Here’s everything that went down during CONQuest Festival 2023

INQUIRER.net BrandRoom / 04:19 PM June 09, 2023

AcadArena’s CONQuest Festival just finished its run! Here’s a rundown of cool things that happened at the event:

The CONQuest Festival 2023, organized by AcadArena is a 3-day convention that combines all things gaming, technology, music, pop culture, comics, and anime, was held on June 2 to 4 in Pasay, headlined by content creators, gamers, and musicians.

This year’s CONQuest Festival was bigger and bolder, hosting a variety of events that had over 70 local and international guests, as well as its first “Food Street,” or a food festival, and a Music Night, wherein different artists performed.

The convention was held in a multi-venue setup, encompassing SMX Convention Center, Seashell Lane, Mall of Asia, National University’s MOA Campus, and Conrad Manila.

Day 1 (June 2)

On the first day of the event, streamers Valkyrae, Fuslie, and Yvonnie kickstarted the day on the main stage with their segment ‘Cookie with a Roomie’. The streamers each teamed up with a lucky fan that they picked from the crowd to join them as they bake cookies on stage. Valkyrae’s team won the cookie contest with their chocolate chip cookies.

At the MeetZones, fans lined up to meet and greet their favorite voice actors and cosplayers, including real-life couple Laura Stahl and Khoi Dao, who eagerly faced their fans; Cosplayers Hikarin and Tsikyo were also welcomed by their fans, and the fans got the chance to talk with their favorite cosplayers and have a photo op; and American voice actor Sean Chiplock, known for voicing Diluc from Genshin Impact, who spent most of his time at his booth to accommodate his long line of fans.

Food content creator Newt and game streamers AriaSaki, Pokimane, and Michael Reeves also graced the MeetZones.

On the other hand, independent Filipino video creators gathered around the IndieZone and showcased their games, including KendiKorp, a Filipino indie game developer that uses the themes of Filipino symbolisms and cultural treasures, and Love Birb, just like the average dating app where you can swipe left and right except, everyone is a bird.

Predator Gaming also held a series of games to be fulfilled by CONQuest participants, where they got the chance to spin a different set of prizes after the game.

A Filipino senior game designer from Riot, Ryan Cousart, also attended the event, expressing his excitement about their first Filipino agent in Valorant. Together with his team, Cousart shared how they were able to conceptualize characters that suit their animation style, design, VFX, and audio – also sharing his process when it came to conceptualizing the character’s DNA (design, narrative, and art).

SMX’s 2nd-floor halls occupied some of the special guests’ booths including Filipino comic artists Little Things PH, Libreng Komiks, Hunghang Flashbacks, Sskait, and Aeonix, who were among the creatives that were spotted selling their merch, stickers, and art prints at the event.

The event ended with James Landino and Hyper Potions DJ set during the Music Night.

Day 2 (June 3)

On the second day, the Alliance Games semis for both PC games and mobile games were held at NU MOA, with a designated viewing area where fans can watch the ongoing matches.

On the other hand, streamer Sykkuno, Jaehyeong of The Rose, and other celebrity guests played VALORANT for the Celebrity Showmatch on the main stage. The crowd roared and reacted animatedly during the celebrity show match, but in the end, Sykkuno’s team won after a long game.

At the MOA Atrium, gamers and streamers Elie Gaming, Sharlene San Pedro, Doc Z, Kurimeow, and Amara held a free fan meeting.

Streamers Anthony Chen and LilyPichu, among many others, also held a fan meet in the MeetZones.

Day 2 was capped off with music performances from the South Korean band The Rose and James Reid, with other guest performers being Carousel Casualties, Autotelic, Oh, Flamingo!, Lesha, and Timmy Albert.

Day 3 (June 4)

The POP! team was present on the last day, handing out free sticker packs to anyone who will register to the INQUIRER.net newsletter.

Day 3 sees streamers Pokimane, Sykkuno, Valkyra, Fuslie, and Yvonnie play Pinoy Henyo and answer questions from their fans at the MOA Atrium.

Streamers and real-life couple Michael Reeves and LilyPichu also teamed up against Pokimane, Ariasaki, and iGumdrop during the Offline Feud – where they invited their fans to join them to complete their teams – with every round’s questions revolving around facts about the guests. In the end, Reeves and LilyPichu’s team won.

Cabbage Man was seen pushing his cart on behalf of their organization Urban Farmers PH, a social enterprise that not only promotes farming but also envisions giving employment and finding solutions to food waste. According to them, 85% of their materials are recycled and they wanted to maximize available lands in the urban area for farming.

The Scamily also answered their fans’ questions on the panel stage, wherein, they also talked about how they coped with burnout, their favorite uploaded YouTube video, and their go-to karaoke song.

See some more highlights at the CONQuest Festival 2023:

Pokimane enjoys Jollibee during the Offline Feud game. Even though they lost, she mentioned that it is still a win because she got to eat free Jollibee.