G-Star 2026 to go without major Korean game studios as AI platform takes main sponsor slot

The organizing committee for G-Star 2026, South Korea's largest gaming expo, has named Crack — an AI character chat platform from Wrtn Technologies — as the event's main sponsor, marking the first time a non-gaming company has taken the top sponsorship slot. The five major Korean game studios collectively known as 3N2K — Nexon, Netmarble, NCsoft, Krafton and Kakao Games — are not expected to participate.

The G-Star Organizing Committee made the announcement Thursday at a press conference held at the COEX conference room in Gangnam-gu, Seoul. It was the first time the committee had held a separate press conference since 2023.

The committee confirmed that Crack, an AI character chat service by Wrtn Technologies, had been selected as the main sponsor of G-Star 2026 — the first time a non-gaming company has held that position. The move is seen as a response to growing uncertainty over whether the 3N2K studios, widely regarded as South Korea's top-tier game companies, would attend.

Jeong Seung-woo, the committee's executive director, said the two most important themes running through the industry right now are AI and narrative. "We determined that Crack is the ideal partner in that it encompasses both AI and narrative, and can add depth and content to the G-Star story," he said.

Cho Young-ki, chairman of the organizing committee, said even the big game companies do not have many major new titles to show at G-Star right now. "Rather than a binary question of how many domestic or foreign companies are participating, what matters is creating an event that satisfies both exhibitors and visitors," Cho said.

The choice of webtoon artist Lee Dong-gun's "Yumi's Cells" as the event's key visual — the central image representing the show — reflects the same thinking. "The intent is to introduce G-Star to people who love comics," Cho said. "We judged that content not typically enjoyed by gamers can itself be an attraction."

The confirmed exhibitor lineup is also tilted away from domestic studios and toward Chinese companies. According to the committee, the business-to-consumer hall at Bexco Exhibition Hall 1 will feature main sponsor Crack alongside Google Play, Webzen, Team42, HoYoverse, NetEase Games, Bilibili Games and Century Games.

The committee stressed that the list is not yet final. "I cannot share the exact scale or details, but major domestic game companies will also participate," Jeong said.

Exhibition Hall 2 will include a separate new-title demo space featuring Japan's Sega and Koei Tecmo, among others. A special Hyundai Motor booth and the grand final of the 2026 Hyundai N Virtual Cup are also planned for that hall, as is the G-Star Indie Showcase 2.0: Galaxy, one of the committee's flagship programs.

The committee said it will finalize the full exhibitor list and detailed schedule and release all event-related information in September.

G-Star 2026 is scheduled to run from Nov. 19 to Nov. 22 at Bexco in Busan. The city of Busan said it plans to ramp up support to improve the experience for attendees. Hwang Jeong-sun, head of Busan's video content industry division, said the city will coordinate with police and fire departments on safety and improve transportation access by adding urban rail services and operating additional bus routes.