Not too shabby. GameStart 2017 is the fourth year running and has pulled over 24,000 attendees coming from 25 different countries to Suntec Convention Centre, Singapore. The event’s official live stream managed to clock over 80,000 online views from Twitch and Facebook Live.
GameStart 2017 saw the first ever SEA Summit, the event focused on developers and key figures in the gaming industry, as well as showcases of games made in Southeast Asia, Doujin Market featuring various gaming merchandise and art, and a tabletop gaming area.
There are of course big games on display. Bandai Namco’s Dragon Ball FighterZ, Sony’s Gran Turismo Sport (with all the custom racing pods), Square Enix’s Dissidia Final Fantasy NT were on the show floor. Speaking of Square Enix, Yoko Taro, the eccentric game director of Nier Automata made an appearance as well, among others.
There was also the SEA Major, the main esports event of the show featuring Tekken 7, Street Fighter V, Marvel VS Capcom Infinite, FIFA 18, PUBG and even a Windjammers championship. This will mark the last time it will be held here with GameStart for the foreseeable future, as plans to move the event to other SEA countries for the next two years has been announced.
GameStart proves that there is a demand for gaming conventions here in Southeast Asia. Let’s hope it will continue to expand and inspire more events like this to happen.
(Header image courtesy of GameStart Asia)