convention
Latest
MWC 2021 has been pushed back to late June
The 2020 Mobile World Conference (MWC) in Barcelona was one of the first tech casualties of the COVID-19 pandemic, with the February date canceled after a lot of debate. The next event was ambitiously scheduled for March of 2021, but that event has now been postponed as well. The GSMA, the industry association behind MWC, has announced that it will now be now be held from June 28th to July 1st, 2021.
BlizzCon will return as an online-only event in February 2021
After cancelling this year’s BlizzCon convention due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Blizzard has announced that it will hold a replacement show online. BlizzConline (yep) will be held on February 19th-20th, 2021 with all the latest news around its popular franchises including World of Warcraft, Overwatch, Diablo, Hearthstone and Starcraft.
TwitchCon San Diego has been canceled
It's looking at ways to 'join forces in an alternate dimension later this year.'
Minecraft Festival is postponed due to coronavirus fears
Minecraft is such a cultural phenomenon that it was supposed to have its own three-day convention in September with interactive exhibits, co-op and competitive gameplay, live entertainment, panels and merch. Tickets to the first-ever Minecraft Festival in Orlando were set to go on sale this week. ReedPop -- which also organizes New York Comic Con and San Diego Comic Con -- has announced that the convention has been postponed by a full year due to the coronavirus outbreak. While the event was months away and the epidemic could be resolved by then, the partners, producers and exhibitors have hit a wall when it comes to planning the fest and ensuring a fun experience.
Coronavirus panic could spell the end for tech conventions
You know the scene: A man in a crisp suit stands on a dark, sterile stage at the head of a packed auditorium, surrounded by sleek screens. It's the year 2045 or 2060 or 3000, and the presenter delivers a sanctimonious speech about progress and humanity before revealing a product that will change the world. The audience goes wild. They get free, instant access to whatever piece of technology was just announced. And then, predictably, that gadget contributes to society's ultimate undoing. It's a common scene in modern sci-fi dramas, but for a story set in the future, it's dead wrong. Big, in-person tech conferences may be a staple of the industry today, but as global internet infrastructure takes root and live streams become ubiquitous, these shows will fall by the wayside. They'll become a symbol of a past era, that time when society was awkwardly transitioning from physical interactions to digital experiences.
Minecraft Festival is coming to Orlando in September
Minecraft's annual event started out as a convention, but flipped to a streaming-only format in 2017 in a bid to maintain the tight-knit atmosphere for an increasingly large audience. It's moving back to that in-person experience, however, and it now has details to share. The renamed Minecraft Festival is now slated to take place at Orlando's Orange County Convention Center between September 25th and September 27th, with tickets available starting March 6th at 12PM Eastern. Mojang and Microsoft are promising plenty of things to do besides hearing the latest Minecraft news, including panels, exhibits, tournaments, "live entertainment" and, of course, exclusive merch.
OnePlus is reportedly holding a display tech convention
OnePlus was at CES and even showcased the Concept One phone, but the company may have reserved a few announcements for an event of its own. Members of the media in China reportedly received an invite to the company's "2020 Display Tech" conference on January 13th. A photo of the invite posted on Chinese social network Weibo shows that the event is scheduled for 2PM and that it will take place in Shenzhen, China.
Cartoon Network will livestream virtual 'Minecraft' convention
It's almost time for Minecon -- an annual convention exclusively for Minecraft -- and like last year, you can watch the whole event from the comfort of your living room. Cartoon Network will broadcast the 90-minute event on its YouTube channel (which is sadly geoblocked) on September 29th, Saturday, starting at at 11:30 AM ET. The livestream will feature pre- and post-show programming, community panels, costume contests, live gameplay, the latest about the game and more. According to Variety, the livestream will also show merchandise you can purchase from home.
Virtual 'Minecraft' convention Minecon Earth returns September 29th
Minecon is returning to a livestream near you. On September 29th, the virtual fan convention will broadcast a 90-minute show featuring panels, a costume contest and news. To participate in the first two, you just need to fill out an application form and submit photos, respectively, and if the judging committee is impressed with your ideas, you could get flown to the filming location and be a part of the show.
