- Held for ten days from September 5th to 14th at the Hiker Ground in Gwanghwamun, Seoul.
- A festival for all generations to enjoy, including popular game exhibitions and experiences, e-sports competitions, and music performances.
- We anticipate that K-games will contribute to the spread of cultural and artistic value and the revitalization of global content tourism.
The ‘2025 Game Culture Festival’, hosted by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism (Minister Choi Hwi-young), organized by the Korea Creative Content Agency (Acting President Yoo Hyeon-seok, hereinafter referred to as KOCCA), and sponsored by the Korea Tourism Organization (Acting President Seo Young-chung), will be held from September 5 to 14 at the entire Hiker Ground in Gwanghwamun, Seoul.
This event highlights the cultural value of games and is designed as an interactive festival where anyone can participate, connect, and enjoy games. As a “powerful platform where games and culture meet,” it will broaden the cultural and artistic horizons of K-games through diverse programs such as exhibitions and experiences of representative domestic and international games, mission games, esports competitions, and exhibitions of game music and art.
◆ Immersive space production and indie game exhibitions provide creators with unique experiences and new enjoyment.
The event will feature the participation of leading domestic and international game companies, including Neowiz and HiDea’s , Nexon’s , Netmarble’s , Nimble Neuron’s , Devsisters’ , Blizzard Entertainment’s , Smilegate’s , , Shift Up’s , and Krafton’s , showcasing their latest and popular games. Visitors can enjoy the game content directly in the immersive experience zones that reflect the worldview of each game on the 2nd and 3rd floors.
▲Ratopia ▲Snow Brothers 2 Special ▲Hug Me Animal Mansion, winners of the Indie category of the ‘2025 First Half Game of the Month’, will also be exhibited, introducing the world of creative indie games.
◆ Expanding the cultural value of game content by connecting it with various cultural fields such as music and art.
Additionally, ‘Art Ground’ will feature an exhibition of original artwork from major game companies. ▲Nexon ▲Smilegate ▲Shift Up ▲NCSoft ▲Krafton are participating, and the artistic endeavors of a total of 12 games will be revealed.
In addition, there will be an experience space that expands the game into various cultural content, such as a ‘Music Appreciation Zone’ where you can enjoy the game’s OST, an ‘AR Hologram Photo Zone’ where you can take pictures with your favorite characters using 3D modeling of game characters, and a ‘Cosplay Experience Zone’.
On Saturday, September 6th at 5 PM, a performance of the game’s soundtrack will be held on the outdoor stage on the first floor of the Hiker Ground, allowing citizens and tourists to enjoy the performance together and feel the atmosphere of Cheonggyecheon.
The ‘GCF Esports League’, a globally popular sport, will be broadcast live on-site and online.
The ‘GCF Esports League’ finals will be held at the Gwanghwamun CKL Stage from September 13th to 14th, and will be held as ‘League of Legends’ and ‘Eternal Return’, a regional-based Korea Esports League (KEL) event newly launched in 2025 to promote balanced development and expand the base of regional esports. The final matches will be live streamed on the official KOCCA YouTube channel (www.youtube.com/@KOCCA_Kcontent) and ‘SOOP’.
It is expected to be a comprehensive experiential K-content festival that anyone of any age or gender can participate in, including a ‘Brawl Stars’ event match inviting families participating in the ‘Game Culture Family Camp’, a ‘Hotam Mission Game’ based on a webtoon story, board games, PC games, and arcade games that all generations can enjoy together.
KOCCA Acting Director Yoo Hyeon-seok said, “I hope that this festival will spread the cultural and artistic value of games, foster a healthy gaming culture, and lead to industry revitalization through this,” and added, “Furthermore, as it is being held at the new cultural landmark, Hiker Ground, I hope that it will widely promote the excellence and creativity of K-games to domestic and foreign tourists and contribute to the revitalization of K-content tourism.”
The ‘2025 Game Culture Festival’ is completely free of charge, and detailed schedules and programs can be found on the official website (www.kgcf.kr).
