Before opening on the 13th at the Busan Exhibition & Convention Center (BEXCO), G-Star 2025, Korea's largest game exhibition, faced criticism that its "status isn't what it used to be" because many major domestic game companies skipped the event. Compared with last year, the 20th anniversary of the event, the number of domestic participants fell, shrinking the scale, while participation by overseas game companies increased but featured existing titles rather than new releases.
The mood was evident from the opening ceremony. The ceremony, held at 10 a.m., ended relatively simply, unusually without a congratulatory address from the president. The game industry had hoped that President Lee Jae-myung, who pledged support for the game industry and the development of esports, might attend G-Star, but not only did he not attend, he also did not deliver remarks via video. Minister Chae Hwi-young of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism also did not attend.
Attendees at the opening ceremony included Co-chairperson Cho Young-gi of the Korea Association of Game Industry, lawmaker Kim Sung-hoe of the Democratic Party of Korea, lawmaker Jeong Yeon-uk of the People Power Party, Busan Mayor Park Heong-joon, Choi Jae-hwan, head of the Game Content Industry Division at the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, Chairperson Seo Tae-geon of the Game Rating and Administration Committee (GRAC), Acting President Yoo Hyun-seok of the Korea Creative Content Agency (KOCCA), and Yoo Byung-han, chair of the Game Culture Foundation.
Also present were company executives such as NCSOFT CEO Park Byung-moo, Netmarble CEO Kim Byung-gyu, WEBZEN CEO Kim Tae-young, and Krafton Inc. Head of Publishing (Vice President) Lee Jin-hyung. KRAFTON Vice President Lee Jin-hyung said, "Congratulations on the new leap of G-Star in its 21st year," adding, "KRAFTON will continue to introduce new titles with originality and competitiveness and lead innovation and growth in the global game industry."
NCSOFT CEO Kim Taek-jin did not attend the opening ceremony but made a surprise appearance at the "opening session" held that morning. It was his first visit to G-Star in two years since 2023. Kim said, "I think G-Star is not just a place to show our present, but a stage to open together the first scene of the future," noting that he is always thinking about whether the games they make will be chosen when they come out into the world amid cultural changes created by new technologies and new generations.
From the morning, the exhibition hall at BEXCO bustled with game fans. G-Star is Korea's largest game exhibition, drawing 180,000 to 200,000 visitors every year, and total attendance this year is expected to be similar. Booths of major game companies such as NCSOFT, KRAFTON and Netmarble saw a constant stream of visitors.
NCSOFT, the main sponsor of this G-Star, set up an extra-large exhibition space with 300 booths, and crowds flocked to the demo booth for the anticipated MMORPG "Aion 2," quickly creating a long line. Some visitors waited nearly three hours to try it. In front of the "Aion 2" waiting sign reading "120 minutes from here," office worker Ms. Kim, 28, who was waiting her turn, said, "I like games, so I took the KTX from Seoul to attend G-Star 2025 in Busan." She added, "Because 'Aion 2' is considered a highly anticipated title, I really wanted to try the demo. I also plan to check out other booths."
Long lines also formed at the demo booth for KRAFTON's "Palworld Mobile," with wait times of up to 150 minutes. "Palworld Mobile" is a mobile game based on the "Palworld" intellectual property (IP) from Japanese developer Pocketpair. KRAFTON placed life-size models of "Pals," the mysterious creatures in the game, throughout the venue, and visitors lined up to take photos with them. Fans also crowded the experiential rest area "Cafe PUBG," which uses the Battlegrounds IP, leading to queues of up to 90 minutes at one point.
New titles such as Netmarble's "Solo Leveling: KARMA" and WEBZEN's "Gate of Gates" also drew long lines at their demo booths. The scene was lively, but the expressions of visitors trying the new games were serious. Cosplayers dressed as their favorite game characters further amped up the energy.
However, it was disappointing that major companies such as Nexon—which swept six awards, including the President's Award, at the 2025 Korea Game Awards the day before—as well as Smilegate, Kakao Games, Wemade and Pearl Abyss did not participate. That contrasts with how most companies previously flooded new titles at Germany's Gamescom or the Tokyo Game Show. A representative from a domestic game company that did not attend G-Star said, "We already participated in Gamescom and the Tokyo Game Show, so we decided to focus on developing our next titles at the end of the year."
For game companies with a higher share of overseas sales than domestic, it is seen as more effective to target global events. Given that attending major game shows costs a considerable expense, companies appear to be choosing to focus selectively. The industry expects that unless there are major changes in G-Star's operations or strategy, the trend of prioritizing overseas events over G-Star is likely to continue.
This year's G-Star saw increased participation from overseas game companies in place of domestic ones, but they did not unveil new titles and instead ran fan service–oriented experiential booths. Blizzard, famous for "StarCraft," took part in G-Star for the first time in 12 years, raising expectations, but exhibited only existing titles without new releases.