On the 16th, the Korea Game Industry Association unveiled the schedule and speakers of ‘G-CON 2023’, an essential side event of the international game exhibition G-Star.
‘G-CON 2023’, held as a G-Star exclusive conference, will welcome audiences with lectures by star developers representing the game industry in about 40 sessions and critical topics that penetrate the current game industry, such as AI, remake, and IP.
First, Shuhei Yoshida, who oversees PlayStation and SIE, served as SIE Worldwide CEO and is currently in charge of indie projects, joins G-CON as a speaker. He was also awarded the 2023 British Academy Film Awards Lifetime Achievement Award earlier this year for his outstanding achievements in the game industry.
Another legendary figure, editor-in-chief Kazuhiko Torishima, will also attend this G-CON. He is credited with discovering and nurturing Akira Toriyama, the writer of, etc., from the rookie stage and raising ‘Sonen Jump’ beyond Japan to become one of the best manga magazines in the world.
Opening keynote session on the 2nd day by Chang Hyun-guk, CEO of WeMade, who is a leader in the blockchain ecosystem and has achieved remarkable results with his latest work and innovative use of super-giant generative AI that is currently having a significant impact on the entire content industry Ha Jung-woo, head of the NAVER Cloud Center, who participated as a keynote speaker on the first day on the theme of “, is also a critical lecture not to be missed.
Co-COO Shuji Utsumi, who is in charge of Sega’s games and transmedia; Yoko Taro, director of “, who stole the hearts of many gamers based on his original worldview and outstanding game quality, and Saito, who managed the franchise at Square Enix together with him. PD Yosuke was also listed at this conference. Producer Yosuke Saito is in charge of producing another Square Enix franchise title.
Takayuki Nakayama, director of, considered one of the best titles in franchise history, and Eric Batiza of EA Motiv Studio, who is in charge of the development of which ignited a remake craze, one of the most critical topics in the recent industry. The director will also share all the know-how of the development process through this conference.
One of the most prominent features of this year’s conference is that many game developers who have been developing for a long time and have been loved steadily, as well as major game developers who are well-received for their new senses and novel ideas, gather in one place.
One of the most anticipated games of 2023 selected by PlayStation, Jae-Hyun Yu, the developer of, Studio CEO Adam Hwanyus, the director of, which has been well received by many gamers for its sensational directing and story, with original graphics. Paul Emile Boucher, the art director of Slow Clap of, which was evaluated as one of the best action games of 2022, will tell the story of their original game development process.
In addition, Kim Sang-won, developer of and, known for its incredible difficulty and addictiveness, and Daigo Sato, famous for being a top-notch narrative-oriented developer, also joined as speakers this year, following 2019.
Producer Yusuke Tomizawa of Bandai Namco Entertainment, who was in charge of planning and producing the series and , producer of and IP communication of the series, and producer of fighting action games Director Akira Katano of , which was highly popular at EVO 2023, the world's largest fighting tournament, and successfully introduced <Black Desert 'Nation of the Morning' to the global market, attracting many users. Ju Jae-sang, the head of the game design office at Pearl Abyss, who received favorable reviews from the , was also named as a speaker.
Lastly, the creator and current CEO of Panachi Digital Games, Petris Desalle, David Stanton, Deep Silver Dambuster Studio Director of, synonymous with incredible action, and Innovator under 30 selected by Forbes. Jinha Lee, CPO of Spatial, a TED speaker, and Jinho Oh, partner of BITKRAFT, who served as the former CEO of Riot Games Worldwide Publishing and is currently an investment expert in the Asian game market, will share their insights at this year’s conference.
An official from the G-Star Organizing Committee said, “As many developers have yet to be revealed, including the two keynote speakers this year, we ask for a lot of interest in the upcoming lineup and conference.”
Meanwhile, this conference, in which game-specific payment solution Xsolla participates as a track sponsor, will be held for two days from November 16th (Thursday) to 17th (Friday) at Busan BEXCO Convention Hall and will be newly launched on August 16th if you wish to participate. Passes can be purchased through the official G-Star website.
