From October 25 to 27, 2024, the fourth edition of the Venezuela Game Show (known mostly as VGS) was held and was full of surprises, highly competitive tournaments from different branches of esports, impressive cosplays by attendees, brand positioning strategies at each stand of the event, different live musical proposals among many other things. Everything happened simultaneously during each of the days of the event, becoming a place with thousands of entertainment possibilities for attendees.

Being an entertainment event dedicated primarily to video games (although it is currently expanding into new sports areas that we will discuss later), this fourth edition innovated in many aspects compared to previous editions, expanding the range of video games available both in a competitive environment and in free to play spaces (spaces available so anyone could play for fun without competing). In addition, the competitions brought together professional players from all over the country who traveled to the capital to compete for attractive prizes.

Moving away from its central theme, video games, the fourth edition of the VGS was characterized by expanding the entertainment offering to include many more areas. For the first time, a rubber ball competition was added, a sports entertainment tournament that Movilnet has previously sponsored. In the same way, there were multiple cosplay contests with different themes, musical proposals ranged from Ska bands like Los Rabanes to the most famous Japanese virtual idol Hatsune Miku, and even a space for board games was added.

Day 1: Press Conference – Free to play – First tournaments

At approximately eleven o'clock in the morning on Friday, October 25, Venezuela Game Show opened its doors to various media in order to start the press conference, where several interesting things were discussed. After starting the presentation, we welcomed Danny Goncalvez, main director of the Venezuela Game Show, and Walter Costabel, CEO of LocalStrike, producers of Argentina Game Show. During their presentation, they described the event, each of the disciplines in which there would be official tournaments, and defined the VGS as "A meeting place for friends." 

They stressed the importance of having a space dedicated to board games for the first time, as well as including the rubber ball discipline. All of this, they said, is part of the expansion that the event will have to grow and become a wide-spectrum entertainment space, where the most fanatic video game fans and also those who prefer other forms of entertainment can enjoy themselves: such as live music, physical sports or even analog games.

Movilnet's new plan was announced

During the press conference the new plan was announced Mobilenet dedicated exclusively to those video game fans. It is a new plan that can be added as an additional plan to the one you originally had for your line, this one has 65 GB to use in four different games or applications: Discord, Free Fire, Roblox and Twitch. The plan costs $4 dollars.

The announcement was made by Jupeson, a well-known content creator and influencer, along with Reynaldo Dávila, who holds the position of vice president of marketing at Movilnet. They stressed the importance of this plan, emphasizing that the selection was made taking into account the Venezuelan market and its needs. Discord is widely used nationwide among large and small communities of gamers, Twitch is a platform to view live broadcasts from content creators – or to broadcast live if they are – and the next two are video games easily accessible from any low-end mobile device.

Both commented that they plan to expand the offer nationwide with new games and applications that will be incorporated into this gamer plan, which is already available for contracting and whose objective is to encourage the creation of content by those who want to do so, as well as facilitate access to video games for the entire general population.

The event begins for all audiences

After the press conference, the event opened its doors to all the public who had purchased their tickets. At the main entrance there was a long line of people waiting, excited to enjoy the event. In many cases, they went with the intention of watching a particular competition, others wanted to play very new video games and share their passion for the medium with friends and family. At the same time, content creators and special guests chatted outside and inside the event, while some of their followers asked them for photos.

The Venezuela Game Show consisted of several huge tents that formed a route in numerous directions. At the end of each section were the main platforms that displayed gigantic screens where the action could be seen in complete detail. Each of these platforms was the main venue for some official tournament of the event. While the event was not taking place, they were spaces for presentations or free games for attendees and guests. 

Throughout the route you could see stands of all kinds of national brands offering different proposals related to video games, stands with cooking games for brands associated with that area, brands with fighting game proposals (such as Banco de Venezuela with Super Smash Bros. Ultimate), from the MOBA genre, among many others. Each step within the route offered something new to see and interact with, making there many options depending on your tastes.

The day goes by and the first tournaments begin

The hours begin to pass and the Venezuela Game Show was in full swing, that huge tent seemed to get smaller thanks to the large volume of attendees who kept arriving. Some sported spectacular cosplays heading to the first competition of the branch, others used clothing alluding to video games, anime or any type of clothing referring to elements of pop culture. The rubber ball tournament begins on a court made very close to the entrance.

