Beijing seems to be getting just a little chilly at the end of October—the perfect time to dig out that down jacket that’s been tucked away at the back of the closet for ages.At least for me, I’m not keen on getting up to stand in line for several hours in the biting cold—but the overflowing enthusiasm of the gamers at Shougang Park clearly proved that my initial misgivings were unfounded.In any case, by the time I entered the Nuclear Fusion venue, the goosebumps that the cold wind had raised on my skin had happily subsided.
As far as the eye can see
But then I immediately got goosebumps again—there were just way too many players waiting in line. I took a stroll past the “Guren” ship in *Showa American Story*, and when I came back after a full lap, it seemed like the same few people were still at the back of the line. I gave them an awkward smile, shrugged, and made my way through the crowd to chat with a friend who was volunteering at the *Showa American Story* booth.He told me there were just way too many people this year. For this first-ever in-person demo in China, Suzaku was generous enough to allow a 30-minute play session and set up 40 demo computers.Even so, the line in front of the *Guren* stretched as far as the eye could see—the players’ enthusiasm was unstoppable. Who could resist that super-cool giant drill, after all…But I digress. Before we could finish our conversation, he was called back to work. I waved goodbye and continued wandering around the venue.
The hustle and bustle—our line
The long line in front of the “Red Lotus” booth was just a snapshot of this year’s Fusion event. It wasn’t just *Showa: A Tale of America*—booths for *The Resisters*, *Tide of Annihilation*, *Soul Call*, and many others were also packed with people.It seemed like everyone at the Fusion event was in line. As I wandered around, I couldn’t help but wonder—why do gamers come to Fusion? Is it really just to wait in line for hours?
Get in line, get in line
As I wandered through Hall 1, lost in thought, someone suddenly tugged at my sleeve. I looked up to see a group of cheerful people taking a group photo. I stopped to wait for them to strike a pose and snap the picture, and an answer came to me quite naturally.Hey, Huckleberry, look—isn’t there a live eel in your bowl? Where’s your spear?
May they always be happy.
Naturally, I was reminded of this year’s Shenzhen Fusion, themed “ODE TO THE GAMER!” The editor at Jike wrote: “Who are you? Where are you?What are you thinking? Gamers connect with gamers; gamers connect with games. Fusion is a carnival by gamers, for gamers, and serving gamers. For these two days, we’re just gamers. For these two days, we’ll celebrate—these are days for gamers.”
The connection. Suddenly, I understood everything.
01
Everyone who plays games is a friend.
Eleven years ago, on Jike’s fifth anniversary, they produced an incredibly cool video, which ended with Simon reciting that line so familiar to Jike listeners—“Everyone who plays games is a friend.”Jike has been using this phrase for more than a decade—from podcasts to the website, documentaries, and now the video podcast matrix “Nuclear Waves,” all the way to “Nuclear Fusion.” Jike has always been dedicated to one thing: bringing gamers together.It’s hard for me to describe this, but I think the intro to the Jike Radio show explains it perfectly: “Don’t just stay cooped up at home—get out and explore.”
Video Games Save the World!
You could call it a community culture, or the mission of Jike’s content products—and, of course, you could also view it as a business.But when I stand amid the bustling crowd at Fusion and reflect on how to define this phenomenon, the most intuitive conclusion I can reach is this: it’s about connecting one group of people who love games with another group of people who love games—real, specific people.
If the goal is simply to let players enjoy the game, or to use the game as a starting point to talk about things beyond gaming, the Jike content team is more than capable of achieving that—and the content is both high-quality and eye-catching.
Jike Humanistic Documentary Series — *The Theory of Mixed Nuclei*
But Jike still chose a more complicated approach: organizing a gaming expo to bring everyone together in one place on the same day. “Nuclear Fusion” feels more like an extension into the real world of what Jike has been doing for the past decade or so. As for what this all really means, I think I need to start with that phrase: “Everyone who plays games is a friend.”
02
From Compound No. 53 on Wudaoying Hutong to the Shougang Park
In 2013, Jike’s first offline gathering was held at the School Bar in Courtyard 53, Wudaoying Hutong, Beijing. By 2014 and 2015, the venue had begun to expand steadily.In 2016, on the occasion of Jike’s sixth anniversary, the event officially adopted a name that would later become all too familiar to us—“Nuclear Fusion.”
