Only fraction of 2023 events are announced. What is going on?
Game Conference Guide Insights - November 2022
For the past few weeks, I have been receiving a lot of questions regarding upcoming events in 2023. Which one to visit and what else is up on the horizon? While most of them were asked by organizers not to cross over with other events, I am sure you are also planning next year and filling the spots with the usual suspects (GDC, E3, gamescom).
This gave me an idea to look at the data of already confirmed events. But only fraction of them (38 compared to 290 this year) are officially announced for 2023. Where is the catch?
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You guessed it, it is complicated. Compared to 2021 there is a clear decrease in number of events this year, which was expected. The 5,5% decline is tied to events hosted virtually as a one-shot (Games Crossing Borders, Vulkanised + many more), plus organizers moved into physical space and reduced the virtual offering to a minimum once the restrictions were lifted. The big and landmark events already have dates (both gamescoms, GDC, E3, EGX), but what about the others?
While there are multiple factors and moving parts, like marketing campaign, confirming crucial components, gathering the team, having the blessing from the board members, graphic design, one of the main one is availability of venues.
Just the other week I visited Slovakia for Game Days, a conference I helped to create almost 10 years ago. Just before the team wrapped up the last day, they asked me: hey, what is happening in the fall next year? We must book this venue immediately, otherwise we won’t be able to host it. That question is almost impossible to answer. Just looking into September this year, it brought record breaking 45 events, a 32% YoY increase. And Game Days team is not the only one.
Every event out there has its own history and reasons why they are happening at a certain period. Late november was picked by MIGS because at that time all the big studios in Montreal area were already gold with their new releases and could talk / exhibit / visit. E3 gave enough time to retailers to prepare for the busy fall period for making orders, see and play stuff they will be selling during Q4. One of the reasons why gamescom halls are so packed with fans are the summer holidays. And Game Days dates were always positioned so we could tap into universities and expose newcomers to the industry.
This year, many events found their new home within a new time window, new region or they were forced to move due to invasion of Ukraine. Some are tentative, but here is a question; what if the groups decide to stay with the new venue, or within the new window?
As we were wrapping up Reboot Develop Blue 2022 (did you see the after movie?), there was a lot of voices saying: “keep it in September instead of April”. Stable and warmer weather, a lot of potential for outdoor activities, summer vibes are all very tempting, but the availability of the venue said otherwise. The next one is scheduled to happen on 24 - 26 April, 2023, just so you know.
For one, I can say that the dates are going to shift, and we will see some colliding or even crossing with dates. A word of advice, if you are planning, leave some space in your busy schedule for unexpected appearances like Gamelab. While this event is notoriously famous for being announced on the last minute, they dropped the dates for their Tenerife conference just 3 weeks before the start.
And with the last-minute announcements, prices for flight tickets and travel in general are going to be reflected in your travel budget. With highly optimized transport dealing with lesser number of lines and routes, you might face going through the hoops to get to your destination and potentially face longer layovers while waiting for your next train, bus or a plane filled to the last seat. Travel is only a part of the experience, the other is the ticket price. And they are not going to be cheaper.
A short break before the last paragraphs.
Let me give a shout out to a man of many talents, Guy Blomberg, who is among other things (like PAX and E3), responsible for creating and managing Games Industry Gathering, a curated community of 5000+ awesome humans put together when pandemic hit us hard and it is growing ever since.
They are organizing a massive holiday party on 2nd of December and you are all invited. Save the date and see you there.
Costs for running events are going up. Yes, you still have option to join almost for free, but to be honest, if you are attending let’s say gamescom, you are not going to accept meeting requests from visitors joining virtually. You are flying to Cologne to make it worth and spend time with those who are already there. Ticket prices are going to be affected not just by inflation and rising costs for utilities, but also rising costs for renting out the venues, production or having staff on site to help you run it. Delivering an event and making it profitable or at least breaking even without cutting corners or raising the ticket prices is going to be a magic.
Next month I want to investigate how the events will look like next year followed by a complete data analysis and publishing a review of industry events in January 2023.
There is no sign of slowing down in the events space. Honestly, it is impossible to attend every single one. Just this month, it would take you full 107 days (74 workdays, 33 weekend days) to visit every single one without a break.
Yes, there is a great deal of demand for events, there are new ones breaking into new territories, introducing new formats, and there is also massive FOMO among us when looking at the travel photos from our peers and friends spending time in various places while we are sitting in the (home)office.
Be careful with planning and do not book your calendar fully, there will be some surprises in 2023 for sure.
[Game Conference Guide is tracking games industry & game developers’ events, trade shows, festivals, conferences and events around the world.]
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Pavol Buday, curator @ GCG