South Korea’s game industry gathered in Seoul on November 9 and 10 for the inaugural ‘Game Days 2026’ event at the Lotte World Tower SKY31 Convention, tvbusan.com reported.
The gathering brought together the Korea Creative Content Agency (KOCCA), four game industry associations, and two media outlets to merge several previously independent sector events into a single five-part program. The event was organized alongside Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Choi Hwi-young and KOCCA President Kim Yoon-ji.
The opening day featured the 2026 Console Game Developers Conference, its second annual run, which drew twice its expected pre-registration volume. International and domestic developers including Paweł Sasko, Kazutaka Kodaka, Tynan Sylvester, Lee Dong-gi, and Katsuhisa Harada discussed narrative design, IP operations, and publishing strategies.
Former Sony Interactive Entertainment Worldwide Studios head Shuhei Yoshida moderated a session on international expansion for domestic console studios. One participating developer stated, It was meaningful because we were able to obtain practical information necessary for preparing for console game release and entering the global market, as we are about to release a game soon.
Awards ceremonies on November 10 recognized 16 winners for the 30th annual ‘2026 Today’s Superior Game’ awards and 23 titles in the Global Indie Game Development Contest (GIGDC). Superior Game winners included Diving Studio’s The Newspaper of That Day
in functional games, Arca’s Color Sweeper
in indie games, and Netmarble Monster’s Mongil: STAR DIVE
in blockbusters and front-runners, all securing Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism ministerial citations and automatic entry nominations for the Korea Game Awards.
GIGDC recognized grand prize winners across planning and production divisions, including middle and high school division planning grand prize winner Moss with Magical Lotus,
university division planning grand prize winner Seoneudal with Chasa Co., Ltd.,
middle and high school division production grand prize winner 1MCS with —
, university division production grand prize winner MyTrix with Reptilians to Parliament,
and general division production grand prize winner Project Revenant with Mayfly.
KOCCA and four partner associations—the Korea Mobile Game Association led by Chairman Hwang Sung-ik, the Korea Game Developers Association led by Chairman Shin Yong-hoon, the Korea Artificial Intelligence Game Association led by Chairman Song Chang-ho, and the Korea Game Industry Association led by Chairman Cho Young-gi—hosted a showcase on November 10 detailing outcomes from projects that assisted studios in integrating artificial intelligence into production workflows.
A concurrent functional game forum examined user retention, gameplay immersion, and industry application challenges through expert discussions. KOCCA President Kim Yoon-ji stated that the unified event successfully combined separate industry programs to share sector milestones, adding that the agency will continue strengthening cooperation to enhance the global competitiveness of domestic games, tvbusan.com reported.
