From November 14 to 17, the gaming fair G-Star takes place in Korea. Korean as well as international developers will showcase their games. This year, several MMOs are on the agenda that could make their way to the West.
What is G-Star? The Global Game Exhibition is the largest gaming fair in Asia. It has been held annually since 2005 and has been hosted in Busan, Korea since 2009. In 2019, more than 2,000 professionals and 700 exhibitors from 36 different countries are expected.
Last year, a record number of visitors attended the fair. 235,000 people visited G-Star 2018. In contrast, Gamescom achieved 370,000 visitors in 2018, but also ran for one day longer than the fair in Korea.
For the first time, Germany will also participate with a joint stand, supported by the Federal Ministry of Economics.
Familiar companies participating in G-Star 2019 include:
- Pearl Abyss, the developers of Black Desert
- Gravity, developers of Ragnarok Online
- Krafton, developers of Tera and PUBG
- Netmarble, one of the largest mobile gaming companies from Korea
- WeMade, the developers of Legends of Mir
- and also international companies like Activision Blizzard, Riot Games, Epic Games, or Google.
Surprisingly, the two big companies Nexon and NCSoft are missing this year. Both are, according to official statements, too focused on the development of new games to participate in the fair. For NCSoft, the focus is presumably on Lineage 2M, which is also supposed to have crossplay with PC.
New MMOs at G-Star, many also mobile
Some of the companies mentioned above have new MMOs in tow, which we hope will also make their way to the West in the future. We will go through them one by one.
Pearl Abyss
The greatest potential to make MMO fans happy currently lies with Pearl Abyss. The developer of the MMORPG Black Desert plans to unveil four new games:
- Crimson Desert – A next-gen MMORPG
- DokeV – A family-friendly MMORPG
- Plan 8 – An MMO shooter from Counter Strike developer Minh Le
- Shadow Arena – A standalone Battle Royale
Shadow Arena will soon start in closed beta. How far along the other three games are in their development is currently unknown. However, more information, images, and first trailers are expected to be released at G-Star.
All games have English websites. The chances are good that they will come to the West.
Gravity
The developer of Ragnarok Online has announced six new titles for G-Star 2019. Many of them are mobile games, but also the PC MMORPG Ragnarok Crusade: Midgard Chronicles is included.
Ragnarok Crusade: Midgard Chronicles offers you:
- A story based on Ragnarok Online
- Sweet comic graphics
- Focus on PvP
Further details will be announced at the fair. Whether a release in the West will take place is also unknown.
Krafton
Another company at the fair will be Krafton, formerly Bluehole. They are responsible for Tera and PUBG and are currently working on Ascent: Infinite Realm.
In their announcement for G-Star 2019, there was mainly talk of a large booth for PUBG, where well-known streamers are also expected to appear.
In May 2019, a beta for A:IR started. It is very likely that more of the MMORPG will be shown at the fair. The MMORPG is supposed to be released in the West.
Netmarble
Netmarble will present several new games at G-Star 2019. Among them are also 4 MMORPGs, all of which will only be released as mobile versions:
- A3: Still Alive – A mobile version of the hardcore PvP MMORPG A3
- Seven Knights Revolution – An MMORPG
- Seven Knights 2 – An MMORPG in a very early stage of development
- Second Country: Cross Worlds – An MMORPG
- Magic: Mana Strike – An RTS for smartphones
Seven Knights and A3: Still Alive are expected to be released in the fourth quarter of 2019 in Korea. How far along the other games are and whether they will even be released in Europe is unknown.
Netmarble is also involved in Lineage 2 Revolution and Blade and Soul Revolution, two mobile games from NCSoft. In the company’s Q2 2019 report, these two games alone make up about 24% of revenue.
Studio Titan
The company Studio Titan will also present a new MMORPG at G-Star 2019. The Great Merchant M is however a mobile game based on a PC MMO.
In addition to RPG elements, The Great Merchant also utilizes some RTS content and focuses on an economic aspect. A release is planned for the first quarter of 2020, but initially only in Korea.
Western Developers at G-Star
What else is happening at G-Star 2019? In addition to many Asian companies, developers from the West will also showcase their products at the fair in Korea. These include:
- Riot Games with Legends of Runeterra, the new card game.
- Eve Online, which will discuss VR and present the Korean localization.
Many of the MMOs presented in the article are mobile games. They currently dominate the market in Korea, as can also be seen at the Gaming Award for G-Star 2019. Only three of the nominated titles are not mobile games:
