On the morning of the 5th at KINTEX Exhibition Center 1 in Goyang, Gyeonggi. Despite the cold weather dropping to minus 5 degrees, the exhibition hall was buzzing with visitors. They came to enjoy Korea's leading subculture exhibition, the Anime X Game Festival 2025 (AGF 2025). They hurried along carrying large shopping bags printed with characters provided at each booth. Cosplayers dressed as their favorite characters also drew eyes and amped up the atmosphere on site.
AGF, which began in 2018, is Korea's largest animation and game festival and is called the mecca of so-called "otaku." It is a comprehensive exhibition that encompasses not only animation and games but also comics, light novels, and virtual YouTubers across subculture content. This year's event runs for three days from the 5th to the 7th of this month. With a total of 71 companies participating, large game companies, including main sponsor Smilegate and the so-called 3N of the game industry—Nexon, Netmarble, and NCSOFT—joined AGF 2025.
◇ "Two hours just to try a game"… a full gathering of subculture culture
Visitors lined up at each game company's booth to try subculture games or buy merchandise. Smilegate unveiled Korea's first demo zone for the new subculture title "Miraesi," and the wait time alone exceeded two hours. Netmarble held an 8th anniversary stage for the service of "Fate/Grand Order (FGO)."
Lines also formed at booths such as SHIFT UP's "Goddess of Victory: Nikke," Neowiz's "Browndust2," which marked its 2.5th anniversary of service, and NCSOFT's "Limit Zero Breakers." Overseas publishers drew attention as well, including China's Yostar with "Arknights" and Japan's Cygames, which made its first appearance at a domestic event this year with "Uma Musume Pretty Derby." In particular, with many limited items available only at AGF, visitors were willing to endure long waits.
Kim Se-han, 25, who came from Incheon to see AGF that day, said, "I'm a 'Uma Musume' fan, and I came to buy merchandise after hearing they would set up a booth at this year's AGF," adding, "The appeal of subculture is that the pretty 'bishoujo' characters keep you looking."
Animation booths also saw a steady stream of visitors. A long line stretched at the booth for "Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – Infinity Castle Arc," which drew more than 5.6 million cumulative viewers and ranked No. 1 at the domestic box office this year. At the booths of ANIPLUS, an animation-focused distributor, and Daewon Media, various animation goods, figures, comic books, and gacha were on sale.
A DJ booth, known as AGF's "attraction," was also set up. This booth appears each year in front of the cloakroom and became famous on social media (SNS) as "otage," a support performance by Japanese otaku, took root in Korea. When the DJ selects theme songs from popular animations, fans dance along. Fans were initially reserved, but as the excitement rose, those holding light sticks and wearing character T-shirts rushed to the front of the DJ and moved dynamically.
At some game company cosplay stages, professional cosplayers transformed into characters and struck poses. Visitors repeatedly hit the shutter, holding high-end cameras or phones. Cheers erupted each time characters were introduced.
◇ Big game companies gather at AGF, not G-Star… 100,000 visitors expected this year
A notable feature this year is the large number of major game companies taking part in AGF. In particular, although the 3N (Nexon, NCSOFT, Netmarble) did not participate in G-Star held in Nov., all attended AGF 2025. The same goes for Smilegate and NHN. The reason they are joining AGF is the rising popularity of subculture. In fact, AGF 2024 drew 72,081 visitors, according to the organizing committee's tally, the highest turnout ever. The committee expects more than 100,000 visitors this year.
Unlike G-Star, which focuses mainly on demos, AGF thrives on secondary creations and cultural consumption such as merchandise purchases, cosplay, and voice actor events. AGF visitors also tend to show higher IP (intellectual property) loyalty than general gamers, which is appealing. The industry projects that the global mobile subculture game market will reach about 22 trillion won by 2033. Subculture, once regarded as a niche taste, has now become a mainstream culture where capital is invested and widespread popularity follows.
Lee Chan-u, 22, who attended AGF again this year after last year, said, "This year's booths are more dazzling than last year's, and there are more visitors," adding, "Compared with just five years ago, I can feel that the general public's perception of subculture has improved a lot."