G-Star exhibition to help Korean gaming recover from 'lost decade'

국내 최대 규모 게임박람회 지스타, 16일 개막

Hundreds of thousands of video game enthusiasts, along with game makers and vendors have gathered at the Bexco Convention Center in Busan... for a global gaming exhibition -- G-Star.
The Korean gaming industry is still top-notch, and one of the biggest in the world, but it's faced some headwinds recently
Companies at this year's G-Star will be hoping to turn things around.
Our Park Hee-jun takes us there. For the Korean gaming industry, the last ten years have been called a “lost decade."
The past two administrations imposed new regulations on video games, one of them being the so-called "shutdown law" which restricted player age and playing time to fight computer game addiction.
And this year things were especially tough, with China's de facto sanctions on South Korea over the THAAD issue... effectively banning Korean games in a market that accounts for over 40 percent of the local industry's exports.
But the new administration is taking a different approach to gaming, and with the thaw in relations with China, game makers see business getting better.

(standup) ed: Mark
“The gaming industry is aiming to recover from its recent losses through G-star,...one of the world’s biggest game conventions--and this year’s event is expected to be the largest yet."

The annual G-Star convention began Thursday in the southern port city of Busan.
More than 600 game companies from 30 different countries are taking part, and it's expected to attract hundreds of thousands of gamers and business visitors during its four day run.

(Korean)
"This is the biggest gaming event of the year. We want our booth to be a place where we can meet our users and interact with each other through our games."

The highlight of this year's G-Star is E-sports.
Korea is one of the world's biggest markets for professional gaming, and here visitors can watch live online competitions among teams from several different countries.
China's biggest game distributor, Tencent, has sent an exceptionally large group to G-Star... to look for new business opportunities with Korean companies.
Plenty of other Chinese game makers have come too, in contrast to Beijing's recent restrictions on doing business with South Korea.
Although it is uncertain how fast the local gaming industry will get back on its feet,... G-Star is expected to play a part in the recovery through new promotions, business deals, and by connecting the game makers with the players.
Park Hee-jun, Arirang News. Busan.

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