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G-STAR 2019 opens the gateway for indie studios to the Korean market worth $9 billion this year

G-STAR 2019 opens the gateway for indie studios to the Korean market worth $9 billion this year

Indie developers are increasingly looking to the Asian territory to reach a wider audience for their games. With its massive installed user base, Korea, in particular, is now the fifth-largest region worldwide for games overall, behind only the US, China, Japan and the UK.

It’s no wonder that business-minded games companies want a slice of the market value projected to exceed $9 billion this year. But it can be hard for smaller studios without local knowledge to identify opportunities, make contact or negotiate a deal in the area.

Your best gateway to the Asian games market

That’s where Asia’s biggest games exhibition, G-STAR comes in. As well as general attendance approaching a quarter of a million visitors to the 55,000 square meter-Busan Exhibition and Convention Center, more than 2,000 industry delegates will attend to do business on trade-only days.

As the best gateway to the games market in Asia, G-STAR has the highest volume of B2B exhibitors in Asia and game exhibitors, with typical attendance from 36 countries. Providing a forum for small studios to meet the biggest publishers looking for the next hit game to bring into the region, the annual event is well established as an international hub for business.

Easier for indies


To facilitate international trade, G-STAR has now made it even easier for publishers to discover developer talent right on the show floor. New for 2019, the Indie Showcase is an area of the expo entirely devoted to giving indies the chance to demo their games. As well as generating public feedback on work in progress, it’s also a highly effective shop window to attract interest from those elusive publishers.

There is still a chance to have a table at the event! G-STAR has set aside a number of spots for indies, in this zone between the B2C and B2B areas. A few are still available: contact Sophia Drake for information.

We are also still accepting entrants for the Big Indie Pitch, also managed by Sophia Drake. This unique “speed dating” format gives each developer four minutes with each panel of experts and is a fun way to promote your game. Entrants to the Big Indie Pitch will get real feedback from the event. The winner will also get editorial coverage in Pocket Gamer, AppSpy and beyond, making this a great chance to get you, your studio and your game played by the world, alongside potentially winning one of our brand new bespoke Indie packages that can be used to promote and market your game across Steel Media’s portfolio of sites and events.

Games on display in the indie table area will be reviewed and voted by local gamers too - the best-voted game will be awarded a prize.

Find out more!

G-STAR takes place in Busan, Korea between November 14th and 17th. Registration is now open at the official site.


Staff Writer