeded two hours. With the long wait, some visitors could be seen playing mobile games while standing in line. A college student surnamed Kim (25), who had just tried Palworld that day, said, "The optimization was better than I expected, so I had fun playing," adding, "In particular, the design of capturing Pals for various purposes was enjoyable." Next to the demo zone, KRAFTON had set up "Cafe PUBG," a space where users could relax with coffee and donuts.
Outside Busan Exhibition & Convention Center (BEXCO), the outdoor plaza was lined with long queues around the outdoor exhibition areas set up by Netmarble and NCSOFT. Cosplayers dressed as their favorite characters made the G-STAR scene even more vibrant. High school girls dressed as "Mast" from Nikke and "Nozomi" and "Hikari" from Blue Archive introduced themselves by the stage names "Rieun," "Ev," and "Chapssalgara," respectively. They said, "Today is the college entrance exam day, so we didn't go to school and came in the morning," adding, "We've been cosplaying our favorite characters and coming to G-STAR since last year, and it's as fun as we expected."
Exhibition Hall 2, which gathered global game companies and indie developers, was not as crowded as Hall 1, but the age range of visitors was comparatively more diverse. In particular, G-STAR Indie Showcase 2.0: Galaxy, featuring various indie developers, hosted indie games that, while not flashy in graphics, showed the unique character of small studios. Some games highlighted charming pixel art, while others used distinctive puzzle mechanics that stopped visitors in their tracks.
A person surnamed Han (40), who visited G-STAR with a 7-year-old son that day, said, "I came because I wanted my son to experience various games, but Hall 1 seemed to have a lot of queues and many difficult games, so we came here," adding, "I'm satisfied because my son is having fun trying many different games."