School Bar
Regarding the name “Nuclear Fusion,” I consulted Zhao Xia, the founder of Jike, who explained that “Nuclear Fusion” refers to: “Nuclear,” representing core gamers; “Fusion,” representing coming together; and “Change,” meaning transformation—Jike believes that when core gamers come together, it will inevitably bring about positive changes in the industry.This concept transformed Jike’s anniversary-themed community event into a large-scale exhibition.
Invitation to Jike’s 5th Anniversary Party
By 2017, Jike announced that the venue area and event scale had doubled compared to the previous year. Then, in 2018, in response to the growing number of players, Jike even temporarily expanded into the adjacent Hall B.In 2019, Fusion moved to the Yichuang International Convention and Exhibition Center; after a hiatus from in-person events in 2020, Fusion returned in 2021, gradually developing a richer array of content modules, including hands-on demos, challenges, stage events, and indie games.
Beijing Fusion Conference 2018: Check-in Points Cover the Entire Map of China
In 2025, the Beijing leg of Fusion will move to the Shougang International Convention and Exhibition Center, utilizing Halls 1 and 2; by 2026, the Beijing leg of Fusion will return to the Shougang International Convention and Exhibition Center, this time shifting to Halls 1 and 3. Compared to previous editions of Fusion,the 2026 Beijing event will feature the GGG Game Rhythm Gala, co-hosted by 8082 Audio and jointly hosted by VAS Centra.
“Void Ring” Teaser Song Live Performance
Since its inception at the School Bar, Nuclear Fusion has evolved not only in terms of venue but also in scale—now coordinating games, developers, events, and the tens of thousands of players who attend in person.In its early days, Jike may have focused on how to bring together gamers who shared a passion for games, but venue capacity, crowd flow, the player demo experience, and on-site order soon became challenges that could not be ignored.
Jike’s 4th Anniversary In-Person Gathering
03
How exactly should a group of people who love video games get together?
As nuclear fusion has grown in scale, the narrative of “gatherings”—which brings players together—has also evolved.
To discuss this topic, the 2025 Beijing event serves as the perfect example. The 2025 Nuclear Fusion Beijing event was held for the first time at the Shougang International Convention and Exhibition Center.At this Fusion event, the venue featured 37 large custom-designed booths and 50 independent game booths, with a total of 40 game exhibitors showcasing over 180 games. Ultimately, it attracted 49,000 game enthusiasts and industry professionals.
25 Years of Nuclear Fusion: Beijing Stop
49,000—for the average gamer, this figure includes friends, and it also means that nearly 50,000 people came to the venue to play games over the course of two days, which might mean longer lines; but for exhibitors, 49,000 represents a substantial pool of visitors.
For developers, there’s a group of players here who are willing to sit down and try out their games; for publishers, there’s a concentrated audience of core, niche users; for hardware manufacturers, there are gamers who can experience their products firsthand; and for indie game teams that are still relatively small, Core Fusion is an excellent opportunity to promote and showcase their work.
This is probably the most irreplaceable difference between an in-person trade show and a computer connected to the internet.
“Nuclear Fusion 2025”: TapTap and the Nuclear Fusion Indie Game Zone have brought together more than 50 indie games all at once. In addition to trying out the games, players can interact directly with the developers face-to-face.
At the same time, the main stage in Hall 2 featured a presentation on cutting-edge display technology by BOE, a fan challenge tournament for *Kick Off! REMATCH* hosted by Sloclap—the developer of *The Master*—and the CAPCOM Pro Tour, among other events, bringing hardware, games, esports tournaments, and players together on the same stage.
At this stage, “Nuclear Fusion” is no longer just a place for players to meet friends; it has also become a platform where game products can reach players, players can discover games, developers can receive direct feedback, and various participants in the gaming industry can network with one another.
And this year, the Beijing event is even bigger. The exhibition features over 40 exhibitors and nearly 200 games.*Showa American Story* is offering its first-ever in-person hands-on demo in China. The game’s developer, Suzuku Games, recently participated in Gamescom this year. Upon returning to China and considering how to further engage with domestic players, they viewed Nuclear Fusion as an ideal opportunity.
