Gaming events are a fan's bread and butter, beyond just the Cheetos and pizza that are a given at every holy gathering of the LAN party. Events around the world are bringing in numbers that would astonish some gamers and with the activities at some of these events, it's no surprise that one or all of these events are dreamlands for game devs and players alike.
Dive headfirst into the vault with me, as we seek our alien treasure in the form of the world’s biggest and best gaming events! Maybe you can convince Butt-Stallion to excrete a legendary convention to aid us.
10. EuroGamer Expo, London England
-EGX Trailer
This expo is the top Gaming Expo in the UK, or so they say. It hosts a solid 20,000 attendees with a multitude of activities for the masses to enjoy. Is 20,000 considered masses? Ok, I’ve determined that on this list, they aren't masses unless they exceed 45,000. It just doesn't feel right to put the larger events in the same category.
The activities at this expo are pretty easy on the eyes, so let's go through a quick list of them:
- Game center with playable games
- Industry panels
- Indie games exhibition hall
- Content Creator Panels
- Cosplay hall
- Retro games hall
- Tabletop games hall
- EGX Gauntlet tournament
- Augmented reality game zone
The event has so much to do, it almost feels like I’m being lulled into a false sense of security, especially financially. Let’s find out if my gut feeling is correct by looking at those ticket prices:
- SuperPass ticket-$91+booking fee
- Early weekday single entry ticket-$29+booking fee
- Day long tickets weekday-$27+booking fee
- Weekend single early entry-$34+booking fee
- Weekend single day long ticket-$32+booking fee
You know what, that's pretty good. Those prices look very reasonable, and if you so feel, there are merchandise add-ons to the tickets in the form of lanyards, hoodies, and tote bags.
EGX Twitter: https://twitter.com/EGX
9. BlizzCon, California USA
-Blizzcon Cosplay Video
The convention of game announcements, competitions, and merch galore, it’s BlizzCon season once a year in November-September and people show their love. With 40,000 attendees, it’s hard not to see this on the list, but it must be put low because the sheer magnitude of worldwide events pretty much dwarfs any event under 50,000 attendees.
Blizzcon has a large assortment of cool things to do at the event, so let's make a quick little list of the best stuff to do at BlizzCon from the before times:
- Night at the Faire: preview of the Darkmoon Faire
- Benefit Dinner: a pricey ticket for a charitable cause.
- Opening Ceremony: unveiling of games and DLC announcements
- Career and Culture Panel
- Blizzard Animation Panel
- Cosplay Exhibition
- Blizzard Designers Panel
- Overwatch Voice Actor Panel
- Esports
With all this cool stuff, especially the panels and Esports Finals, how could they afford to make the event profitable? It must be that they have insane ticket costs, right? Let’s find out in this little list of the three badge types:
- Blizzcon Pass-$230
- Blizzcon Portal Pass-$550
- Blizzcon Benefit Dinner-$750
While the benefit dinner proceeds go to charity, the other ticket prices seem a bit extravagant.
It appears that there is a reason they peaked at 40,000 attendees, it's just hard to justify going to the event at those prices when it's all going to be talked about in the media a few days later.
Blizzard Twitter: https://twitter.com/Blizzard_Ent
8. The Overwatch League, USA based, Worldwide Broadcast
-Overwatch League Trailer
The Overwatch League is a competition that envelops the world, as it ropes in millions of views and more than a million live viewers by being Overwatch’s premier competition. The fate of your team rests on the backs of professionals, and just how loud you can cheer will ultimately determine whether your team and fans alike get hype enough to win the finals!
The event lasts all summer and then some, as the competition takes its mini leagues out of season for extra entertainment and hype building between seasons.
Well look at that, Blizzard Entertainment DOES know how to entertain, and all that dumb stuff they do to their own games is just greed, not ignorance! Sorry, I suppose I’m just not in the running for the race to love mobile games that are pay-to-win.
The grand prize is… da da da dahhh! 1.5 million dollars for the winning team! That almost makes me feel like I should stop this typing stuff and pick up my headset again!
The reason this item is not up with the big dogs is that it does not have immense live attendance numbers, especially compared to their remote view count.
Overwatch League Twitter: https://twitter.com/overwatchleague
7. IgroMir, Russia
-IgroMir Cosplay Video
This Expo seems to fall into that strange category where a lot of people haven't heard of it, but then again, so many have heard of it and are loyal attendees that it made its way to this list. The yearly attendance stands at a staggering 160,000 at peak performance, which sounds to me like people know that they found a golden expo.
Let's take a peek at the events at this event:
- Content Giveaways
- Concerts
- Stage Performances
- Celebrity Meet and Greets
- Contests
That may not seem like a lot, but each of these events has variations that occur over the four day event. The price of entrance is as follows:
- Friday-$18
- Saturday-$25
- Sunday-$22
- Four day pass (Exclusive Thursday access)-$135
That is honestly the best pricing I’ve seen in quite some time, so it makes total sense for their attendance numbers to be so high.
