Busan Metropolitan City (Mayor Park Hyung-Joon), Busan Information Industry Promotion Agency (Director Jeong Mun-seop), and Busan Indie Connect Festival Organizing Committee (Chairman Seo Tae-gun, from now on BIC Organizing Committee) hold the Busan Indie Connect Festival 2023 (BIC Festival 2023, from now on referred to as BIC Festival 2023). It was announced on the 28th that the offline event of ‘BIC Festival 2023)’ ended with great success.
The BIC Festival, which renews its enormous scale every year, completed the largest exhibition ever by moving the event venue to BEXCO, a specialized exhibition and convention center. In particular, 18,576 offline visitors, an increase of about 20% from last year, were mobilized, recording a significantly higher number this year, proving once again that it is the largest indie game festival in Korea.
Moving the venue to BEXCO allowed it to provide a spacious and comfortable environment while accommodating offline visitors, which increased by 20% compared to last year. Both exhibitors and visitors who participated in this year’s BIC said they experienced the convenience and qualitative growth of the exhibition.
In addition, 203 works from 22 countries were displayed in the exhibition hall, the largest number ever. It consists of 6 areas, including the general/rookie sector, which is a competitive sector, and the non-competitive sector, Connect Pick, Parade Indie, Public Indie, and Play Zone. In the general/rookie category, 121 new indie games were exhibited, including a puzzle adventure game that reconstructs reality with an instant camera and adventure ▲Sad Owl Studios’ ‘Viewfinder’ and a party-based belt-scrolling RPG game ▲Dosisoft’s ‘Final Knight’ . In addition, 20 works, including ▲ Tim Horey’s ‘Sephiria’ and ▲ Tim Woods’ ‘Sagres’, which were popular at the previous BIC Festival exhibition, were selected in the ‘Connect Pick’ field and received a great response from the ‘BIC Festival fans.
Parade Indie, the first section to be introduced, added a different kind of fun connected to offline festival events. BIC Battleship was formed by selecting nine representative works and characters of BIC in the past, and the zone of BIC’s mascot, ‘I am John Indy,’ and the characters in the game came to life and held a parade in the exhibition hall, providing great fun to the visitors.
In addition, the newly established public indie section this year consisted of non-competitive booth works sold to public and educational institutions. Public Indie received a great response by providing a place and opportunity for communication and feedback with visitors and gamers in line with BIC’s initial intention.
Lastly, in the Play Indie section, two games of ‘Make.ctrl’ developed using a controller, and ‘Play Didim,’ a game containing the body using the floor as a stage, were exhibited, attracting many visitors.
In addition to the exhibition, as stage events, ‘Parade: Battleship’ of ‘Parade Indie’ works, talk with BIC’s strong fan Big Connectors, BIC’s virtual influencer zone, and Arnold’s birth talk, and ‘BIC OX Quiz’ in which visitors take the initiative ‘ and ‘Find the Difference’ were held to provide both things to see and enjoy at the same time.
In particular, ‘BIC Lumarble’ using zoning composition received a great response. The ingenious idea of enabling gamers to run along the track at the venue, perform missions, obtain stickers, and finally participate in the lucky draw event has garnered enthusiastic response and love from the audience from last year to this year.
For gamers who still feel regret after the offline event, ‘BIC Festival’ will hold an online exhibition until September 14th. Visitors who want to enjoy each work more leisurely can purchase online tickets through the BIC official website and play each exhibition work.
“Busan Indie Connect Festival 2023 was a record-breaking event that expanded the base of indie games,” said Busan Mayor Park Hyung-joon.
Seo Tae-gun, chairman of the BIC Festival Organizing Committee, expressed his gratitude, saying, “It was held on a large scale in all aspects this year, and many developers and gamers joined together to make it a monumental event.” We will do our best to serve as a window for communication and harmony between gamers, gamers, and industry officials and contribute to spreading global indie game culture.”
“I would like to express my gratitude to everyone who participated in ‘BIC Festival 2023’, and I think that the passion and challenge of the developers is the driving force behind the game city Busan,” said Jeong Moon-seop, director of the Busan Information Industry Promotion Agency. “Various games In addition to the event, we will actively support indie developers so that they can continue to be active by supporting game companies, nurturing game experts, and creating a healthy game culture.”