This is Minecon: the biggest 'Minecraft' fan convention
Inside the main convention hall, children scurry left and right with foam diamond swords raised high above their heads. Eyes wide and mouths agape, some of them rush toward a blocky reimagining of Big Ben, where Minecraft's formidable Ender Dragon can be found wrapped around the clock face. Below, parents wander between life-size character statues and trees with cube-cut canopies, a mixture of fascination and bemusement etched onto their faces. For one weekend in July, 10,000 of the most dedicated Minecraft players have descended upon London's Excel Exhibition Centre for Minecon, a fan convention celebrating the blockbuster sandbox building game. With panels, signings, tournaments and merchandise, it's the Minecraft equivalent of Disney World and Comic-Con.
Twitch is holding a game-broadcasting convention this September
Want to meet up with your favorite game broadcasters? Of course you do, and with Twitch's inaugural convention, aptly dubbed "TwitchCon," later this year you totally can. There aren't a ton of details yet, but it takes place in San Francisco from Friday September 25th to Saturday the 26th. The live-streaming giant promises ways to elevate your broadcasting game and chances to meet your followers (or maybe even your idols) too, which makes us think it's going to be more along the lines of VidCon or PlayList Live than something like the Penny Arcade Expo. The very notion of a Twitch convention likely wouldn't be possible without that massive influx of cash from Amazon last year, and this is a sign of how far online video's grown (especially game-focused stuff) lately. What's more, this is indicative of just how popular Twitch has become as a platform in a relatively short period of time. Planning on attending? Hit the comments and let us know. [Image credit: camknows/Flickr]
Hyperspace Beacon: Examining SWTOR's producer letter
At the community cantina that Star Wars: The Old Republic held this past weekend at PAX South, community manager Eric Musco said that the community team was going to do something different in 2015 during the cantinas. He said that he wanted to reveal some tidbit at each and every event. And this cantina yielded us an early look at Producer Bruce Maclean's roadmap letter to the community. In the letter, he talks about where the SWTOR story will take us, what's on the horizon for flashpoints, personal stories, planets, and the outfit designer. But what is all this new stuff, and should it get people excited about the coming year? Unfortunately, there is no easy answer for that. If you play for similar reasons as I do, then there is plenty to be excited about. However, there are certain players, like PvPers, who might be a little frustrated by what they are seeing and not seeing in the letter.
PAX South 2015: Pox Nora is the coolest online card game you've never heard of
Pox Nora is a game that's hard to categorize. It's like Hearthstone, you see, because it's an online card game. But it's also like Civilization because it uses turn-based combat on a variety of maps with terrain that affects the battle. And maybe it's like Minecraft as well because it was built by a tiny team and developed incrementally through the feedback of a passionate fan base. Pox Nora was free-to-play before free-to-play was a thing. It's gone from tiny little indie to SOE-backed product and back again. And through its eight years, it's managed to fly quietly under the radar while its developers continually churn out content, implement community ideas, and expand its possibilities. At PAX South over the weekend, I sat down with Arthur Griffith, CEO of Desert Owl Games and co-creator of Pox Nora, to learn more about the game and its latest content additions.
PAX South 2015: Life is Feudal revives the good ol' MMO feel
When the assignment for Life Is Feudal came to me, I questioned why I was covering a game that really didn't seem to be an MMORPG in my eyes because of its separate servers and the survival feel of the setting. It felt to me initially that I was covering another DayZ, one set in a medieval era and no zombies. But as I found out at this year's PAX South, I was completely wrong. Interestingly, I didn't find out what kind of mistake I made from the head honcho of Bitbox, Vladimir Piskunov. I found out from someone who has been playing for a long time and was invited to play at the Life Is Feudal booth. His name is Bill, and he's the "superfan" who demoed the game for me. He explained the ins and outs of the mechanics until I started having Ultima Online flashbacks. We discussed the skill system and trekked around the world, and then reminded me that LiF will eventually be an MMORPG. And I could certainly see how. If sandboxes are your thing as they are mine, then maybe this game is up our alley.
