Korea's Biggest Game Exhibition Opens in Busan

Published on 2015/11/15 | Source

People wait for tickets to the G-Star game exhibition at BEXCO in Busan on Thursday. /Newsis

The annual G-Star game trade show, the biggest event in the local gaming industry, opened on Thursday at BEXCO in Busan for a four-day run.

Now in its 11th year, the show brings together a record 633 companies, including local heavyweights Nexon and NCsoft, as well as global companies such as EA and Sony Entertainment.

Nexon, Korea's largest game developer, is featuring games in 100 booths this year, including 15 new titles, eight of them for mobile devices. The high proportion of mobile devices reflects the global trend. In 2012, mobile games accounted for only 14 percent of total sales of the global game industry, but this year they surpassed 30 percent.

Sony Entertainment is exhibiting five consoles including PlayStation VR, a virtual reality device.

Samsung is at the show for the first time with curved screens at NCsoft booths. A Samsung spokesperson said, "The curved monitor enables a wider field of vision so it is well suited for games".

Absent this year are developers such as SundayToz, Wemade Entertainment and NHN Entertainment. Netmarble is staying away from the public areas and set up a booth in the corporate section instead.