3 Reasons Why Western Game Devs need to Come to Comic Con Seoul
The biggest event in the nerd universe, Comic Con is FINALLY coming to Seoul. And it might represent one of the best marketing opportunities for Western game companies in recent memory.
Despite high sales, a rabid fandom, and entrenched gaming culture, Korea has been an absolute backwater in terms of gaming and “nerd-culture” conventions.
The biggest convention, G-Star, is doing well after 4 years of fits and starts. But truth be told, G-Star is…kind of it. After G-Star’s November exhibition, there’s a gaping hole of legit conventions.
With Comic Con’s impending August opening date, the hole is finally being filled with one of the most influential conventions in the world, and as a game developer you can reap the rewards. There are risks as well however! Let’s outline both.
Risks
A big issue right now is scheduling; the Con is in August and as of February, there’s little-to-no-information on the lineup other than a Cosplay contest and maybe some B-Boys performing. That’s a little scary. The draw of an exhibition like Comic Con is in drooling over the lineup and bragging to friends. The word on Seoul Comic Con is being spread very well, but without early info it’s hard to know if the fire will keep burning.
A smaller concern is that this is the first Comic Con in Seoul, and Reed Pop, the organizer, has a much disdained ticketing system where the New York Comic Con is concerned.
As the first Con being held in Seoul, however, the ticketing will be held through Interpark, a service Korean’s are pretty familiar with…but doesn’t work so well for foreigners. It remains to be seen if this can all be ironed out for people flying in to attend the event.
Rewards
Ok, if we haven’t scared you away yet, we promise you that as a Western game dev, attending Comic Con Seoul is absolutely worth your time.
First things first, Korean “nerd culture” is hitting heights never before seen. Collectible figurine shops are starting to displace console game stores in some of Korea’s most venerable electronics shopping districts. The current generation of Seoulites has been raised not only on Japanese anime, but Korean Webtoons, Adventure Time, the Simpsons and 9 years of Marvel movies! On the gaming front, Koreans are just as in tune with Overwatch and Dota2 as any teenager in the world. This is a generation that’s absolutely primed for a Comic Con!
Second, because this is the first Comic Con, there’s bound to be some stumbles, but Koreans and the Expats living here tend to appreciate companies that take the time to visit. Taking the risk of coming to the first Comic Con will likely endear your company to the attendees. On the B2C convention floor of G-Star, the main presence of foreign dev companies was limited to hardware companies like Asus or HUGE development companies like EA and Sony. Indie and smaller to mid-sized Western devs were seriously under-represented.
Finally, Reedpop has thrown several Comic Cons around the world and all of them have managed to be well-attended. As an example, their Indonesia and Singapore Comic Cons garnered 15,000+ and 45,000+ attendees respectively. With comparable wages and but much higher GDP and population, Seoul Comic Con could very well top Singapore’s figures. Mind you, the biggest Comic Con right now is San Diego with 166,000 attendees in 2016. Will the first Comic Con in Korea top this? Maybe not. But 45,000+ attendees is very attainable number in a city with 9 million residents.
So that’s it. Although there are some risks in attending, Seoul’s first Comic Con is, otherwise, almost nothing but upside for any Dev willing to fly across the pond!
