MANILA -- AcadArena is set to retire its flagship festival CONQuest, after this year's edition was marred with long lines and an apparent overselling of admission tickets, the group's co-owners said.

In separate Facebook posts addressing CONQuest's prior statement which claimed that the event was a "success," Kevin Hoang and Ariane Lim begged to differ, adding that the event did not live up to everyone's -- including their -- expectations.

"We wanted to talk about premium when we can't even talk about the basics. We need a hard reset. Therefore, the team has agreed to retire CONQuest Festival as a brand and as a vision. It's not reflective of how we want to produce events moving forward," Lim said on her Facebook account.

"We aren't just offering an apology. We are enacting change. You're not the only ones who doesn't want another next year.

• Hours-long lines hound CONQuest 2023; organizers apologize

Hoang relished their motives for organizing the festival, which had feted many global-level voice actors and content creators across major titles, and featured music artists from a local and global scale, while acknowledging its shortcomings.

"This event ballooned because of our own pride and desire to produce the biggest show for the Filipino communities, while lacking the ability to execute and not understanding the fandom that is here," Hoang said.

Lim lamented: "No, it wasn't a success. Anyone who was part of the project felt that they had worked for something they can't even speak about. After last year, we wanted to just aim for operational excellence. But the event was scoped creeped to oblivion."

During the festival earlier this month, event-goers, who had already bought their tickets beforehand, complained of long lines just to enter the SMX Convention Center which took hours, on top of what they said were messy procedures to get into the panels.

Some invited talents also sympathized with those who waited in line for them, with some voicing their concern for volunteers who barred con-goers from giving them gifts during the course of the festival.

AcadArena owners have also apologized earlier.

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