Once upon a time, so very long ago now in Ye Olde 2019, the games industry as a collective mass held a variety of conventions, conferences, and expos. These gatherings were all about games, developing games, and whatever other cultural interests have attached themselves to those things. 

But with the advent of COVID-19, or more specifically the reaction to COVID-19, all of these conferences and conventions have been canceled. While some of these event-holders have attempted to move them to a remote, digital format, this has absolutely failed and likely will for the foreseeable future. Remote events are in fact, dreadfully dull affairs; the kind of thing which appeals to dreadfully dull people, which most game developers are not. Come to think of it though, another six months of voluntary house arrest would make a dull person out of anything.

So perhaps there’s a future for them yet. With that hope in mind the following events were, until 2020 at least, the best game conventions and conferences around.

5. Electronic Entertainment Expo

Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) is probably the most recognizable and prominent gathering of advertisers and nervous, sweaty-palmed developers with microphones one can find in the United States. E3 went digital for 2020, which oddly enough meant no one heard about it. Sure, big box game developers make announcements at E3 and this year was no different in that regard. But there was such a malaise over the thing with its being digital, I didn’t even bother tuning in. I assumed next generation game consoles were arriving shortly and I also assumed the usual canned trailers for upcoming games would be on display; both these assumptions were true and not tuning in meant I missed nothing. Somewhat depressing, really. The E3 I don’t remember, despite attending,  was better than this year.

• Most prominent and thus the most participation from developers.
• The biggest announcements happen at E3 unless you’re Blizzard. If you’re Blizzard you announce at your own thing because you think you’re better than everyone else and can prove it by throwing your own convention.
• Prior to losing our minds about COVID-19, E3 had massive parties before, during, and after its showcases and events. This is why I cannot recall one of them.
• Massive floor for consumers and other developers to try out demos of upcoming games. Alas, this is not a thing in the digital, husked carcass E3 was in 2020.

Electronic Entertainment Expo Official Site

4. Independent Games Festival

The Independent Games Festival (IGF) isn’t actually its own convention or conference, it is a part of the Game Developers Conference. But this is still the most interesting collection of independent game developers I’ve personally come across. Awards are handed out to (likely) starving indie game developers. They get some press, and beautiful, risky little games get made. One of my favorite games, Fez, got the nod at IGF one year, which helped push it out the door and into my grubby hands. While determining which games to play based on awards someone else gave them is inadvisable, one can still find a decent stable of great indie games here they may not find otherwise.

• They hand out awards! Cash-money, friends! But only if you submit an independent game and it is selected as a finalist.
• Focused entirely on independent games. Smaller, bite-sized games which tend to focus more on the “games” part of games, as opposed to some sort of massive plotline or some such.
• By virtue of being independent, the teams making the game are small, sometimes consisting of a single individual. Grabbing beers with someone making a game entirely on their lonesome is an enlightening experience. Who would have thought a single person could drink so much?

Independent Games Festival Official Site

3. South-by-Southwest

South by Southwest (SXSW) is a mash-up of creativity. You can go for the games but end up staying for the music or food or that bald guy playing drums in a dress. Austin can be wild. Entire streets are blocked off for the event and one can find themselves ducking from bar to bar, dodging country music while just narrowly avoiding hip-hop on their way to a proper punk rock show. All this culture, I am told by a fellow introducing himself by rubbing my bald head in between popping mushroom caps, is a wonderful thing. I agreed, it was a party; it was ten in the morning and this guy was already puking in the street. But did he happen to know where the games exhibits were at? He didn’t. He didn’t know where he was and life’s just a game anyway, man. 

• In any event, I never did find the games, but I’m told developers often showcase themselves at SXSW. I know I’ve been on games development teams who claim to have done so, but I’m certain they just got loaded in Brush Square. That’s what I did.
• Party atmosphere. All the beers!
• More than just games, meaning there are some attractive people there.
• Excellent music, even hip-hop.
• It’s in Texas. So, it’s big.

South By Southwest Official Site

2. Penny Arcade Expo

Penny Arcade Expo (PAX) grew from humble and hilarious roots. The guys who produce the Penny Arcade comic strip ended up so famous they felt they needed to do something more and that more was PAX. PAX is a consumer’s convention, meaning it is oriented almost entirely around consumers of games, rather than developers of games. At any given PAX, one can find massive tabletop games of Magical Cards or Prisons and Pythons going at any given time. They can meet nerd-famous people, like Felicia Day, and discover they’re not really all that friendly if you catch them at a bad time. 

Events of this sort, even before the COVID-19 era slimed over everything and stained it with fear, were excellent places to come down with a cold or similar bug of some sort. Neckbeards, cosplays, earnest nerds arguing about whether Picard or Kirk would come out on top in a knife fight are all regular fixtures of it. It is a glorious reminder of why game makers make games and yet another opportunity for celebrities to pretend they are enjoying themselves for the camera.

• For me, this one is local. Every year, barring 2020, this goes on in downtown Seattle. A quick, super-annoyed Uber driver away. For what it is worth, I have a 4.97 Uber rating.
• All kinds of games are present here, not just video games. Card games, tabletop, you name it, it is going on and down at PAX.
• Comics make an appearance, too. If you’re into that kind of thing. My wife totally is and through her I’ve met a couple comics writers and artists who I’m assured are legendary.
• The panels at PAX tend to be a bit more entertaining. I have no scientific basis for this, I just recall having more fun at PAX than GDC.

Penny Arcade Expo Official Site

1. Game Developers Conference

The big daddy-mommy in games development social pow wows is definitely GDC. It has been going on for decades and while it isn’t usually glamorous, as it isn’t necessarily done to show off games, it is a place for game developers to rub chapped elbows and swap ideas. Most topics of game development are discussed here. Design, development, engine discussions, marketing, and even the dreaded monetization talks from people whose sole job is to extract money from you. Monetization talks are particularly enlightening, as one comes to realize most “free” games in fact operate like casinos but with less moral hangups.. GDC brings serious elements of games to the forefront for discussion and while some of this is quite boring to consumers, developers have been taking ideas away from it for decades.

• For serious game developers, serious about making games, whether those games are serious or not. There are some consumer-announcements at this thing, but it is 99% oriented towards game makers, not game consumers.
• Professional, to a point. All of these events have parties afterward where nerds cut loose. Some even try to dance, which is worth any cover charge to watch.
• The ever-present panels are diverse, touching most (if not all) game making aspects. Not just game design or announcement of new products. One can even find topics regarding the history of games at this thing, these days.
• Social networking, I’m told, is important. One can easily do that at GDC, floating from panel to panel and table to table, making friends and contacts.

Game Developers Conference Official Site

At the moment, meaning the casserole of nonsense that is 2020, it looks like most of these events are planning on ‘hybrid’ presentations in 2021. This is an attempt to hack a baby in half and keep the spirit of the conventions alive in between murdering it remotely. We’ll see if 2021 is more tolerant than 2020.

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