KOCCA hosts GameDays 2026 console conference in Seoul with first Sony and Xbox sessions

Published 10 Nov 2026 · Games Atlas Editorial · Industry Event & Conference · Companies: Sony Interactive Entertainment, Xbox Game Studios, CD Projekt RED, Shift Up, Netmarble Monster

Games Atlas summary: KOCCA and the culture ministry held GameDays 2026 on November 9-10 in Seoul. The event merged five previously separate state-backed game programmes into one. Sony Interactive Entertainment Korea and Xbox staff joined the console conference for the first time. Pre-registrations reached twice the conference's planned capacity. Korea's state agency is now pairing creative mentoring with platform-entry instruction for console-bound studios.

Consolidation turns scattered programmes into one console pipeline

• GameDays bundled five programmes into a single two-day event.
• These were the console conference, Game of the Year awards, GIGDC, an AI showcase and a serious games forum.
• KOCCA co-organised it with four industry associations and two media outlets.
• The console developer conference itself reached only its second edition.
• "This year's GameDays matters because it brought major game events that used to run separately into one place, so the industry could share its results and experience" - Kim Yun-ji, President, KOCCA (translated from Korean)

Platform holders entered the state programme with certification content

• A separate deep-dive track covered platform entry procedures for Korean developers.
• The PlayStation session covered partner registration and launch technical requirement checks.
• Access was limited to attendees who completed final approval and NDA steps.
• The Xbox session covered market entry, launch strategy, certification and dev environment setup.
• An Xbox experience zone ran beside a K-console game showcase in the lounge.

Western and Japanese veterans framed console as a design discipline

• Speakers came from The Witcher, Cyberpunk, Danganronpa, RimWorld, Stellar Blade and Tekken teams.
• Harada and Sasko described console rules and hardware limits as design baselines.
• Sylvester rebuilt RimWorld's UI for TV viewing distance and controller input.
• Shift Up CTO Lee Dong-gi cited one boss fight rising from 4.85 to 8.6 in user satisfaction.
• Lee framed user testing as evidence of player friction, without dictating fixes.

Publisher access depends on localisation and controller readiness

• Panel chair Shuhei Yoshida previously led Sony Interactive Entertainment Worldwide Studios.
• Yoshida could not fully enjoy Korean-only demo builds at BIC.
• He urged early English support and controller handling suited to global preferences.
• He also advised studios on pitching gameplay to overseas publishers and media.

The programme still spreads beyond premium console

• Day two covered awards, serious games and an AI production transition showcase.
• Game of the Year named 16 winners, including Netmarble Monster's Mongil: STAR DIVE.
• GIGDC awarded 23 entries across planning and production categories.
• CD Projekt Red's Sasko warned of layoffs and cancellations burning out teams.
• "To keep that spark alive, you must not burn the person holding the torch" - Pawel Sasko, Associate Game Director, CD Projekt Red (translated from Korean)

Sources

• [종합] 게임데이즈 2026, 콘솔 개발의 경험과 창작의 열정을 잇다 | 웹진 인벤 (inven.co.kr)
• 콘솔부터 AI·인디게임까지…콘진원, '게임데이즈 2026' 첫 개최 (zdnet.co.kr)