Koei Tecmo Games, Sega and NetEase Games are among the global game companies joining G-Star 2026, South Korea's largest gaming expo. The event will feature its biggest-ever indie game exhibition, along with an investment pitching program and an esports tournament.
The G-Star Organizing Committee released details on the 30th including venue floor plans, playable title lineups, the official esports competition, additional conference speakers and online promotions.
More than 100 companies will exhibit in Hall 1 at BEXCO in Busan, including main sponsor Wrtn with its Krack service, alongside Krafton, HoYoverse, Google Play, Webzen and Team42.
The first floor of Hall 2 will be dedicated to a business-to-consumer special exhibition space showcasing major titles from global publishers. It will house the inaugural G-Star Global Game Showcase and a special stage hosting a range of on-site programs.
Koei Tecmo Games will operate exclusive hands-on areas for "Wo Long 2: Wings of Ember" and "Atelier Karia: Kingdom of Night and the Milestone of Memories." Team Ninja's punishing action role-playing game "Nioh 3" will also be playable.
Sega will give South Korea its first look at "Total War: Warhammer 40,000," the strategy title that won Best PC Game at the Gamescom Awards. "Crazy Taxi: World Tour" and "Football Manager 27" will also be available to play.
NetEase Games, which is showing "Sea of Remnants" in Hall 1, will also set up a dedicated brand zone in Hall 2, where visitors can try "Once Human" and the open-world martial arts action adventure RPG "Yanyun." CD Projekt Red will build an interactive experience space spanning "The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt" and "Cyberpunk 2077."
The indie showcase will span 250 booths, the largest in the event's history. It will bring together 106 indie developers from South Korea and abroad, along with publishers and global engine and platform companies.
The exhibition space is divided by exhibitor and content type. It includes the G-Star Selected Indie Play Zone featuring titles chosen by the organizing committee, a Publisher Play Zone, and a studio demo and title exhibition organized with overseas partners including the European Games Developer Federation and the Polish Embassy in Seoul. A Unity Indie Play Zone will also run in partnership with Unity, a core partner.
The business-to-business hall will strengthen its networking role. Amazon Ads and Twitch will participate, and the Network Party will expand in scale and programming through a partnership with Microsoft. The organizers are also launching G-Star Investment Connect, an investment pitching program bringing together domestic and overseas venture capital firms, corporate venture capital arms and global publishers.
Speakers at the G-CON 2026 game conference will include animation director and vision creator Shoji Kawamori and Kim Yong-ha, head of the IO division at Nexon Games and executive producer of "Blue Archive." David Mervik of "Little Nightmares," Carrie Shao of "Pacific Drive," and Greg Kasavin and Darren Korb of "Hades" will also take part. Pearl Abyss will send Ahn Geun-tae, head of its art level department, and Yoon Jin-ho, head of its game engine graphics department.
The BEXCO Auditorium will serve as a large esports venue for the first time in three years. From Nov. 20 to 22, it will host the Overwatch Champions Series Asia Stage 3 Grand Finals 2026, Blizzard Entertainment's official regional competition for Asia. Top-seeded teams among the eight leading squads that advanced through the Korean, Japanese and Pacific qualifiers are set to compete.
Hall 2 will also host the 2026 Game Culture Festival during the expo, hosted by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and organized by the Korea Creative Content Agency. Under the theme "Play K: Playing Korea," it will present game intellectual property built around Korean culture. Neowiz and Pearl Abyss are among the participants, and a game soundtrack concert featuring traditional Korean music will be performed on the G-Star special stage on opening day.
A G-Star special promotion page will also open in partnership with Steam, the global PC game distribution platform. It will run special discounts and introduce new titles from major exhibitors.
G-Star 2026 runs from Nov. 19 to 22 at BEXCO in Busan. General admission tickets go on sale at 3 p.m. on the 29th, available entirely through advance booking.
"This year's G-Star has significantly strengthened its core playable content and side events so that visitors can experience them firsthand on site, built on close cooperation with global partners," the organizing committee said. "Through efficient floor plan design, network-centered business infrastructure and online and offline programs that expand across time and space, we will complete it as a global game festival that satisfies both the industry and users."
