I am not ashamed to say that I love gaming conventions. My very first experience of one was at EGX 2015 which was at Birmingham NEC after the demise of Earls Court as a venue. I loved the build-up and anticipation of those giant doors opening to reveal a huge hall of new games and adventures to discover. Bring with that the atmosphere and community of thousands of people all with the same interests under the same roof. Unfortunately over recent years, the magic of the event which labels itself as the biggest gaming event in the UK is slowly declining in quality and popularity.
Will The Combo Work?
Being completely transparent and honest here, I had my own opinions when it was announced that MCM Comic-Con would be combined with EGX. After more thought, I thought from a business perspective from Reedpop it made sense. They can draw two crowds to one larger combined event across three days instead of four.
The disadvantages of this meant a larger amount of people piling into an event with a shorter duration and making tickets around 25% more expensive than EGX was in the process. As time passed by I presumed that piggybacking off Comic-Con essentially would draw in more interest from exhibitors with bigger crowds in attendance. Unfortunately, this hasn’t been the case in 2024.
Is EGX Dying?
Many will likely agree with me if I say that 2019 was the last decent EGX. Before COVID-19, conventions were still rife with interest from all angles. When the pandemic kicked in and scuppered all plans for literally everything in existence, gaming at home rocketed in popularity. When the world opened back up, though, the gaming industry suffered as a whole and still does to this day. EGX 2021 was so poor that it would probably have made sense to have a break and come back firing in 2022.
EGX 2022 was also lacking but I thought perhaps it could be that gaming conventions are just a dying breed. Or is it that the new instalment of Reedpop running the show and not being able to secure the presence of Xbox, Sony and Nintendo? Sadly I was absent for the 2023 showing, but this year is a sad state of affairs and it pains me to be critical especially since they have always supported me with press invitations each year without fail.
Big Games Are No More
No Xbox, no Sony, no Nintendo, no SEGA. Even some of my favourite development teams, such as PQube, Team 17, and more, were sadly absent in 2024. There was not even a sniff of the biggest FPS of the year, Call of Duty Black Ops 6, which is surprising. CoD always seems to be there without fail, but not this year. Before 2020, EGX was always about getting hands-on with games that were close to release but not out in the wild yet.
A few weeks before EGX 2024 we had the unfortunate news that Assassins Creed Shadows would not be appearing due to the delay to the game from Ubisoft. This was replaced with Star Wars Outlaws and whilst I loved the opportunity to play this as I haven’t yet, the game has already been available for a few months at this point. Aside from this, there were a couple of games strewn across the Comic-Con area with no queuing system, such as Dragonball Sparking Zero and Little Nightmares III. Having no queuing system meant that being able to play these games wasn’t worth standing around trying to wade through the crowd to potentially play.
EGX Just Felt Tacked On & Shoved In The Corner
The layout and feel of EGX just felt strange this year. The ever-present EGX Rezzed area, which was always my favourite zone of the show was also really lacking. It blended into the middle of the EGX area with a scattering of a handful of games and felt maybe half the size it usually is. Religiously in previous events, I’d always attend on the Thursday as it was the quietest day meaning that you could easily spend hours on the Rezzed area without issue.
Again, with the Comic-Con crowds as well, it just felt over saturated and I found it more difficult to jump on and play stuff and speak with developers in as much detail as I previously did. It was just disappointing to see as I do like to engage with the people who work on these games and whilst it’s nice they get more eyes potentially, if you don’t get the chance to play then that is miss on their behalf. The level of intimacy across the EGX floor just seems to have been lost this time around.
Some Impressive Panels
Now it wasn’t all bad and whilst I’ve pointed out all the negatives, one of the positives was the panels put together. Across the weekend there is lots scheduled on both the EGX side of the fence and also Comic-Con. So much so that if you’re into several things, then you may not be able to see everything you want to. I managed to observe an impressive talk and presentation for the upcoming Obsidian RPG Avowed and also Frontiers Planet Coaster 2.
I enjoy taking the time to relax and absorb the industry experts talking about their games, and this is something they always get spot on. It does baffle me when you see these talks on certain titles but no hands-on play with them though. Understandable Avowed is massively under wraps, but Planet Coaster 2 was at Gamescom I believe, so why not here?
Where Will EGX Be Headed Next?
I just want to put it out there that I hate being hugely critical of EGX. I used to adore the build-up, the anticipation and there was a sense of excitement on the morning of it starting. But I no longer feel that anymore and if I wasn’t a part of the gaming industry then I genuinely couldn’t see myself attending again based on this year. Don’t get me wrong, if you love all things Comic-Con then the blend of the two will scratch your itch. But if you’re in it for the games, then I wouldn’t anticipate EGX returning to its former glory unless something drastically changes.
It is easy for me to sit here and write my thoughts and opinions and I don’t understand the logistics of organising events on a big scale. But I genuinely don’t understand why it is dwindling when events like PAX and Gamescom still bring the big parties, huge IPs and everything in between. But when you see EGX with less than 50% of a convention hall still with large gaps and a lack of presence from the biggest names in the industry, then I can see the days of EGX being numbered.
It seems like the only chance of its survival is being attached to MCM Comic-Con. But even then, it all depends on your wants and needs as to whether it will be worth it to you. I hope to see EGX return to the days when it was a huge event without Comic-Con eclipsing it, only time will tell.