The biggest hit ever, Busan G-Star 2023… Managerial actions are also noteworthy.

The international game exhibition ‘G-Star 2023’ concluded its four-day run on the 19th. This year’s G-Star 2023 was held at the largest scale ever (3328 booths) and many users visited the site.

Here, first-generation game industry startup founders made a surprise visit to the G-Star site and attracted attention. Reclusive executives who usually do not make themselves seen, such as Kwon Hyuk-bin, Chief Vision Officer (CVO) of Smilegate Holdings, and Kim Taek-jin, CEO of NCSoft, visited BEXCO.

In addition, Jang Hyeon-guk, CEO of Wemade, who served as the main sponsor of G-Star 2023, showed his presence through active actions.

CEO Kim Taek-jin meets with reporters to share company direction and strategy

NCSoft participated in G-Star for the first time in 8 years. The biggest concern this time was whether CEO Taekjin Kim would visit the BEXCO site. CEO Kim visited the NCSoft booth around 11 a.m. on the 16th and announced the company’s future plans and vision.

CEO Kim said, “I came out late last night and early this morning to see if anything was missing and did my best to prepare it,” and added, “I am still worried about whether anything is missing and preparing to welcome players.”

He continued, “The gaming field is developing a lot, and we are working hard to find genres that NCSoft can play a role in. Through LLL, we are trying to show a new side in the MMO shooting genre, focusing on the console market. “We are trying to meet users with games with a more casual feel rather than MMORPGs like BSS and Battle Crush. I hope people will pay more attention to this aspect,” he said.

Lastly, CEO Kim said, “We are much more looking forward to next year or the year after. Among the things we are preparing internally, there are a few things we want to show. We will introduce a new lineup next year and after, showing that NCSoft is continuing to take one step at a time. “I want to show myself,” he said.

Even after the Q&A, CEO Kim walked around the NCSoft booth and looked at the visitors who participated in the demonstration. He answered questions from reporters and even took a photo with a passing visitor.

Hyukbin Kwon, CVO, demonstrated various booths for an hour

CVO Kwon Hyeok-bin visited BEXCO Exhibition Hall 1 around 3pm on the 16th and stopped by the booths of major game companies such as Smilegate RPG, NCSoft, Krafton, and Wemade to demonstrate games. CVO Kwon is well known as a reclusive manager.

When asked why he visited the G-Star site for the first time in four years, he answered, “I came to cheer.” When asked about Lost Ark Mobile’s official release schedule or sales target, he declined to comment, saying, “I think it would be right for Ji Won-gil, CEO of Smilegate RPG, to answer.”

CVO Kwon visited the Wemade booth and demonstrated Legend of Ymir. He showed great interest in the game by wearing headphones and manipulating the character himself. CVO Kwon asked several questions related to game development to Song Mo-heon, CEO of Wemade (COO) and Wemade producer Seok-hoon Imir, who were present at the demonstration.

CVO Kwon, who visited the Krafton booth, demonstrated ‘Project Enjoy’. He showed great interest in competitors’ games by visiting NCSoft, demonstrating BBS in person, and listening to explanations about LLL.

Lastly, CVO Kwon expressed his expectations for the next work, saying, “I’m most looking forward to Lost Ark Mobile. I’m rooting for everyone.”

CEO Jang Hyun-guk makes a bold move at G-Star 2023

CEO Jang Hyun-guk, who showed the most media-friendly appearance among game industry executives, continued his aggressive actions at G-Star 2023.

At the G-Star 2023 press conference on the 16th, CEO Jang expressed confidence in the global success of ‘Nightcrow’ and announced that he would achieve results in the Chinese market based on Mir’s intellectual property rights (IP), which have a strong presence in China.

CEO Jang said, “Wemix is ​​number one among blockchain game platforms, but when looking at the blockchain itself, it is true that there are many users on other platforms,” adding, “So, we started the ‘Unagi’ project, which links multiple blockchains, to enable users on other platforms. “We have enabled people to access the game with an easy UX (user experience), and we are confident that ‘Night Crow’ will succeed through this.”

Regarding the newly released baseball game Fantastic Four Baseball, he said, “It became ‘Let’s Join Us’ because a team that is good at making baseball came out,” and “We make games in a thorough bottom-up manner. We raise our hands and promise to dedicate ourselves to making it.” “Give them a chance. It is not desirable to create an unreasonable portfolio,” he said.

CEO Jang also delivered a speech at the ‘G-CON 2023’ held at the BEXCO Convention Hall in Busan on the 17th. CEO Jang said, “When a new platform or device appears, it is common for the existing market to die and growth cannot accumulate, but this was not the case in the gaming market. This is the biggest attraction of the gaming content industry.” “The gaming industry market has grown cumulatively over the past 20 years, although as new technologies and platforms emerge they replace some of the existing devices,” he added.

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On the 18th, CEO Jang also gave a special lecture at BEXCO for students of Seoul National University and KAIST. Wemade invited a total of 110 students from Seoul National University’s blockchain society ‘DeCipher’ and KAIST development society ‘SPARCS’ to ‘G-Star 2023’ held at BEXCO.

According to Wemade, CEO Jang gave a lecture on the present and future of the blockchain game industry under the theme of ‘Wemix 3.0 Mega Ecosystem’. He also expressed his hope that many passionate and capable young talents will gather in the blockchain industry, which has infinite growth potential.