Seen is a concept image of Netmarble's promotional booth at the G-STAR gaming trade show, which will be held in Busan from Thursday to Sunday. Courtesy of Netmarble

By Baek Byung-yeul

Nexon, Netmarble, Kakao Games, Krafton and other Korean game developers are trying to capitalize on G-STAR, a game trade show which will be held in Busan through this weekend, to attract gamers' attention at a time when the industry is plagued by poor performance, according to the companies Wednesday.

G-STAR is Korea's largest trade show for video games. The event will be held at the BEXCO convention center for four days from Thursday to Sunday.

"Given the decrease in the number of people playing games as the COVID-19 pandemic wanes, the game companies expect this year's G-STAR to offer a precious chance to gain gamers' attention to their new games," an official from a local game company said on condition of anonymity.

This concept image shows Nexon's promotional booth at the G-STAR game trade show. Courtesy of Nexon

Nexon said it will unveil nine new games that can be played on various platforms, including mobile devices, consoles and PCs, at G-STAR. The game company, which returns to the trade show after a four-year hiatus, added it has set up the largest promotional space among participating companies.

The company will install 560 devices so that visitors can try out their new games such as "Mabinogi Mobile," a role-playing game for mobile platforms, "The First Descendant," a shooting and role-playing game for PCs and consoles, "Kartrider: Drift," a racing game for PCs and consoles, and "Dave the Diver," an adventure game for PCs and the Nintendo Switch.

Netmarble is also betting big on G-STAR. The game company that suffered operating losses for three straight quarters until the third quarter of this year due to increased labor and marketing costs, delayed the releases of new games due to the poor performance of earlier releases.

At the trade show, the company will unveil "Charlotte's Table," a puzzle game for mobile devices, "Paragon: The Overprime" and "The King of Fighters Arena," which are new games for the fourth quarter of this year. Netmarble will also offer visitors a glimpse of its new games for next year such as "Solo Leveling" and "Arthdal Chronicles."

Kakao Games will also unveil new games such as "Ares: Rise of Guardians" while Krafton will bring "The Callisto Protocol" to G-STAR.

Not only Korean game companies but developers based overseas will also join the event. The organizing committee said 987 companies from 43 countries will showcase their games, products and technologies.