On the one hand, the audience for “Nuclear Fusion” is relatively niche, bringing together a large number of core gamers who are highly enthusiastic about game demos, developer interactions, and sharing their gaming experiences; on the other hand, at this stage, Lingkong Games is also hoping to find an opportunity to truly hear domestic players’ feedback and suggestions regarding their game.
So for Lingkong Games, Nuclear Fusion isn’t just a stage to showcase *Showa American Story*—it’s also an opportunity for the development team to interact face-to-face with Chinese players and gather their feedback.In other words, players come to Nuclear Fusion to play the *Showa American Story* they’ve been eagerly anticipating; for the developers, it’s also an opportunity to meet the players in person.
What you can’t have is always the most tempting—I really want to play *Showa American Story*!
In addition to *Showa: A Tale of America*, popular titles such as *Tide of Annihilation*, *The Resisters*, and *Control: Resonance* were all on display;At the same time, TapTap’s indie game section, stage events, “Nuclear Waves” livestreams, the merchandise market, and Jike’s own creative community brand, BOOOM, all made their presence felt in this space.
I wonder what the editors at Jike will think when they return to Compound 53 on Wudaoying Hutong and look back on the gathering that marked Jike’s third anniversary—that idea from thirteen years ago of “getting together to play games” has now grown into a rather complex ecosystem of large-scale offline gaming events.
This is perhaps what makes Nuclear Fusion so interesting: even as it has grown in scale, it hasn’t simply transformed from a gathering of gamers into a purely commercial trade show. On the contrary, it seems to have consistently sought to anchor its commercial value in the narrative that “gamers are all friends.”I believe this is precisely why Nuclear Fusion has been able to endure for thirteen years.
When I asked Zhao Xia what had remained unchanged over the 13 years of the Jiahe Expo, he replied with two words: “original intention.”
“We hope that Nuclear Fusion will always be an event attended by people who love games and truly play them—people who have a deep passion for games, a deep understanding of them, and are willing to spend time on outstanding titles.”
“At the same time, we hope that Nuclear Fusion will attract a large number of developers and commercial clients. We also plan to support indie games, with the goal of truly turning it into a platform where people who love games and the industry can come together.”
Let’s get back to the 2025 Beijing event. For exhibitors, 49,000 gamers is an impressive number; but for Jike, what really matters isn’t necessarily attracting those nearly 50,000 people, but getting them to stop by, wait in line for an hour or two to try out a game, and then turn around and tell their friends: “This game is insanely awesome—I’m outta here!”
04
You and Me, United by Love
Of course, at this point, Nuclear Fusion seems easy to break down into a string of impressive statistics: how many exhibitors, how many games, and how many developers and players have connected here.
But standing at the entrance to the Shougang Park and looking at the endless line of people, I still felt that these numbers were somewhat cold and impersonal.
The end of the line is here. 100 minutes
Although I didn’t actually get to play *Showa American Story*. I didn’t even have the courage to join the end of the line for the *Guren* attraction.I just chatted with a friend for a few minutes, took a few photos with a GameCore streamer I often listen to, smoked a cigarette outside the venue, and exchanged a few words with a stranger who asked to borrow a light. Then, in the chilly October breeze, I watched as groups of people gathered and dispersed, pondering why human beings are, after all, the sum of their social relationships.
Over the past thirteen years, Nuclear Fusion has evolved from a gathering of friends in a bar into the massive gaming event it is today, attracting tens of thousands of participants. The venue has grown larger, the number of exhibitors has increased, and the variety of games has expanded—and naturally, its commercial value has risen as well. But if one day all that’s left here are these things, it probably wouldn’t be Nuclear Fusion anymore.
To conclude this article, I’d like to quote Mr. Bai Guangda, editor-in-chief of Jike: “…Jike’s appeal stems from the idea that ‘gamers are all friends.’ This sense of warmth and belonging is what makes everyone who is passionate about Jike feel at home.”
Looking back, that statement made by Simon, CEO of Jike, eleven years ago still holds true today—
Everyone who plays games is a friend.
原创文章，作者：游茶妹儿，禁止转载：https://youxichaguan.com/en/archives/221502
