gamescom asia 2023 Proves How Southeast Asia Can Be The Next Gaming Hot Spot

With gamescom asia 2023 happening last weekend and the dust finally settled, here’s my personal experience throughout the 4 days of the event.

To me, gamescom asia 2023 was my first ever work trip overseas. Needless to say, the days leading up to the event were nerve-racking, despite going to a country that’s merely a stone’s throw away from my own. But, I have to admit it was still an exciting opportunity regardless.

Starting off the first day of the event, the nerves were still kicking in for me, in anticipation of handful of high profile interviews being scheduled that I personally didn’t want to slip up with. But after conducting my first interview with Dominic Law, the CEO of Neopets, it felt as thought my worries were washed away; mainly because I got too focused on making sure the interviews went without a hitch.

Just like that, I rode on high with that same energy and adrenaline with the rest of the interviews throughout the event.

Gamescom asia this year was separated into two different sections, one being the Business oriented Trade Zone where you can connect with dedicated individuals within the game industry such as John Howe-Marshall, the organiser of Indie Wavemaker, NebulaJoy’s CEO Bobby Gao & Capcom Singapore’s Managing Director Li Bian for Devil May Cry: Peak of Combat, along Vlad Lebedynets and Vlad Novikov, the Technical Producer and Marketing Producer respectively at GSC Game World, the developers behind STALKER 2. Not forgetting the interviews with Kenichi Hashimoto the producer of Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney Trilogy and Ryozo Tsujimoto, producer of Monster Hunter were also insightful as well.

New to this year’s gamescom asia was the Entertainment Zone where the event is open to the public. Similarly, there were plenty of activities where visitors could participate in, from trying out Dragon’s Dogma 2 from Capcom, Meet and Greet sessions with your favourite voice actors from Honkai Star Rail and Street Fighter 6, on top of a handful of Indie Wavemaker games by passionate developers.

Possibly the highlight during my trip to gamescom asia 2023 was the Capcom Pro Tour 2023 – Singapore Offline. I’d admit, I not what you call the biggest fighting game fan, but I would be lying if the tournament wasn’t hype from all cylinders. Seeing big name players such as Daigo, Tokido, MenaRD, and Gachikun play live on stage, all while the crowd went wild cheering for their favourite pro players perform was just a surreal experience, I even found myself joining in on the cheering.

Much to my surprise, those 4 days passed by extremely fast and just like that it was all over. The moment I flew back from Singapore, a wave of exhaustion suddenly hit me like a truck. But at the same time, the whole experience made me feel fulfilling.

Being able to speak with everyone with one shared passion, their love for games and the industry revolving it was just an eye-opening experience. While it might sound cheesy, but I really mean it where I say I would definitely cherish the moments I had during gamescom asia 2023 and I’m looking forward to the event for the next years to come.

I would like to thank the gamescom asia team and Capcom Singapore team for warm and helpful reception. Organising an event on a scale such as this is no small feat, and I’m grateful that it all went well without a hitch.

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