G-STAR 2011 Wrapped up with the Largest Crowd Ever

G-STAR 2011 which attracted 384 exhibitors from 28 countries successfully wrapped up its four-day game trade show, recording an all-time high attendance with 290,000 visitors (a preliminary figure).

Visitors lined up to enter the exhibition hall (Photo: Business Wire)

Especially, G-STAR 2011 drew more attention for its wider engagement with diverse groups, for instance, by holding its opening ceremony along with an event to engage neglected neighbors and a family event. In addition, with an independent space for a board game hall on the first floor at Convention Hall, BEXCO, this year’s trade show was evaluated as a place for family visitors to spend more quality time together than previous shows.

On the opening day, Thursday, November 10th, the attendance figure reached 44,000, which is about 4,000 visitors fewer than last year with the delay in the opening of the trade show to 11 am due to the bad weather and the community engagement event with neglected neighbors. However, G-STAR 2011 had an all-time attendance record of 290,000 visitors, attracting 52,000 visitors on Friday, 11th, 93,000 on Saturday, 12th, and 99,000 on Sunday, 13th, which is compared to a figure of 283,000 visitors in G-STAR 2010.

The common feedback from G-STAR 2011-related personnel and visitors is that this year’s trade show took a stronger operational control while hosting more visitors than last year, which is largely thanks to the first-ever online booking system and well-thought-out preparations such as a well-extended spatial planning inside the exhibition hall.

One of the noticeable achievements of this year’s G-STAR trade show is that the position of G-STAR is visibly enhanced on the global stage as on 10th and 11th, Korea Creative Content Agency (President & CEO Lee Jae-woong, KOCCA) signed MOUs with global leading game trade show organizers, Gamescom and CESA, respectively to strengthen cooperation. With the MOUs, KOCCA revealed its intention to accelerate its European market entry, as Korea will be able to participate in Gamescom 2012, the world's largest games event, as a partner country.

In addition, with 20 companies such as Nexon and NCSoft participating, Career Fair for Game Companies was held for job seekers specially interested in the game industry. Attracting 1,200 visitors, the fair was welcomed by young job seekers with much enthusiasm. A person related to one of the participating companies commented that it was exciting to interview more job seekers with skills and experience, committed to the game industry than in the past.

Also, a special lecture was aired through KNN to increase parents’ understanding of game addiction. In addition, through a special seminar focusing on SNG which is gaining gradual popularity, the trade show is seen as a successful event to go beyond enjoying game into promoting awareness and knowledge about game.

The trade show provided great opportunities not only for business-to-consumer (B2C) but also for business-to-business (B2B) connections with 6,800 business inquiries. As the participating companies far outnumbered last year's figure, the business connections were handled at two places, BEXCO Exhibition Hall and Convention Hall, and especially the exhibitors in Korea Creative Content Agency’s Global Hub Center drew a great deal of B2B attention for smart phone games.

“Although G-STAR has gained a regulation as a high-profile game trade show, in order to grow into a global leading game show, it is essential to develop not only online games but also diverse platforms such as mobile games, arcade games, and board games, and we are strongly committed to supporting this goal,” said Lee Jae-woong, President & CEO of Korea Creative Content Agency.

Photos/Multimedia Gallery Available: http://www.businesswire.com/cgi-bin/mmg.cgi?eid=50083059&lang=en