Gamescom Asia is evolving. This 12 months, the third occasion within the annual Gamescom calendar has swapped Singapore for Bangkok after merging with Thailand Sport Present in a bid to ship a showcase organizers declare would be the largest within the area.
The hope is that the new-look occasion, dubbed Gamescom Asia x Thailand Sport Present, will delver a strong B2B and B2C unfold that unites professionals, publishers, and gamers. However how are organizers working behind the scenes to ship on that promise? We caught up with Koelnmesse challenge director Daria La Valle, who oversees the occasion, to search out out.
Chatting with Sport Developer, La Valle says the hope is that uniting Gamesom Asia and Thailand Sport Present will facilitate widespread information sharing between the East and West. She describes Asia as a “fragmented market” that may be troublesome for these past its borders to parse, and feels it may be simply as powerful for Asian builders to make inroads in Western markets. Therein lies a possibility.
“In the end, it isn’t about one area doing higher than the opposite, it’s about international success because the world of gaming converges globally,” says La Valle. “All through the previous few years, Gamescom Asia x Thailand Sport Present has grown to be the most important B2B present for the video games trade in Southeast Asia with a observe document of bringing prime worldwide skilled audio system to the area.”
She claims increasing the occasion in service of that mission is an “ongoing chase” that can require organizers to be candid about their very own successes and shortcomings to make sure the occasion can meaningfully evolve in service of exhibitors and attendees.
“Take as an illustration the case of Gamescom Asia launching throughout covid,” she explains. “We’re not gonna fake that didn’t put us on the again foot and made issues actually troublesome. Regardless of that, every year we’ve grown in scope, measurement and degree of participation in each B2B and B2C.
“This 12 months in fact we have now a major development ingredient for B2C as we take the present to Thailand. However to ensure we proceed to attain that aim, we have to keep an area that pulls devs from the world over to return collectively and collaborate. To iron out points they see within the trade and to kind partnerships and develop collectively.”
“We’re extraordinarily conscious of price pressures for each exhibitors and attendees”
Discussing the transfer from Singapore to Bangkok with that context in thoughts, La Valle feels it could have been troublesome to increase the occasion’s B2C providing had Gamescom Asia stayed put.
“With the character of Singapore being a comparatively small market, that meant on the B2C aspect there was solely a lot development that may very well be achieved. We nonetheless have a powerful relationship with the Singapore authorities and are actually grateful for the assist they’ve given the present in its early years,” La Valle continues.
“How can we make the B2C portion of the occasion thrive? With an even bigger and higher shopper present, that’s going to be a self-fulfilling prophecy. The Thai video games group is a unbelievable one, from the players to the devs, they’ve welcomed us with open arms.”
La Valle additionally insists Gamescom Asia x Thailand Sport Present will actively assist native builders to make sure they don’t seem to be overshadowed in their very own yard when the sport trade’s main gamers come to city. It is a pledge that comes months after some Brazilian builders at Gamescom LATAM claimed they have been mistreated by organisers in an open letter addressed to Gamescom administration.
“Indie devs have been key to our success from day one. We’ve all the time had a devoted indie space, hosted by a number of the area’s main devs,” stated La Valle. “This 12 months we have now greater than 200 devs exhibiting throughout our devoted indie areas and nation pavilions. There’s actually no danger of indies getting sidelined at Gamescom Asia x Thailand Sport Present.”
As well as, La Valle says Gamescom organizers are aware of the prices related to occasion attendance and are striving to ship worth with initiatives equivalent to providing free enterprise customer tickets to those that pre-register and offering particular charges to some commerce our bodies all over the world.
“We’re extraordinarily conscious of price pressures for each exhibitors and attendees and we try to supply probably the most worth. The way in which we do that is by placing collectively the absolute best present and creating probably the most alternatives for individuals to satisfy, come collectively and collaborate. A superb final result for the occasion is one the place individuals can be taught but in addition community. We make investments closely in events, mixers and devoted areas the place individuals can discover one another,” stated La Valle.
“These price pressures are compounded in Asia as a really cost-conscious surroundings and we value issues accordingly. In the end, we herald an incredible viewers and put collectively an incredible occasion and that reveals from the truth that we have now a number of repeat exhibitors from the indie dev group who’ve been with us for a number of years. We’ve actually seen them and their video games develop.”
The proof, in fact, is the pudding. Keep tuned to Sport Developer for extra Gamescom Asia protection straight from Thailand over the approaching weeks.
Sport Developer is attending Gamescom Asia x Thailand Sport Present 2025 as a media accomplice, with flights and lodging being lined by occasion organisers.
