I will confess—this is my first time at gamescom asia 2024 despite it being it’s fourth edition running. But in my defence, it didn’t cross my younger self’s mind to head down to a gaming convention when I could already play games anytime, anywhere, and with any one of my choice.
Also, now that I’m an adult, I think I can enjoy the experience better knowing clearly what are my interests better than before. With that said, I went to gamescom asia 2024 with a really open mind and almost no expectations. I was quite excited that Neopets was boothing at gamescom asia 2024, and they were actually returning participants from gamescom asia 2023! So, that was the one thing I actually looked forward to before the event.
Last Day of gamescom asia 2024
Here’s where I made my first mistake. I decided to come on a Sunday (20 Oct) and I arrived rather late to the event. It was mid-afternoon by the time I got there but I was surprised that it was still pretty crowded inside. And, here’s where event set design is so important—because the first thing I saw when I entered the convention hall was this huge Astro Bot mascot just sitting there looking all cute.
Then, I walked further inside and saw the Varmilo booth. I thought it was pretty interesting that it said “Chinese Style Keyboard” on one of its banners, so I went to test out their keyboard for myself. They have keyboards that are optimised for playing Valorant. That’s how I know they’ve done their market research well. They KNOW their target audience.
The designs were pretty but I didn’t stick around too long to find out more as I was quite conscious of the time I have left to see the rest of the convention. 😖
Remember, my main goal was to check out the Neopets booth!!
Neopets’ Second Year running—possibly 2025, too!
When I saw the Neopets booth, you don’t know how excited I was. Even though I don’t play the game (I did start an account again last year and then forget to login afterwards…), it got me inspired to come back to the game again.
The booth was really cute, and whoever’s doing the marketing for Neopets, I must say, your lovely mind really fascinates me. Bright colours and cute merch front and centre of the booth for awareness; check. ✅ A very adorable Soup Faerie cosplayer standing behind the giant soup cauldron ready to take photos with fans for engagement; check. ✅ A social media campaign to draw people to follow the official Neopets account and post an IGS to enter a sure-win lucky draw by spinning a wheel for the conversion!!!; check, check, check. ✅✅✅
When I’m excited I tend to get a little nosy. So as I was choosing my prize, I asked the staff about Neopets’ presence at gamescom asia 2024 and gamescom asia 2023, and he said that they’re currently trying to expand in Southeast Asia after the acquisition by a Hong Kong-based company.
The staff I spoke to also happened to be the merchandiser for the event engaged by the company, and when I asked him if he designed all the merch, he quickly clarified that he’s just the person who works with the artists and manufacturers to develop the products.
He went on to say that some of the booth’s ideas came from him and it was so nice to see someone being so proud of their work. We talked just a bit more and he revealed that they might come back next year and there will be more exciting stuff on the way. Happy with what I chose and holding back on splurging at the booth, I left and made a mental note to get home and feed my dying pet.
Capcom’s Booth & Monster Hunter Wilds Demo at gamescom asia 2024
SO—because of my first mistake at arriving later in the day, and on the last day of the convention… I didn’t get to try out Capcom’s upcoming title, Monster Hunter Wilds. I don’t think I need to introduce this classic JRPG, and quite literally, monster-hunting game, but when I caught glimpses of other con-goers playing, it looked so fun. 🥹
Apparently, you had to get a queue number to play at certain timeslots, so by the time I figured that out, the queue was closed for the day. Lesson learnt. I took this time to explore the other parts of the booth and stumbled upon an Eevee mascot and the Palico mascot! It was so adorable, and a VIVI mascot happened to be there too, so all three of them took a photo together.
Three different games, all JRPGs coming together; a beautiful scene. 🥲
Then, we went back around to the side of the booth and found rows of their classic fighting game, Street Fighter. There were also Street Fighter x Marvel, and to be honest, I just joined the queue with the least people in line. Got 10min of good fun that I wouldn’t get at an arcade because I could play it for free if I kept winning. But, A) technically, I paid for the entrance fee to gamescom asia 2024, and B) I sucked at fighting games. Or, maybe because I was playing on the Nintendo Switch…….
