To mark a quarter-century of its presence in South Korea, Nvidia hosted the GeForce Gamer Festival Seoul at COEX on the 20th. The venue was split into two main sectors: one side packed with booths from game developers and hardware distributors, while the central square hosted the main stage and a showcase of GeForce graphics cards.

The partner zone was a frenzy of mini-games. Vendors like Omen, MSI, Compuzone, and Coupang kept the crowd busy with roulette wheels and lucky draws. Some lucky attendees walked away with high-end Nvidia GeForce 50-series cards, their cheers echoing through the hall. NCSoft stood out as the sole game developer in the partner zone, offering hands-on demos of 'Aion 2' and 'Cinder City'.

The Nvidia Zone was a playground for gearheads, featuring merchandise—some emblazoned with the face of CEO Jensen Huang—and demos powered by GeForce Now. Titles like 'Black Myth: Wukong' and 'Overwatch 2' were massive hits among the attendees. The real highlight, however, was the 'GeForce Garage', showcasing custom-built PCs. The modded rigs inspired by 'Borderlands' iconic Claptrap, a traditional hanok for 'K-Pop Demon Hunters', and a 'Battlefield' attack helicopter were nothing short of brilliant.

The evening main stage kicked off at 7 PM with a performance by martial arts group K-Tigers. The eight-member crew brought incredible energy, choreographing dynamic routines to hits like 'Soda Pop' and 'Golden' from 'K-Pop Demon Hunters', plus Aespa’s 'Next Level'.

Following the performance, NCSoft VP Lee Sung-gu, Bigfire Games VP Bae Jae-hyun, and Aion 2 development lead Baek Seung-wook took the stage to drop teaser footage for their upcoming projects, 'Cinder City' and 'Aion 2'.

Next up, we had a proper dose of nostalgia: a legendary grudge match between StarCraft icons Hong Jin-ho and Lee Yoon-yeol. The first round on 'Fighting Spirit' saw Hong fall after taking two direct hits from Lee’s nuclear missiles. Lee, still active on the circuit, kept up the psychological pressure in the second round on 'Dreamliner' to seal a 2-0 victory.

Krafton also took the stage to talk about their AI ambitions. They introduced 'PUBG ELI', a companion character for 'PUBG: Battlegrounds' designed to chat and assist players in real-time. This is part of Krafton's broader 'Co-Playable Character' (CPC) initiative, with PUBG ELI slated to hit PUBG Arcade in 2026.

In a surprise appearance, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang—in town for the APEC summit—joined Hyundai Motor Group Chairman Euisun Chung and Samsung Chairman Jay Y. Lee on stage. Huang expressed his profound affection for Korea, even revealing that he once received a letter from the late Chairman Lee Kun-hee regarding the advancement of Korean e-sports and gaming.

To cap off the night, K-pop sensation LE SSERAFIM turned the heat up. The quintet—Kim Chaewon, Sakura, Huh Yunjin, Kazuha, and Hong Eunchae—performed their latest track 'SPAGHETTI', released on the 24th, followed by hits like 'UNFORGIVEN' and 'ANTIFRAGILE', bringing the festival to a roaring close.