On October 11th and 12th, a game developer conference was held in Gwangju, the city of light, to proclaim a new vision for K-games. Hosted by the Gwangju Information and Culture Industry Promotion Agency (Director Lee Kyung-joo), ‘GGDC 2024’ was attended by 40 speakers, including major domestic and international game companies and game development experts, and was held simultaneously in two tracks at the 1st lecture hall of the 245 Jeonil Building in Gwangju and the 2nd lecture hall of the Gwangju Video Complex Culture Center.
The main feature of this year’s ‘GGDC 2024’ was that it focused on game development lectures outside of business areas, such as marketing, to revitalize the game development ecosystem in the Gwangju region. In addition, it provided a forum for in-depth discussions among experts on developing the game ecosystem in regions outside the metropolitan area.
Experts from various fields who participated in the symposium titled ‘Building Regional Infrastructure and Specialization Strategies for Activating the K-Game Industry’, presented by Professor Kim Jeong-yoon of the Game and Film Department of Gachon University, recognized the importance of building regional infrastructure and unanimously agreed on the need for influential specialized events for this purpose.
Professor Kim Jeong-yoon said, “We need to establish an effective strategy for youth employment based on games, a key industry with expected future growth,” and proposed a long-term regional infrastructure construction strategy tailored to local characteristics, created together by industries and educational institutions such as schools based on connections between the metropolitan area and local governments.
Following the opening remarks by Professor Kim Jeong-yoon, a symposium was held with panelists including Korea Mobile Game Association Chairman Hwang Seong-ik, Korea Creative Content Agency former President Cho Hyun-rae, NCSoft Executive Director Jang Hyun-young, Geniesoft CEO Kim Do-hyeon, and Gwangju Information & Culture Industry Promotion Agency Headquarters Director Lim Jeong-ho. Everyone agreed that “For the domestic content industry to continue to develop, balanced development with close links between the metropolitan area and local regions should take priority, and in particular, to develop regional ecosystem infrastructure, it is necessary first to establish a community hub centered on experienced core development personnel, and for this purpose, local government events such as GGDC are necessary.”
On the first day of this lecture, there were many lectures for indie developers, such as Supercent CTO Kim Dong-gun’s hyper casual market strategy, D&M CEO Son Yu-rak’s lecture on in-game store composition, and Storm Games CEO Jeong Man-su’s lecture on the game development process. On the second day, there was a lecture on the latest Unity 6 lighting techniques by Unity Korea Senior Consultant Park Jong-tae, indie game market insights by Smilegate Holdings Assistant Manager Kim Min-su, and a lecture by Indira CEO Kim Seong-wan on the Godo Engine, which has recently attracted interest from many indie game developers.
In particular, it was impressive that many experienced Korean game developers attended GGDC2024 and shared their in-depth knowledge. At the center of this were CEO Ji-in Kim of Grampus, Team Leader Joo-hee Lee of Gragames, CEO Hyeon-jin Lee of Delicious Games, and CEO Man-son Jeong of Trypearl Games, who are leading the success story of casual games. They made in-depth efforts to improve the quality of game development in Gwangju through lectures containing practical content useful to indie game developers.
In addition, Runosoft’s Jeongmu-sik advisor received a great response from many indie game developers with a customized lecture on ‘Survival Principles for Indie Game Developers’ based on his experience with various localizations of Spot the Difference and global success.
Additionally, outside the lecture hall, the permanent IndieStars exhibition was designed to allow indie game developers to easily move between the exhibition and the lecture hall. A meaningful space was created where lecturers and participants could easily access indie games and communicate with each other.
In addition to lectures, this year’s GGDC 2024 also featured an indie game showcase exhibition, board game experience, comics market, and cosplay events open to the general public. This made it a meaningful event that received a great response from not only game developers but also the general public.
We are the world’s fourth-largest gaming powerhouse after the US, China, and Japan. However, just emphasizing the power of K-content and the pride in K-games will not make the population cliff, overcrowding in the metropolitan area, and regional extinction crises we face disappear.
Even amid a total crisis in the gaming industry, Gwangju gathered experts from all walks of life to hold a genuine conference and also had a substantial event that included a symposium and a considerable exhibition for indie artists.
“I hope that this event will serve as a communication channel for talents in the Gwangju area and an opportunity for Gwangju to present a new milestone for the game industry,” said Lim Jeong-ho, head of the Gwangju Information and Culture Industry Promotion Agency, appealing to Gwangju’s game development infrastructure and pride. We look forward to ‘Gwangju as a Game City’ and ‘Gwangju as a Hub for Indie Game Development’ starting with GGDC 2024.