Even though I didn’t do very well playing Street Fighter, I decided to try out another of Capcom’s 2024 title, Kunitsu Gami: Path of the Goddess. It’s described as a “Kagura Action Strategy Game” on Steam and it’s a single-player game. At first glance I thought it looked like a Ghost of Tsushima kinda game? But, it’s not like that.
Basically, you play as the guardian of a priestess and you go around the mountain that’s been defiled by demons and evil spirits. The goal is to protect the priestess long enough so that the demon can be purified. Again, if you skipped over what I wrote in the previous paragraphs—I’m not good at console games (despite growing up playing consoles!!), so I absolutely failed clearing the stage.
Before I could re-attempt the stage, I was politely asked to leave told that my time is up at the booth by a Capcom booth staff.
I think if, given enough time, I could totally beat the game.
Food, Retro Games & Supporting Artists!!
Personally, nothing much to shout about the food area, but I do like the food truck concept. I went just a bit before dinnertime and a lot of the things on the menu were sold out. So I settled for a Kwazy Korndog since I was just feeling peckish and not famished (get the Neopets reference? hehe). Good enough to keep me going a couple more hours around the convention.
Another booth that caught my eye was RetroCade. Everything at the booth was fitted out with their works and it was always full. I walked past the booth twice but all the seats were taken. It was only when I was leaving the convention that I managed to sneak in a game on the Alien vs Predator pinball machine.
I thought it was cool that they do custom neon lights and hold workshops on how to make your own retro arcade machine! That’s a fun couple and friends activity to do. Actually, you know what, it could also be really good as a parent-child bonding activity too. You could share a past experience with your child(ren) and they get to learn how to make an arcade machine.
Bye-bye, Roblox on iPads—hello to mother humbling you on Street Fighter at home. 😉
Finally, my favourite area at conventions: fan merchandise booths! The area wasn’t huge like those at anime conventions, but it’s okay. I enjoy just walking down and window-shopping but I’m a sucker for keychains and those linglinglonglongs (charms), and chibi-style art. Sngarila checked those boxes and I bought a couple of keychains and some stickers!
Wait, sorry, that wasn’t the final point. If we talk about artists, I also want to give a shoutout to all the cosplayers and mascots who took the time, effort, and money to create those wonderful, intricate costumes, and coming out to conventions because I personally think, cosplayers make a con, a con.
It’s like going to Disneyland, but instead of Disneyland it’s Suntec City and you get to see your favourite Honkai: Star Rail characters in person—for FREE.
Final Regret and Thoughts
There is one big regret I have about gamescom asia 2024, and that is not having enough time to explore and try out the games at the Indie Wavemakers area. There were about 60 independent game publishers/ game-makers that displayed demos of their games. But I couldn’t try any of them because people were clearing out and leaving the con, while some of the publishers had already moved out of their booths by the time I could visit the area.
One game did catch my eye, though, and it was Cassette Boy simply because of its graphics. I do enjoy 8-bit pixel games and cosy games, so that’s added into my wishlist. 📝
To sum it up, my first experience at gamescom asia 2024 was pretty fun despite how I only had a couple of hours to explore the event. Next time, I’ll be sure to turn up earlier so I can fully experience the convention and get my curiosity satiated. Perhaps try out the games at the Singapore pavilion #supportlocal and at tabletop games publisher, Origame, and even take part in the stamp rally event that gamescom asia was running.
gamescom asia will Return in 2025
The organisers have confirmed that gamescom asia will return to Singapore in 2025, and it will happen from 30 October to 2 November 2025. They promise to offer even more opportunities for industry growth and entertainment, and aims to solidify gamescom asia’s status as a central hub for gaming in Asia.
This article was written from a wide-eyed, naïve, first-time gamescom asia-goer, in the form of a short letter to a friend. Hopefully, when our community of W-players start growing, I can bring more unique and exclusive insights that can benefit more friends! 🎈
If you’ve never been to gamescom asia, or you did attend the latest gamescom asia 2024, drop me a DM over at @wplays.sg on Instagram! 📩