KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 7 — Level Up KL, South-east Asia’s (SEA) premier digital games festival is set to propel the region’s video games sector onto the global stage through virtual games conferences and showcases, from October 10 until November 22, this year.

The brainchild of the Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC), it is expected to attract more than 50,000 gamers, developers, distributors and visitors from across 30 countries.

In a statement today, MDEC chief executive officer Surina Shukri said the digital games market has been an outlier within the global economy as it far surpasses previous and current expectations, owing to the Covid-19 pandemic which forced many to spend more time at home.

"With the pandemic forcing many to work from the comfort of their homes, we are also witnessing a spike in the popularity of video games that are primarily an at-home type activity.

"Therefore, we are positive that this trend will be reflected in this edition of Level Up KL as we are expecting to reach 5,000,000 people via social media and record 50,000 registered visitors for its first-ever virtualised event,” she said,

Globally, the video games market is projected to be worth US$159 billion (RM661 billion) in 2020, around four times more than box office revenues of US$43 billion in 2019, and almost thrice higher than the revenue in the music industry totalling US$57 billion last year.

According to MDEC, Asia-Pacific has been the biggest market by industry revenue gains alone in which it represents almost 50 per cent of the digital games sector by value.

Further explaining the festival, it said the nearly two-month event would feature activities including SEA game jam online, the business connection, industry conference, masterclass workshops, and virtual career fair.

More information and registration for its events could be obtained from www.levelupkl.com. — Bernama