In the game industry, like in any other, there are grand events and exhibitions, where as everywhere else there is an award ceremony. They are presented in all their different forms: as entertainment for the gamers themselves, some innovations for programmers, auctions of all kinds. I would like to offer you the most important events of 2021, in my opinion, the ones that happened and you couldn’t miss them. In 2020, the coronovirus infection has made adjustments to such large-scale events. Some exhibitions were canceled, some were held online, some were postponed or cancelled altogether. Our world is changing and rearranging quickly, to a new level and new conditions.
A gaming expo that traces its history back to 2004. Founded by Penny Arcade creators Jerry Holkins and Mike Krahulik, it is divided into several events – PAX West, PAX East, PAX South, PAX Dev, PAX Australia, and is held on different continents.
Company Blizzard, known as – Diablo, Overwatch, Warcraft, StarCraft, Hearthstone, Heroes of the Storm, World of Warcraft, holds a separate gaming exhibition.At the D.I.C.E. Summit held its event in Las Vegas, where it summed up the year and set itself a level for the next year. Presentations were made by heads of well-known studios, meetings were held, contracts were signed and new games were announced. Also presented D.I.C.E. Awards for the best players
Game shows have become very crowded, so Jeff Kill (creator, organizer, and host of The Game Awards) held an online show called Summer Game Fest. There were a lot of spectators who followed the show online. The PC gaming event was previously held as part of E3, now they’ve been given a free flight.
Game Developers conference is a game developer conference where game developers exchanged experiences, gave lectures, organized roundtables and consultations, and talked about new games.
GDC also hosted two major ceremonies: the Independent Games Festival, which honored independent developers and their hits (previous years’ winners included Minecraft, Fez, and Her Story), and the Game Developers Choice Awards, where the best games of the past year were awarded in several categories
In the days of offline shows, Electronic Arts did a very clever thing in my opinion: they did not participate in E3, but rented space nearby the show and included their press conferences. Thereby the participant did not pay the fees for participation in a major exhibition, as well as received the attention of the press and visitors to the event.
The second, in my opinion, the largest exhibition of 2021 was Gamescom. The company rented large rooms, launched show programs, made racks with game demos, held tournaments, drawings and contests. It was a very large and colorful event attended by hundreds of thousands of people. There were also business meetings with participation of investors and a couple of big contracts which were very profitable for the company. But in 2021, these events were online, for the safety of all participants.
That’s it for me, I’m waiting for your feedback.