Game Industry Trends at G-STAR: What Stands Out in 2025

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Game industry trends at G-STAR in 2025 show that the event no longer needs to be framed as a place for discovery or surprise. Its value lies elsewhere—in how it reflects the current structure of the game industry and the priorities shaping its next phase.

Rather than trying to summarize the entire event, three signals offer a clearer reading of what G-STAR represents today: the dominance of IP-led games, the visibility of indie diversity, and the show’s expanding role as a global point of connection.

IP-Led Games and the Power of Familiar Worlds

One of the most consistent features of the current landscape is the central role of IP. Games are increasingly positioned not as standalone products, but as extensions of worlds that already exist across multiple formats and audiences.

Netmarble’s use of established IPs such as Solo Leveling (나 혼자만 레벨업) illustrates this approach. Rather than introducing an unfamiliar universe, the focus is on expanding a world with an existing fan base—leveraging narrative continuity, character recognition, and cross-media reach.

At exhibitions like G-STAR, this translates into presentations that emphasize tone, lore, and long-term potential over immediate novelty. IP functions as both a creative anchor and a strategic foundation in a market where visibility is increasingly difficult to earn.

Indie Game Diversity Through Platform-Led Showcases

Alongside large IPs, indie games continue to shape the breadth of the ecosystem. What stands out in 2025 is how this diversity is surfaced—not through isolated booths, but through platform-led showcases.

Unity’s booth provides a clear example. By featuring a wide range of indie titles built on its engine, the space highlights variation in genre, visual style, and creative direction. The emphasis is not on a single standout title, but on the collective range made possible by accessible development tools.

This approach reframes indie games as a structural component of the industry rather than a niche category. At G-STAR, indie diversity becomes visible through contrast—offering alternatives to large-scale, IP-heavy productions and expanding the definition of what games can be.

G-STAR’s Globalization, Seen Through B2B Activity

The third signal is G-STAR’s increasingly explicit global orientation, particularly on the B2B side.

International exhibitions such as Gamescom and Brazil Game Show have established dedicated B2B booths at G-STAR, using the event as a direct channel to reach Korean game companies. These booths focus on introducing overseas exhibition platforms, partnership opportunities, and access to foreign markets.

This presence highlights a shift in how globalization plays out. It is not only Korean studios moving outward, but global game show organizers actively engaging Korea as a key source of IP and content. G-STAR functions as a concentrated access point to studios with titles positioned for international audiences.

In this context, globalization is less about scale and more about alignment—matching IP, platforms, and markets through targeted interaction.

How These Signals Come Together

Taken together, these three signals outline a clear structure.

IP-led games provide familiarity and reach. Indie diversity sustains creative range. Global B2B activity connects both to international platforms and markets. G-STAR in 2025 sits at the intersection of these forces, not attempting to resolve them, but making them visible in one place.

What G-STAR Represents Today

In 2025, G-STAR’s relevance is defined by clarity rather than spectacle. It reflects how the industry organizes itself—what it invests in, how it scales, and where it looks for growth.

Rather than trying to be louder than the global conversation, G-STAR functions as a space where that conversation becomes legible.

That, more than novelty or size, may be its most enduring role.

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