Game publishers have been cooking for charity! As part of gamescom asia x Thailand Game Show 2025, the first ever Charity Cook-Off was held in Bangkok on October 13, with 10 contestants from the game industry flexing their kitchen skills for Chef Willment Leong, the hot-tempered celebrity chef who hosts Hell’s Kitchen Thailand.
The event was livestreamed in support of two charities, one global and one local: Doctors Without Borders, and the Bangkok Community Help Foundation.
Among the lineup of contestants was… me! Representing IGN Japan, I felt the pressure to bring the spice, doing my best to replicate Chef Willment’s signature menu that blends the Western dish salmon confit with a Thai twist – green curry cream sauce, crispy chicken skin crust, handmade ailoi, poached egg and rocket salad.
Bonus points were awarded for adding a videogame twist, so my dish was populated by cute little edible Pokémon and a Mario-themed salad.
Here’s the full list of contestants:
- Adorapixel - Gordon Van Dyke
- Powell Group - Jay Powell
- Raw Fury - Johan Toresson
- Miniclip - Govind Cacciatore
- Wired Production - Leo Zullo
- Joystick Venture - Ivan Carrillo
- IGN - Daniel Robson
- PlayPark - Jham (Sattra Viriyacharoentham)
- AGP - Lili Zang
- Poki - Romy Halfweeg
The event was hosted by gaming investment company Agora Gaming Partners and gamescom asia organizer Koelnmesse. It was held in the professional-grade kitchen of Dusit Thani College, as seen on cooking shows like Netflix’s The Maverick Academy. The college also provided volunteer assistants – my assistant Tia was awesome, and helped make sure I didn’t set fire to or slice off anything important.
As game media, we often review creations made by game companies, so it was a thrill to be on the other side and have the judges rate my cooking! Cooking under pressure, surrounded by cameras and under a tight time limit in an unfamiliar kitchen, was an experience I’ll never forget. I didn’t win (my salmon was a little pink), but I didn’t embarrass myself horribly either, and I was especially proud of my attempt at green curry cream sauce – I’ll tinker and perfect that recipe at home for sure.