PAX South 2015: Why aren't MMOs more social?
On Friday, Alex Albrecht from ZergID and formerly of the Totally Rad Show headed up a PAX South panel about the social side of MMOs, inviting Patrick Mulhern from Lorehound, Jenesee Grey from Camelot Unchained, and me to join to discuss community in MMOs and why it's seemed so absent in recent years. Meg Campbell from YouTube moderated the panel discussion, calling us the PAX MMO guild. I admit that I considered naming this piece, "How Star Wars Galaxies did everything right and World of Warcraft did everything wrong" because I am obviously biased. But I really was completely surprised at how much SWG came up during the panel. Many former Galaxies players will tell you that there was a lot about that game that was pure crap, but when you talk about the social implementations of SWG, there just aren't many games that compare.
PAX South 2015: Moonrise and State of Decay shine at the Undead Labs booth
Most media appointments at an event like PAX South 2015 work like this: You meet the person you're supposed to meet, that person shows you the game her studio is working on, and then you rush off to the next booth on your list while cursing yourself for not scheduling time for a snack. Undead Labs handled my PAX appointment a bit differently, sitting me down for back-to-back play sessions with brand-new tablet game Moonrise and a remastered version of State of Decay, the zombie survival game that put the studio on the map. It was a little jarring to go from adorable pet battles to being torn in half by a zombie, but the two-for-one session provided a nice glimpse of where Undead Labs has been and where it intends to go.
PAX South 2015: Camelot Unchained's proactive approach to community management
In the crowdfunded independent industry, we are starting to see some ups and downs. Backers have seen some games fail and other games soar. One of those games that seems to be doing very well, at least if you ask its Community Manager Jenesee Grey and its legions of fans, is Camelot Unchained. At this weekend's PAX South, I spoke to Grey about her experience as a CM for a crowdfunded game.
PAX South 2015: Slaying giants in Motiga's Gigantic
Motiga's Gigantic is one part Team Fortress, one part Dota, and one part Monster Hunter. The basic match structure will sound familiar to MOBA lovers -- two teams of five slug it out for superiority by controlling resources, leveling up, and killing one another -- but the skill-based mechanics, multiple maps, and shifting strategy priorities make the game more than a three-lane farm fest. Gigantic isn't about last-hitting or memorizing meta. Instead, it's about slaying giants and aiming true. I hopped in on a quick Gigantic match with some other press folks this afternoon at PAX South 2015, and in the midst of delivering an absolute drubbing to the scrubs (kidding!) on the other side of the table, I was able to get a feel for the game's combat system, characters, and the way its massive guardians change the way battles play out.
PAX South 2015: O'Brien and Johanson on Guild Wars 2's Heart of Thorns
ArenaNet's Mike O'Brien and Colin Johanson (and Commander Shepard) took to the PAX South 2015 stage yesterday morning to announce Heart of Thorns, the first-ever expansion for Guild Wars 2. If you're not up to speed, check out our post covering the announcement and the official site to get the broad strokes on the expansion's new zone, new profession, new progression system, and more. News of the expansion raised many a question from our readers (and our staff!). Massively's Larry Everett and I sat down with O'Brien and Johanson to try to get those questions answered and dive a little deeper into the changes coming to Guild Wars 2's living world. And no, there isn't a release date.
PAX South 2015: The Guild Wars 2 Heart of Thorns experience
As MMO players surely know by now, Guild Wars 2: Heart of Thorns is the first expansion ever for the ArenaNet MMORPG. In fact, most everyone suspected the announcement thanks to the leaked trademark information. But that didn't stop fans from being excited about it, nor did that bit of information satisfy their hunger. The emcee for the reveal event was none other than voice actor Jennifer Hale, whose voice players might recognize as Queen Jennah's. President and CEO of ArenaNet Mike O'Brien and game director Colin Johanson teased the PAX South crowd of over 1,500 fans waiting in the main theater. But the anticipation for the new expansion started well before anyone even came to the stage.
