After all the coverage for GameStart Asia 2019, we can’t forget the organizers behind the event, Eliphant. We catch up with Elicia Lee for a few minutes! If you’re not aware, she is the managing director for Eliphant, and we’ve interviewed her before!

Being able to bring in games like Final Fantasy VII Remake and Cyberpunk 2077 can’t possibly be easy, one would think. Asia is also getting its first taste of Marvel’s Avengers at GameStart this weekend too! She says it came down to the team’s hardwork, and having the fortune to meet with partners and distributors who saw the potential of GameStart. She also jokes about the show being awesome, which, let’s face it, GameStart IS pretty great! Incidentally, you can read up on our FF7R hands-on from Tokyo Game Show 2019 here.

Organizing GameStart gives her the opportunity to meet these prominent and respected industry players. Tokita Takashi is present as guest, and she relays how they met him at another Singapore event, and him kindly agreeing to attend the event. Through GameStart, they are able to facilitate meetings with these people for local and regional fans or fellow industry members at the event. For most of us in the region here, it’s less likely for us to get the chance to fly out so often to events in Japan or further, so Eliphant’s team’s efforts grants us the opportunity to experience the games for ourselves.

As for event highlights, first and foremost will be the mentioned Final Fantasy VII Remake area and exclusive Cyberpunk 2077 content shown at the event. It is GameStart’s final year in Singapore, but don’t worry. Elicia talks about the new partnership with Gamescom Asia, with its inaugural event happening in Singapore as well, in 2020. They will be working to get the show established in the country.

In regards to GameStart itself, she mentions a break from the event “in its current form”. They will be looking to expand the event to other markets, as they plan for smaller scale events to run over the next year. She asks us to stay tuned for further announcements.

Elicia expresses her gratitude to fans and visitors to GameStart for the past six years. “Without your support, we could never have made it this far,” she says. When they started out with the event, they didn’t know what would happen or if anyone would enjoy the event, she admits. Now that it’s six years on and looking at a partnership with Gamescom, she believes it’s really down to us who have attended the events.

Make sure to support your regional events! While GameStart Asia at present will be in its final year, we can look forward to seeing what Gamescom Asia has in store for us. See you next time!