Level Up KL has slowly becoming the big event for the gaming industry in Southeast Asia. Though since its inception in 2015 it was mostly an industry event, last year saw the event by MDEC opening a public day.
Level Up KL 2019’s public day, Level Up Play, had some good numbers, as now disclosed by MDEC. It recorded over 17,000 attendees across its two-day event which features esports tournaments as well as game showcases from developers in Southeast Asia.
A huge majority of them are youths, as expected, but it’s geared heavily in the 18-24 age demographic- over 48.8% of attendees are in this group. Another 26.9% are of age 25-34. Of the total, the majority are male, with 28% of the total being female.
Level Up KL will continue in 2020 as a virtual event, and it will play host to a “gamified expo” on November 21-22. The expo will be experienced “as an adventure game, unlocking the world as you play”.
MDEC has high hopes for this, and is targeting to reach 5 million people in social media and 50,000 registered visitors of the virtual expo open for public.
That’s a bold target, but MDEC CEO Surina Shukri is adamant that with the current growth of Level Up KL, and the situation of the world right now, it’s possible.
“In 2015, there were only 372 attendees and last year, that number more than quadrupled to 1,791,” she said. “This is a strong indication that the video games industry in Southeast Asia is on an unstoppable growth trajectory.”
“With the pandemic forcing many to work from the comforts of their homes, we are also witnessing a spike in the popularity of video games that are primarily an at-home type activity. Therefore, we are positive that this trend will be reflected in this edition of Level Up KL as we are expecting to reach 5,000,000 people via social media and record 50,000 registered
visitors for its first-ever virtualised event.”
The digital Level Up KL 2020 begins on October 10 with the SEA Game Jam, done online and ends on November 22 with Level Up Play Day, which the gamified expo will be a part of.