GameStart 2018 (#GameStart2018), Southeast Asia’s Premier Game Convention, celebrates its 5th year on 13 & 14 October 2018 with the ultimate gaming content at Suntec Convention Centre. Organisers Eliphant announced a series of returning favourites as well as new and exciting content for everyone, including game showcases and previews, tabletop gaming, esports, indie games, retro gaming, and cosplay. Esports fans can gear up for exciting competition as SEA Major (SEAM) 2018 plays host to more international tournaments. Mobile esports also takes centerstage as SEA Mobile Major (SEAMM) plays host to the very first Shadowverse Contenders Cup for the Southeast Asia & Oceania region.  

An exciting guest lineup awaits visitors at GameStart 2018. Organisers revealed a guest appearance by voice actress Elise Zhang, who is best known as the voice of Mei, a character from one of the world’s most popular games, Overwatch. Please see Annex C for her bios. 

New additions to GameStart include the debut of GameStart Masterclasses, where well-known creatives and personalities from the international games industry are invited to run specialised masterclasses. GameStart Workshops, developed in collaboration with No Average Joe, is a series of workshops and talks that focus on a range of general gaming-related topics. GameStart MasterClasses will be held on 10 and 12 October while GameStart Workshops will be held during the convention.

World Class Tournament Action at Our Doorsteps

SEA Major (SEAM) 2018, one of the largest fighting game tournaments in Asia, returns to GameStart 2018 bigger and better! Expect to see high-level tournament action, as top players from around the world convene to fight for over USD 60,000 in prizes! This year is extra special, as SEA Major will play host pitstops for four major events - the Capcom Pro Tour Asia Finals, Tekken World Tour Master event, one of only 7 Dragon Ball FighterZ World Tour SAGA events, and the only ArcRevo World Tour event announced for Southeast Asia.

The inaugural Shadowverse SEAO Contenders Cup, where the top 4 players in the South East Asia Oceania (SEAO) Region fight for the right to represent the region at the Shadowverse World Grand Prix in Japan, for a top prize of USD 1,000,000, will also be held during GameStart 2018.

More details of key highlights in the tournament line-up, announced to date, is available at Annex A. To join the tournaments, check out BeastAPAC.com. 

A Weekend of Fun, Games and More

GameStart 2018 will see its most diverse offerings to date, with mobile and PC games having a bigger presence at the convention. The first batch of exhibitors and sponsors announced for GameStart 2018 include The Walt Disney Company Southeast Asia, who will be exhibiting at GameStart for the first time, Japanese mobile giant Cygames; Mihoyo, publisher of popular mobile game Honkai Impact 3; WB Games, Taipei Game Show, Battlebrew Productions, 3DSense and gaming apparel brand Xmashed Gear. HyperX leads this year’s sponsor list as Official Gaming Headset, Armaggeddon as Official Quest Sponsor, Wacom will sponsor the GameStart Indie Awards, and MyRepublic returns as Fibre Broadband Sponsor. Sponsors also include Monster (Official Energy Drink), Central City Brewers & Distillers (Official Alcohol Beverage Sponsor), Razer, Twitch and Xsplit, the official streaming software of the event. Tickets and official merchandise are available for sale at https://gamestart.asia/ticketing/ .