Anime Festival Asia x GameStart? Sozo & Eliphant form a strategic alliance!
PRESS RELEASE: "SOZO, organiser of Southeast Asia’s largest Japanese pop culture event Anime Festival Asia (AFA), and Eliphant, organiser of Southeast Asia’s premier gaming convention GameStart, have announced that both entities will form a strategic alliance to further strengthen existing events, and to create and develop new events in Asia.
The SOZO and Eliphant alliance aims to be the first step to roll out an integrated support system to further strengthen the community. By leveraging their strengths as IP innovators and event trailblazers, SOZO and Eliphant hope to provide new and inspiring ways for fans to enjoy their hobbies in gaming, animation and beyond.
With the support of SOZO, who has already established their presence in Indonesia, 2018 will mark the very first regional expansion of GameStart as they launch their very first: GameStart Indonesia. AFA will continue hosting its key events in both Indonesia and Singapore and hope to introduce more gaming content as part of their content offerings."
“Southeast Asia emerges as one of the fastest growing markets for gaming and content, we recognised that both AFA and GameStart audiences have diverse interests in both gaming and anime. With our partnership, we hope to work closely to bring even more exhilarating content and holistic experiences to both fanbases across the regions,” said Shawn Chin, Managing Director of SOZO and founder of Anime Festival Asia.
"We are extremely excited to be able to bring our event to various regions, with the support of our partners. We are determined to support the regional gaming industry, especially in esports and game development. We are positive that our partnership will provide more events and enable us to bring awesome content to both gamers and anime fans," said Elicia Lee, founder of GameStart Asia and CEO of Eliphant Pte Ltd.
"As of 1st March 2018, both SOZO and Eliphant have moved to a new office premise together to further strengthen their alliance. Organisers expect an exciting year ahead and look forward to announcing more about 2018 calendar of events in the upcoming weeks."
About AFA - Anime Festival Asia ( animefestival.asia )
AFA is a specialised business unit of SOZO. Started in 2008, AFA is the largest and most followed J-pop culture event in Southeast Asia. AFA has become a household name to J-Pop Culture lovers in the Southeast Asia region and is the leading and most effective content delivery platform, centring around all things Japanese Pop Culture. In 2017, AFA partnered SOTSU to create C3AFA and has brought the event to Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia, Hong Kong and Tokyo.
C3AFA 2017 Visitor Tracking: Singapore: 96,000
Thailand: 30,000
Indonesia: 50,080
Japan: 100,000 Hong Kong: 200,000
About SOZO ( sozo.sg )
Tapping on Japan’s diverse wealth of entertainment content, SOZO has positioned itself to be the ‘bridge’, connecting Japan to South East Asia – by showcasing quality concerts, engaging retail experiences and creating meaningful online engagement to audiences and businesses across South East Asia.
Established in 2009, SOZO entertainment platforms include Anime Festival Asia, I Love Anisong, Japan Music Festival, and Anisong Fantasy Live. Previous projects by SOZO includes solo concerts for J-Pop artistes such as Kyary Pamyu Pamyu, May’n, SCANDAL, LiSA, and RADWIMPS, as well as festivals including Funan Anime Matsuri, Penang Anime Matsuri, and Creators Super Fest Jakarta.
SOZO is a Sony Music Japan group company.
About GameStart Asia ( gamestart.asia )
GameStart is Southeast Asia’s premier gaming convention and Eliphant’s flagship event. Organised by industry veterans who are themselves gamers, GameStart seeks to bring the latest and greatest games across all genres and platforms - from PC, console and mobile to VR and tabletop - to audiences in Asia. GameStart Asia welcomed over 24,000 visitors from Singapore and the region in 2017.
About Eliphant ( eliphant.co )
Eliphant is the organiser of GameStart Asia, Southeast Asia’s premier gaming convention, and since inception in 2014, has expanded its scope and operations to include its esports and live production arm, BEast of the East, SEA Major, one of the largest fighting game tournaments in Asia, and talent management agency VERSUS Talent.The company continues to play an active role in growing and supporting the gaming industry across multiple genres, including game development, knowledge-sharing, marketing, esports, community building and event management.
Eliphant is the official organiser for the Capcom Pro Tour in Asia Pacific.
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