The Official Pre-event Guide to 2024 PlayX4 B2B - More Than Just the Joy of Gaming
Official poster of 2024 PlayX4 | Image by PlayX4 Committee
PlayX4, one of Korea's representative game events, will be held from May 23 to May 26 at KINTEX Exhibition Center 1 in Goyang, Gyeonggi Province. It is hosted by Gyeonggi Province and organized by the Gyeonggi Content Agency and KINTEX.
South Korea's game export volume is ranked fourth globally, amounting to $8.98175 billion. Gyeonggi Province is the center of the Korean game industry, accounting for $8.1 billion (about 48%) of Korea's game market sales of approximately $16.2 billion. This region is home to major Korean game companies such as Nexon, NCSOFT, Neowiz, NHN, Smilegate, Kakao Games, Pearl Abyss, Wemade, and Webzen (Source: 2023 Korea Game White Paper).
Since its inception in 2009, PlayX4 has grown into a comprehensive game show encompassing various countries. In particular, the 2023 B2B Export Consultation attracted 428 global companies from 25 countries, achieving contract promotion worth approximately $146 million.
This year's PlayX4 B2B event, operated by the Gyeonggi Content Agency, saw developer booths sell out in record time, and the number of new developers increased by 35% compared to the previous year.
Within two weeks of opening the homepage for pre-registration, over 150 companies from overseas applied to participate as buyers. Companies from 25 countries, including China, Japan, Southeast Asia, Europe, North America, and the Middle East, totaling around 260 companies, have confirmed their participation as buyers.
Notably, the three major console companies—Microsoft's Xbox and Japan's SEGA—have confirmed their participation. Regionally, US-based Nicalis, a publisher specializing in indie games that Korean indie game developers are eager to meet, Tilting Point, one of America's top 10 publishers, Italy's renowned video game distributor 505 Games, Germany's leading PC online game publisher Gameforge, China's Bilibili, popular among the MZ generation, China's XiabangXiabang games, which achieved the highest contract performance at the 2023 PlayX4, Southeast Asia's leading publisher Garena, Indonesia's Megaxus Infotech, the publisher of Lineage 2, Vietnam's state-run broadcaster and e-sports company VTV Live, and Thailand's leading publishers Electronics Extreme and Zen Play, have all confirmed their participation, marking the largest overseas buyer participation in history.
Additionally, the organizing committee of the Thailand Game Show, a representative game show in Southeast Asia, will visit the B2B event directly to set up a special pavilion. US-based Gaming Trend and Malaysia's Gamer Braves will participate as global media partners, showcasing PlayX4's growing stature.
Gyeonggi Province, which places importance on IP utilization and various content expansions, will operate a special pavilion. Overseas companies such as eStarplay, a game company under China's Transsion, dubbed the Samsung of the Indian market, and TapTap, known as China's Play Store, are discussing setting up a special pavilion. Domestic companies CJ ENM, NHN, and Smilegate's Stove Indie are also preparing special pavilions. Plans are underway to expand game IPs into various forms such as OTT, animation, and short forms.
Since the 2022 PlayX4, the export consultation has been established online and offline, providing basic interpretation and pre- and on-site business matching for participating domestic developers. Especially for online business matching, 24-hour support will be provided considering overseas game distribution/publishing personnel's working hours in the Americas and Europe.
The 2024 PlayX4 will prepare various programs for participating companies besides the traditional export consultation. This year, Jeep Barnett, the developer of Valve's world-renowned game "Portal series," will officially participate in a Korean game show, conducting a special lecture and fan meeting with B2C visitors. Additionally, there will be a startup IR pitching demo day for game investment and company discovery, the Gyeonggi Future Technology Game Activation Forum to expand awareness and lead the convergence of future technology (AI) in game development, and the Gyeonggi Game Audition, the nation's largest game audition to discover promising game content yet to be released. A job fair hosted by leading Korean game companies such as Com2us and Pearl Abyss will also be held.
The 2024 PlayX4 will operate B2C concurrently on weekends, allowing developers to promote their content to the general public widely.
Of the approximately 165 game development companies participating in this exhibition, more than half will also join B2C, providing opportunities for the general public to experience the games directly and receive feedback from citizens.
In addition, companies in the board game and VR fields will participate, further enriching the diversity of the 2024 PlayX4.
Thus, the 2024 PlayX4 will become a platform for innovation and growth where global game industry leaders gather as an international business network. It will be the optimal place to discover new partnerships and business opportunities. If you want to catch the leading global game industry trend, we encourage you to participate in the 2024 PlayX4.
* Summary
▶ Schedule: May 23 (Thu) – May 26 (Sun) / 4 days
▶ Venue: KINTEX Exhibition Center 1, Hall 5, Ilsan / (Online) Website video conferencing system
▶ Activities
B2B Offline: Face-to-face meetings / pre-scheduled and on-site business matching
B2B Online: Online meetings / pre-scheduled business matching
B2C: B2C for General Attendees
▶ Services Provided
B2B: Hotel accommodation/meals for overseas buyers during the event, Separate booths and lounge tables
B2C: Booth, Table, Chair, Event Equipment, etc.
▶ Benefits for B2B Participants
① Business matching: 1:1 business matching support (domestic and international publishers, VCs)
② Interpretation support: 1:1 interpretation service (English/Chinese/Japanese)
③ Creation of a directory book introducing participating company content
④ Free participation for domestic and international publishers, VCs
▶ How it works
- Choose between B2B or a combination of B2B & B2C
- B2B can choose between offline or online attendance
- A video conferencing space will be set up at the offline venue for online business matching
- Offline participants can engage in both online/offline business matching
- Online 1:1 meetings are conducted in 30-minute slots
- 24-hour business matching support for online participation
▶ Registration: Sign up on the website playx4.or.kr
▶ Registration Fee: Free for both offline (including booth participation) and online participation
2024 PlayX4 B2B&B2C Registration Contact (Mon ~ Fri, am 10 ~ pm 18, Korea Time)
Tel + 82-2-6731-2102 / E-mail : 2024playx4biz@gmail.com
GCON PlayX4
PlayX4
playx4@gcon.or.kr
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