The field had details on the ground to mark fouls, each of the bases and other signs according to the rules of the game. It was not long before the field was completely full of spectators, who excitedly watched the teams compete and give it their all on the field. This area was also quite busy because it had free Wi-Fi to connect to.

Next to the previously mentioned tournament, there was the fighting game arena, which had a display of four PlayStation 5 consoles on the lower level, and through some stairs you could go up to the main stage where there was an additional console connected to two small monitors for each player. In turn, this transmitted to the main giant screen of the arena. During Friday there was free play, so people entered to challenge each other among friends and even strangers with the goal of measuring their skills in Street Fighter 6 and Tekken 8. Two disciplines that would have their respective tournaments in the following days.

The queue began to fill the spaces of greatest interest to the general public.

As the afternoon progressed and night fell, more people entered the Venezuela Game Show. At this point, a long line formed at the racing simulator; approximately twelve stations with a chair and a special driving simulation device were waiting to receive people who wanted to try their hand at the most famous tracks in the world driving a digital Mitsubishi Lancer. Those who had the best times on the track would qualify for the final tournament that would be held on Sunday, so everyone who came in the mood to have fun was also motivated to make their best time.

About a hundred meters away was the big screen playing the Just Dance video game, a dance simulator that has been creating new loyal fans for years. The line was forming at times between large groups of friends who wanted to play together a song of their choice, in that space a little removed from the hustle and bustle of other arenas, the music that accompanied the game could be heard perfectly, and since the spectator room was so large, many replicated the dance on screen despite not scoring points, they played indirectly alongside the protagonists on stage.

Right in front of the big Just Dance screen was the area for board games, about eight large tables were spread out across the space with multiple games to choose from and start a game. The staff present would recommend one to you if you were a beginner, and they would also gather the small groups that arrived to play with each other. The friendliness and patience to explain each rule in detail was the order of the day, and the affection and knowledge of those in charge of the area about these interesting games was also noticeable.

Closing day one: concerts and many competitions at the Venezuela Game Show

With so much to see, one day was not enough to interact with all the stands and enjoy everything there was to do. The night of the first day was coming to an end, happy people strolled through all the areas, enjoying food at the fair that had multiple options to buy. In that same space was the stage that welcomed the group Los Menores, who put on a great show for the audience. In parallel – much of what I describe was happening at the same time in multiple spaces – they continued playing rubber ball games, there were fights in the fighting game arena, dances in the Just Dance space, mobile games, contests, areas with loud music, among many other things.

Many of the content creators were strolling around the venue, you saw cosplayers being stopped by passersby to take a photo together, screens mostly with active video games were seen everywhere with people playing and competing in this wonderful passion. Many friends were meeting and greeting each other, others were forging new relationships. Fairlygab, one of the streamers with the most followers nationwide, was at one of the stands signing autographs and meeting with her followers, in front of her a long line of fans excited to meet her, ask for a photo and even exchange a few words. Among so many things going on simultaneously, the night of the first day was coming to an end.

Day 2: Competitions continue and new individual tournaments are added

With the same excitement as the day before, a line of people eager to enter the Venezuela Game Show waited at the entrance gate. On Saturday, the number of people increased considerably; you could see people of all ages excited to see what was behind the security fence that prevented entry. Outside, many players passed through the accreditation area where they received the ribbon that identified them as official participants.

Upon entering, the event layout remained pretty much the same, with some stands slightly changing the order of their screens, the video games they were showing, or some decorative elements, in essence, everything remained the same. This time, the largest arenas were reserved for tournaments, with the Street Fighter 6 tournament being held in the fighting game arena, and over 60 people competing in the Dragon Ball Sparking Zero tournament in an adjacent arena. In the background, very close to the Just Dance arena, the EA Sports FC 25 qualifiers were taking place.

On another large platform the Counter Strike 2 tournament was held, on the court the sports tournament continued rubber ballSaturday was much more frenetic, the crowd grew as the hours passed and you could hear cheers, shouts of celebration, the collective euphoria of winning if you were a player or of watching an exciting high-level match if you were a spectator.

Everything multiplied compared to the previous day

During the second day, the Cosplayers shined even more, with impressive costumes made from all kinds of materials. Imitating characters from a huge variety of games, from the most classic to the most modern, human characters and those that are not. During this day, the contest would be for cosplays of fighting game characters, so you could see many characters from Mortal Kombat, Street Fighter and others moving around the course. Dragon Ball Sparking Zero, a recently released game, was one of the protagonists of the day. The influencers had a closed tournament and then the public tournament was held, many spectators watched excitedly the complex fights that took place on the big screen and when it concluded, they began to play free matches.

