G-Star 2019 vows to shine despite Nexon’s absence
This year’s G-Star global game exhibition will take place on a larger scale compared to previous years, despite the absence of the nation’s top game company Nexon, and will offer a variety of new experiences to visitors including fifth-generation (5G) network-powered games, an organizer of the exhibition said Wednesday.
Korea Association of Game Industry (K-GAMES) President Kang Shin-chul said during a press conference in Seoul that the participation of game and IT companies from around the world such as X.D. Global and YouTube will also contribute to attracting more visitors.
G-Star 2019 is scheduled for Nov. 14 to 17 at the BEXCO convention center in Busan under the slogan “Experience the New.”
“We have faced some difficulties in preparing for this year’s event, but worked hard to overcome them to hold a successful event,” Kang said. “We will continue to give efforts to bring pleasure to gamers and help participating companies achieve tangible business results.”
Concerns have been raised over the success of the annual event following Nexon’s decision not to attend the exhibition for the first time since it kicked off in 2005. Nexon has installed hundreds of booths and given demonstrations of its new games at the event every year, contributing to attracting enthusiastic gamers.
Kang said it was regrettable that the leading game company was unable to join the event, but added, “Whether to participate in the event is a decision of an individual company.”
He said K-GAMES has successfully attracted other companies to fill up the vacancy and install booths instead of Nexon, noting that the scale of the event is expected to be larger than the previous year.
LG Uplus, a domestic mobile carrier that has showcased 5G-powered streaming game service, will participate in the event, while Finnish mobile game development company Supercell will serve as the main sponsor.
K-GAMES said it has also redesigned the G-Star homepage to improve accessibility and convenience for users, and plans to launch a mobile application both in Google Play and the Apple App Store in October.