As a game creator, is it worthwhile attending game conventions?

Disclaimer: This DevLog is intended to help anyone, who is in a similar situation we are in at the moment. Everyone has to make their own decisions. This merely is our own honest view and opinion, based on our experience. We would love to hear from you, what you think about it all. We wish you all the success and fun you deserve with the development and release of your game! eXplore Studio

Attending game conventions can be highly beneficial for game creators. Here are a few reasons why: Conventions are a great place to meet other game developers, publishers, and industry professionals. Building these connections and ‘networking’ can often lead to collaborations, partnerships, and valuable insights.

If you are actually exhibiting your game, you can also showcase your game to a diverse audience and get immediate feedback. This can be invaluable for refining your game and understanding what players enjoy or find challenging. Similarly, conventions offer you marketing and exposure opportunities. They offer a platform to promote your game to a wider audience. This can help build buzz and attract potential players, media coverage, and even investors.

Even if you do not exhibit but just attend as a visitor, there is a lot of learning and inspiration on offer. Many conventions feature panels, workshops, and talks by industry experts. These sessions can provide new ideas, techniques, and trends that can inspire and improve your game development or marketing process. Furthermore, being part of the gaming community and sharing your passion with like-minded individuals can be extremely motivating and rewarding. It also helps in building a loyal fan base.

Both exhibiting your game and ‘merely’ attending as a visitor have their own benefits and drawbacks. Here is some of what you should consider before you make up your mind what is right for you:

Attending as an exhibitor with a booth, independently or as part of the presence of your publisher, if you have one, will allow you to showcase your game and get immediate feedback from a diverse audience, which can be invaluable for refining your game. This will also increase your game’s visibility and can attract media attention, potential players, and even investors. Moreover, having a booth can make it easier for industry professionals to find and approach you, leading to potential partnerships and collaborations. In some cases, you may be able to directly sell your game or gather pre-orders, which can be a great boost for your project.

Then again, the cost of having your own booth can be very high, especially if you do not have any or at least not much income yet. Last but not least, setting up and running a booth requires significant time and effort, which will take you away from other activities like attending talks or networking sessions. Mentally, it can be draining to exhibit your game for several days to hundreds or even thousands of visitors. You may feel extremely tired, overwhelmed, and exhausted at the end of each day.

Attending as a visitor, on the other hand, is much more flexible. You have the freedom to attend various panels, workshops, presentations, and networking events without being tied to a booth. You can benefit from the learning opportunities, for example, gaining insights from industry experts, learn about the latest trends, and gather inspiration for your own projects. You can still network effectively by attending social events, meetups, and other gatherings without the pressure of managing a booth. And of course, attending as a visitor is generally much less expensive than exhibiting your game. On the negative side, your game will have less visibility, and you will not have the same opportunity to showcase your game and get immediate feedback from attendees.

Some notable conventions include Gamescom (Cologne, Singapore, Sao Paulo), PAX (Los Angeles), EGX (London), Tokyo Games Show, Africa Games Week (Cape Town), and countless others, both internationally and regionally or locally. Each convention has its own unique focus, so you might want to choose based on what aligns best with your goals.

In conclusion, if your primary goal is to promote your game and gather feedback, exhibiting might be the better option despite the usually much higher cost and effort. However, if you are looking to learn, network, and gather inspiration without the commitment of a booth, attending as a visitor could be more beneficial. In any case, it is a brilliant opportunity to meet and connect with other people from the game industry and share your knowledge and experiences with them. Finally, always try to have some days of rest before and/or after the convention, and even take the time to discover new places, cultures and people in the area where the convention takes place. Looking forward to seeing you at one of the upcoming conventions soon!