IgroMir Twitter: https://twitter.com/igromir
6.DreamHack, Worldwide
-DreamHack Trailer
DreamHack jumps around more than you might expect, from the USA to Europe, as long as there's a fanbase, this convention will host itself in full force. Expect to see the biggest and best gaming tournaments, such as League of Legends, Dota 2, and much more. The absolutely deafening cheers for the winning team, paired with a few good cries when they don't quite make it, makes this event an emotional rollercoaster.
Dreamhack racks in the attendees at a solid 300,000 at its peak, and sits pretty while it does so, with gaming areas for those who wish, and what might be considered the fastest wifi possible. Many gamers go just to have a reprieve from the lag that holds them back. Or so they say.
The ticket prices are pretty steep, but this is kind of considered the greatest gamers paradise, so at $250 for a day and capped at $550 for three days, it's not exactly the worst I’ve seen making other listicles.
DreamHack Twitter: https://twitter.com/DreamHack
5. Spiel, Germany
-Spiel Youtube Video
Spiel is the premier gaming convention in Germany, but it doesn't really follow the beaten path. At a solid 200,000 attendees, they rake in the numbers by catering to board game lovers of all shapes and sizes. When The event kicks off, you can be sure to see your favorite board games as well as upcoming games that are ready to rock the industry!
The ticket price:
- One day adult ticket-$19
- One day child ticket-$11
- Two day adult ticket-$34
- Two day child ticket-$18
- One day five person family ticket-$45
Dang, those are pretty solid prices, I’d be fair in saying it's impressive to charge that much and still pull in a solid profit. It must be supplemented by vendor spot prices, and if you ask me, that's how it ought to be done all around the world.
Spiel Twitter: https://twitter.com/SPIEL_Messe
4. Tokyo Game Show, Japan
-Tokyo Game Show Video
This is where the big players get their products out there, with two days that are strictly media and two days for the public. It'll be tough not to love sitting in the latest Nintendo booth and getting a first look at their biggest upcoming games.
Tickets to this thing must be pricey to be able to maintain it, because the images of this event look so extravagant and brilliant. It’s time to feel depressed about the shortcomings of my wallet.
Tickets:
- Paid in advance press ticket-$80
- Gold pass press ticket-$197
- One day plain ticket-$17
- One afternoon plain ticket-$10
That's a pretty great price, and it makes sense now why their numbers reach so high every year, sitting at 270,000.
Tokyo Game Show Twitter: https://twitter.com/tokyo_game_show
3. China Joy, China
-China Joy Insider Video
China Joy is the pride and joy of the Chinese games and media industry, with attendance reaching upwards of 270,000 and showcasing all the greats of the industry as a whole. The biggest and best showing at China Joy tend to be Xbox, Playstation and Nintendo, so all the big dogs come to see whose bark is loudest, and who will pull in the biggest lines.
The showings are used to announce new games, get playtesters for betas and get sneak previews at demos that will all be dropping after the expo.
Tickets cost $150 and will give you access to the event, with extra costs for special events. Look out for the Playstation booth, as I hear they have a new Spider-Man to release the demo for.
Twitter unavailable.
2. Gamescon, Germany
-Gamescon Highlight Video
What is it with Germany and these powerhouse expos? Maybe it's about time to pay Germany more heed when talking about their gaming culture. The Expo has a multitude of activities to keep visitors busy, here are a few of them, then we can talk about ticket cost:
- Virtual Reality area
- PC entertainment area
- Console entertainment area
- Merchandise hall
- Business zone
- Cosplay zone
- Indie developer area
- Retro Arcade
- Signing area
With all this stuff, I’m nearly sure that ticket price will not matter much. This event is so brilliant that if it's about the same price as E3 I’d be happy. The official cost for tickets are as follows:
- Weekday day tickets-$25
- Weekend day tickets-$30
- Discounted weekday day ticket-$18
- Discounted Weekend day ticket-$23
- Family weekday day ticket-$40
- Family weekend day ticket-$50
- Evening tickets (Start at 4pm)-$9
- Wildcard day access ticket-$59
These are great prices! E3 and PAX eat your heart out, I’m heading to Germany!
Gamescon Twitter: https://twitter.com/gamescom
1. The Mid Season Invitational, Asia
-Mid-Season Invitational Trailer
The Mid Season Invitational for League of Legends is the largest and most intense competition in Asia, wherein the prize pool equals $5,000,000 and the fight to obtain the final win is so tense the crowd will rile up even the people down the road to cheer for the favorite team’s hopeful win!
And yes, the invitational is international, so root for who you wish, even if you end up being unpatriotic.
The reason I have this on this list is that it is just plainly staggering. Trying to imagine the numbers is hard because we are looking at a couple of states, even some small countries, at a total of 127 million viewers worldwide! The show brings in industry favorites, such as Cloud9 to give it their all and become the best of the champions.
Tune in to view this one, because they just keep getting more intense.
There is no official twitter, so keep up on the action with this: https://twitter.com/lolesports
