Video Game events 2024
A summary of events I went to this year in my journey through the UK video games industry.
I re-discovered video games in anger in 2024. At the end of 2023 I finally played the main storyline of Skyrim and completed it (I bought it in 2011 when it first came out). Being winter I then wanted another fantasy sequel game and ended up with Elden Ring!? This took over my life for a few months (I am yet to become Elden Lord though). The steam deck followed in March 2024 and with it a massive curiosity to learn more about the industry again. I therefore sought out several local to me events and attended these immersing myself.
WASD - WASD returns to showcase the hottest indie games: The return of Curios, a new retro section, careers area, esports championship
This was such an interesting event. It focused on indie developers and publishers. There were a lot of gameplay stations and a really fun energy, while the location was a bit soulless. I loved seeing the student games too and talking to them about how they created textures and artefacts and which part of video games they were most interested in.
Unfortunately this event won’t be happening next year but there appears to be a new selection of events surrounding the London Games Festival.
I am definitely keeping an eye on the announcements through their page to see what event I will go to in the spring.
Side note; at WASD we also met some people behind Lock on Magazine and we bought several. They also do some great art and vinyl collections, as well as some digital stuff. I love hoarding books and these magazines are lovely with great articles and art.
Barclays games Frenzy london - The aim of the Games Frenzy is to spotlight important industry topics, create opportunities for new and upcoming UK games talent to showcase their games.
This event took place at Barclays in London, so had a bit of a corporate setting but the vibes were good. I met ladies from the*gamehers who were really nice and inspiring. One was in the e-sports industry and that is just a whole other level for me. The*gamehers aim to provide a safe space for women in games and aim to amplify their voices. They mostly do this through a huge online community that you can join through their app.
Alongside a lot of the same indie games I saw at WASD I also learned about the existence of Safe in our world which is an organisation championing mental health, especially in the video games space.
This event also had some talks and panels. I signed up late so did not manage to get a space at the round table discussions but I spent some time trying out games and talking too people who do marketing, and promotion of video games and publishers.
Develop: Brighton
The Develop:Brighton conference has something for everyone - 10 tracks covering every discipline of game making, including free Roundtables and Indie BootCamp. Our main focus is practical take-away and vocational content giving you the chance to “skill-up” and do what you do even better.
I have lived near Brighton for nearly 20 years and never attended Develop. They actually have a free event with stands and tables with some free round table discussions, that you can join on a first come first serve basis. This is definitely a networking event, one where you can share your CV and get to meet developers and studios. I had lovely conversations with several of these and picked up some swag.
The buzz around the whole event was great and the more formal talks sounded great too. They started a conference in Liverpool this year too, so hopefully more people get to experience it in the future.
MCM x EGX
Don’t miss the chance to play the latest games, get hands-on with the latest hardware, get a behind the scenes look at your favorite games and so much more!
From my understanding this was the first time that EGX shared a stage with MCM so to speak. The whole thing is pretty overwhelming and the biggest event I went to. While they had gaming booths and stands for things like the new Lego Horizons game, Little Nightmares and many more, the queues were huge and it was just really loud. I ended up going to the artist alley and looking at comic books and enjoying the cosplay that was happening. For the inspiration and variety of things you can do, it is worth a day out but I am not sure it is the best gaming event so to speak.
Next year I’d love to go to Cologne to attend their big conference Gamescon, so I am keeping an eye on it to see if that will be happening in August.
Do you attend video game events? Did you attend any this year or are you planning to attend any next year?
This is great, thanks for sharing! I checked out BitBridge Pittsburgh's 2024 halloween showcase this year with my indie gaming club. It was small, but great! I definitely want to carve out more time to attend other events. Side note, Lost in Culture made a book for my favorite game, Eastward, and I want it so bad. Super cool you go to get some of the books!
I used to attend a lot of shows and events when I worked in video games but that was um…about 35 years ago! So much has changed obviously. 😊😊