In another arena, the DOTA 2 tournament was held, a video game with a large fan base around the world. The final was spectacular because the excitement of the spectators showed the talent that the professionals on the stage possessed. As night fell, the arenas were filled with their respective champions in each discipline, who celebrated with music, received their awards and amidst celebrations and cheers from the spectators, the night was coming.

In the fair section, the Hatsune Miku show was presented for the first time, a idol Japanese virtual reality show that projects itself as a hologram to sing or play the most famous songs of this personality. Among the audience, many cosplayers of Hatsune Miku could be seen, especially for her characteristic blue hair, gathered with many other people who sang along to her songs while the show was going on.

Day 3: The last tournaments, the final day of the event and much to do

The day started again with players preparing for the finals of the tournaments that would take place on Sunday. When the doors opened, everyone went to their respective calls to start playing. Such was the case of Tekken 8, a video game that brought together more than one hundred participants who competed against each other within its complex mechanics as a three-dimensional fighting game. On another of the screens, League of Legends would be played, one of the most anticipated games by spectators. Also, the Valorant final would take place, so little by little the main stages were packed with people who wanted to shout and see the professionals give it their all.

In smaller areas, entire families played the video games available, crossed a small maze that had some rewards or answered some trivia that allowed them to win all kinds of prizes. There were also smaller tournaments like Mario Strikers, with 16 participants who competed until the three big winners were decided. The same thing happened with Mario Kart in another part of the big tent. The day went by with so much excitement.

In one of the corners there was a very special area with video games developed by Venezuelan creators, such as pixel dominus, the alias of the creator of the video game 'Princess Pomu and The 5 Moons', who showed an available demo of his video game and said that he has been developing it completely alone for more than 4 years, receiving help in the musical composition from his father. In another space stood out 'Tengo 20 bolos y entrega hasta las 7', a short visual novel that told the story of a craftsman with more power than he would believe. The story behind it is more interesting, it was made in just 72 hours during a game jam.

The night of the last day was coming to an end 

More and more tournaments had their winners defined, it was easy to recognize them by the emotion that their faces showed, in many cases celebrating together with their teams for the most crowded games. Outside, Los Rabanes, a Panamanian ska band, made their presentation making everyone present dance. Inside, many enjoyed their last moments with the games or consoles available sharing quality time, like the case of a father and his son who played Dragon Ball Sparking Zero together and laughed while they learned to make new combos and the game advanced.

Some tournaments went on much further into the night, such as Tekken 8, where due to the large number of participants the tournament continued for hours without a definitive winner being determined. In addition, this scenario was the origin of a controversy between two players that caused a lot of interest and a stir on social media. Two rivals whose fight clearly transcended the battle they had within the video game met within the tournament and had a clash on the main stage that sparked debates about the future of the Tekken community in the country.

In parallel, many friends were saying goodbye as the band closed their show, cosplayers began to take down their elaborate outfits and others were simply seen chatting and laughing knowing that a very special weekend dedicated to video games was about to end. In the Super Smash Bros area, many former opponents from their respective tournaments enjoyed casual games with other friends, this fact was repeated between all the stations while rematches were granted that transcended the competition, dedicating themselves to making new friends who share the same passion.

Final Conclusions on the Venezuela Game Show

The Venezuela Game Show was a huge event (difficult to summarise in a single article) mainly due to the uniqueness of its audiovisual experience that caused such a stir among the attendees. Every minute of every day something interesting was happening in each of the event's spaces, which stretched out and disappeared into the distance. You could feel the passion for each of the esports and at the same time, for the video games themselves, which shone on the huge screens with each of their own colours and mechanics.

It was a gamer party in all its splendor, full of various experiences suitable for anyone who wanted to have fun, from really competitive scenarios to free games to play as much as you wanted. The Venezuela Game Show was a meeting place for the entire gamer community in the country, from professionals to enthusiasts, from content creators to fans, from old adult friends to families with small children. What many take away from that day are the friendships made and sharing this passion with other people.

The VGS shows that the gaming community in the country is growing, reflecting the quality of competitiveness that is observed in each tournament, as well as in all the enthusiasts who share this passion as spectators. It also serves as a meeting place for anyone who wants to be part of this world, expanding in this fourth edition to include those who want a multidisciplinary entertainment event.