November 19th, 8 AM, although there was an hour left before the gates opened, Busan Bexco was full of people waiting for G-STAR 2022. They were waiting for the open, enduring the cold with hot packs. As the gate opened, they hurried to experience as many booths as possible. Security guards demanded to care about safety because the rush can lead to an accident.

G-STAR 2022 (G-STAR), the international game exhibition, was held from November 17th to November 20th by K-Games. G-STAR is a global game exhibition held in Busan since 2009, for 14 years. G-STAR of this year became normalized for three years because of COVID-19, returning to gamers with twice the scale compared to last year.

This time, 43 countries, 987 companies, and 2,947 booths participated in G-STAR. This is twice the number of last year (45 countries, 638 companies, and 1,080 booths). The host separated the entrance for online pre-tickets and purchasing time for on-site tickets to prevent participants’ overcrowding and put in additional staffing of safety management and on-site operation, being ready for its scale.

Many people went to the booths of the big game companies to experience the new releasing games as the size grew. Big game companies such as Nexon, Netmarble, and Kakaogames pre-released new games at G-STAR and made space where gamers could experience them. Even though gamers had to wait more than one hour to enjoy the new games, the line of the waiting people didn’t end as they kept coming.

Visiting of several influencers also attracted the attention of gamers. Big game companies invited various influencers like creators and professional gamers who are active on the internet broadcast platforms. In addition, fan signing events, where fans and creators can communicate in person, was held in the “G-STAR Playground” booth, run by the cooperation of Inven (webzine and community specialized in the game) and G-STAR.

The “G-STAR X BIC Showcase” booth operated with Busan Indie Connect Festival was also popular. In this booth, people can experience 40 indie games (usually video games that individuals or small groups developed at a small cost). Cute graphics and sensible vibes only from indie games gave different charms that cannot come out from big game companies’ games to gamers.

Meanwhile, some people said the event was inconvenient because there were not enough rest sites. The rest spaces were arranged, but they were deficient, so that corner of the exhibition was full of people taking a break by squatting down. Lee Kyung-Hwan (Dept. of Media & Communication, 22) said, “I looked for resting space as my legs ached, standing too long. However, I felt sorry that there was not enough space to rest. It would be great if there were more spaces for breaks.”

Reporter Im Hyeon-Gyu

Translated by Lee Yoon-Seo