The Big Four

Wednesday, in faraway Germany Gamescom will begin.

Out of the calendar year there are four major conventions that shape the industry. During the month of March is GDC, an annual summit held in San Francisco. Developers from all over the world gather to learn from one another. Talks are given on every major “track”, from programming, to audio design, to game design. The conference lasts a full week and includes the International Game Festival Winners (IGF).

Following on the heels of GDC is the Electronic Entertainment Expose, or better known as E3. Probably the premier event for the game industry all major console releases have been announced there as well as the debuts of some of the largest franchises. E3 grew out from the Consumer Electronic Show, CES, which takes place during January in Las Vegas.  Like GDC this is an industry only event. The public are not allowed in.

Gamescom, which runs Wednesday to Wednesday, is a strange mixture of the two. The largest European conference it corresponds with GDC Europe. While all of the dev’s attend conferences, the publishers are in a venue across the street showing off more of their work that they had held back with during E3. Usually several large announcements are given as the major publishers all have their own keynotes. This year, most will be streaming live. If you’re interested in watching, check it out here.

The last large conference of the year is the Penny Arcade Exposition, PAX. Held in Seattle Washington it is open and available to the public. Fans get to meet the people behind the creation of their favorite titles, play the games with others, and potentially get hands on with some of the newer games that will be coming out next year. At this event are the PAX 10, ten independent developers who have created something wholly unique and deserving of attention.