- The debut one-day Shanghai summit united over 630 attendees from 315 corporations representing 31 nations.
- 5 targeted bilingual tracks featured 37 high-calibre audio system offering 8 hours of content material on a variety of subjects from the newest traits and monetisation to in a foreign country export.
- Giant title attendees represented most sensible game-makers and platforms from West and East, connecting in combination for 500+ formal conferences and paving the best way for brand new offers.
Keep Knowledgeable
Get Trade Information In Your Inbox…
Signal Up Lately
Pocket Gamer Connects etched a contemporary bankruptcy in its historical past this month by means of internet hosting an inaugural tournament in mainland China, simply forward of ChinaJoy.
Operating in collaboration with writer MyGamez, the instance presented a brand new one-day Summit structure, offering the good content material, networking and expo show off for which PGC is known in a extra concentrated, high-impact collecting.
The development was once held on the sumptuous Pudong Shangri-Los angeles lodge, a venue well-known for its trendy facilities and breathtaking perspectives of the Bund and town skyline.
In spite of the storm climate warnings, this landmark collecting attracted 630 attendees from over 315 corporations, representing 31 nations around the world and each and every imaginable gaming structure.
Particularly, the demographic incorporated over 71% game-makers and 62% senior decision-makers, growing a great surroundings for networking, collaboration, and the trade of leading edge concepts.
The PG Connects Summit Shanghai 2025 featured a moderately curated programme with 37 knowledgeable audio system throughout 5 key tracks, providing 8 hours of content material that equipped sensible insights into world traits, monetisation, person expansion, and cross-border methods.
From a world trade review to hands-on recommendation, the content material was once designed to proportion key knowledge, spark dialogue and empower attendees to scale sustainably.
Area-focused tracks East to West and West to East equipped essential steering for builders navigating China’s huge marketplace or increasing in another country, reinforcing PG Connects’ venture to bridge the worldwide video games trade in each instructions.
A phrase from the crew
“This was once a in point of fact momentous day for each PGC, Metal Media and the broader video games trade,” mentioned Metal Media CEO Chris James. “Operating with our very good companions at MyGamez, our very good sponsors and an excellent workforce at the flooring, we unquestionably delivered on our venture to glue Japanese and Western video games corporations of all sizes, trade concepts and stimulate new industry alternatives.
“While the elements out of doors can have been much less hospitable (our first tournament with a Hurricane caution!), the tone throughout the venue was once heat, pleasant and overwhelmingly certain. Certainly, I got here away totally invigorated by means of the huge doable that lies forward for the video games trade each in China, the broader Asia-Pacific area and on an international scale.
“This was once our first important go back to the Asia occasions industry for 6 years (since PGC Hong Kong in 2019), however it’s maximum unquestionably simply step one of many within the area. We’ll be again with the PGC Korea Summit on October thirty first, unquestionably returning to Shanghai subsequent yr, and feature a couple of different locations in thoughts too!
“Our venture stays as all the time, to hunt out new video games markets and alternatives, have a good time the unbelievable corporations and people and do no matter we will to toughen the expansion of our trade thru our occasions and media!”
MyGamez COO and co-founder Charles Chiang mentioned: “At MyGamez, we act as a bridge – bringing most sensible world video games into China and connecting global builders thru world-class occasions.
“Because the co-organiser of the Pocket Gamer Connects Summit Shanghai, we had been proud to help in making the development an ideal luck, fostering world trade and trade expansion.
“With robust executive toughen and an enormous participant base, China gifts an unequalled alternative. To prevail, builders should in point of fact perceive native gamers. Those that wait chance lacking out.”
Connections that power industry
Networking was once a cornerstone of the Shanghai Summit enjoy, with MeetToMatch facilitating over 500 scheduled conferences and numerous extra going down organically around the venue and within the networking beverages afterwards.
The Giant Indie Zone buzzed with ingenious power as rising sport builders showcased their groundbreaking tasks. Set in a dynamic surroundings full of state-of-the-art generation and creative aptitude, the development allowed those gifted people to provide their video games at once to a various target audience of builders, publishers, buyers, equipment and repair suppliers.
This distinctive platform fostered worthwhile connections and networking alternatives, enabling Chinese language indie builders to realize very important comments and discover doable partnerships that might propel their visions to new heights.
With high-profile attendees from primary studios reminiscent of Tencent, Mattel163, NetEase, Neopets, platform holders, and main game-tech corporations provide, the development opened doorways for partnerships and offers at each and every nook.
This momentum will best keep growing because the group transitions into ChinaJoy 2025, with access supplied with a price ticket to Pocket Gamer Connects Summit Shanghai on August 1st, the place lots of the conversations sparked at PGC are set to adapt into concrete collaborations.
A launchpad for the summit sequence
PG Connects Summit Shanghai was once the primary of a brand new sequence of focused, high-impact Summits which are shorter, sharper, and constructed to mobilise regional engagement, both in their very own proper or as a gateway to a bigger current tournament (on this case, ChinaJoy). Through that specialize in native ecosystems whilst keeping up an international view, the Summit structure brings the most productive of PG Connects to new audiences.
With Shanghai as the place to begin, the Summit sequence lets in Metal Media to set attractions on new territories and new alternatives, reminiscent of the upcoming day out in South Korea, complementing the bigger flagship PG Connects occasions in towns like London, Barcelona, Helsinki, Dubai and Aqaba.
What’s subsequent?
If Shanghai is any indication, there’s a rising urge for food for world discussion, regional perception, and significant collaboration in video games.
The Pocket Gamer Connects crew is already making plans its subsequent Summit and the momentum continues with PGC Summit Korea 2025, on October thirty first, providing some other targeted alternative to hook up with Asia’s video games marketplace.
Having a look additional forward, the biggest B2B tournament within the Nordics, Pocket Gamer Connects Helsinki 2025, returns q4 (October seventh to eighth), bringing in combination hundreds of world trade leaders in one in every of Europe’s key hubs.
After that we’re visiting the MENA marketplace for PGC Aqaba in Jordan (November seventh to eighth), prior to we go back to our flagship tournament PGC London within the New Yr, (nineteenth to twentieth January 2026).
