Kim Hyung Tae, Shinji Mikami and Jang Hang-jun among G-CON 2026 speakers announced

[Financial News] Creators from games, film, animation and other content fields will gather at this month’s G-STAR Game Conference (G-CON 2026) to share their production experience and creative philosophies. The event plans to spotlight a range of creative elements, including game worlds and narratives, art, music and characters, and to draw attendees with programs that let speakers and audience members interact directly.
Industry sources said on the 2nd that the G-STAR Organizing Committee had released the session schedule for G-CON 2026, which will be held on the 19th and 20th at the BEXCO Convention Hall in Busan.
This year’s conference will explore game narratives beyond stories and dialogue, extending the discussion to worlds, characters, art, music, game systems and player choices. Speakers will include not only game developers but also creators from film, television drama and animation.
On the 19th, Marcin Blacha, vice president and story director at CD Projekt RED, the studio behind The Witcher series, and narrative director Filip Weber will share their experience building game worlds and narratives. They will discuss how they draw inspiration from mythology, folktales, history and literature, as well as how players’ choices affect a story.
Shift Up CEO Kim Hyung Tae and CEO Shinji Mikami, creator of the Resident Evil series and other games, will discuss game development in 2027 during the first-day keynote. Topics will include narratives in combat-focused games, storytelling through visuals, and game development in the age of artificial intelligence (AI).
Developers from Korea will also share their production experience. Ahn Geun-tae, head of art level, and Yoon Jin-ho, head of graphics at Pearl Abyss, will discuss how they brought the continent of Pywel to life in Crimson Desert and the technology behind building an open world with the company’s own engine. Kohei Shibata and Masakazu Hirayama of Koei Tecmo Games will explain the development philosophy behind the Nioh and Wo Long series.
Sessions with film creators are also planned. Director Jang Hang-jun of The King's Warden and director Lee Byeong-heon of Extreme Job will discuss storytelling centered on dialogue and relationships between characters. Cho Yong-hee, director of Capcom’s Pragmata, and director Park In-je of Disney+’s Moving will share how they create characters and relationships in their works. Other international creators will also take part, including David Mervik of Little Nightmares and Reanimal, Carrie Xia of Pacific Drive, and Greg Kasavin and Darren Korb of the Hades series.
On the 20th, sessions will cover game art and characters, as well as narratives based on personal experience. Ariadna Martinez and Joanna Wang of Ghost of Yōtei will explain how they translated historical and cultural context into the game’s world and visual elements. Art creators from Marvel’s Spider-Man, God of War Ragnarök: Valhalla, Control Resonant and VALORANT will also discuss storytelling through characters, environments and animation.
Ryan and Amy Green, the couple behind That Dragon, Cancer, will join Lee Nak-jun, author of the webtoon The Trauma Code: Heroes on Call, to share their experience documenting a family’s illness and loss through a game. They will discuss how personal experiences can be turned into creative works and used to evoke empathy in others.
Square Enix will deliver the second-day keynote. It will cover the development process and philosophy behind the Final Fantasy VII work over roughly 30 years, from the original game through the remake project. Shōji Kawamori of the Macross series and Kim Yong-ha, head of Blue Archive, will discuss creating characters and worlds. Lee Dong-gun, author of the webtoon Yumi’s Cells, and Kim Hye-sook, a senior animator on Inside Out 2, will discuss visual expressions of emotion and psychology.
[email protected] Jang Min-kwon Reporter