This is how the games industry events will look like in 2024
Game Conference Guide Insights - December 2023
For the past three years I have been monitoring the games industry events at Game Conference Guide. And each year I am trying to predict how the games industry will looks like in following season.
Just this year, almost 320 events happened, 26 per month on average which makes you wonder, what can we expect in 2024? Let’s take a look.
This might a shocker, the number of events is going to go be very similar as in 2023. There are plenty of events to choose from and you can attend a new one almost every day. Some might change the location, or switch their focus, and some might even get cancelled.
What I have been seeing, there will be new events added to the circuit and some might be resurrected as well. Same amount means, more than 300. And you won’t be able to attend each of them. If you already have your favourites booked for 2024, make some space. There are more coming.
PARTNER OF THE MONTH
Introducing Rawcember! Wait… what is Rawcember?
Rawcember is a celebration of Raw Fury’s games, our culture, the developers we work with and - of course - the players. But more than anything else, Rawcemeber is whatever you want it to be!
Taking place throughout December (duh!), Rawcember is a carnival of gaming goodness, presented through an advent calendar of reveals, releases and announcements. One day there could be an awesome sale on that game you’ve had wishlisted for a while. The next day could bring special competitions and prizes for those who follow Raw Fury’s social channels. And of course, there will be big reveals you will not want to miss!
After all, Raw Fury is more than a publisher - it’s a passion project. We’re all about doing what makes us and the people we work with happy. We’ve run development studios, we’ve produced games, promoted them, and written about them. We’ve designed them, distributed them, and delivered them into the hands of fans.
We don’t care about genres or mechanics.
We care about experiences and emotions.
And we want to help developers make magic.
GDC 2024 won’t get away without a scandal, and Twitter will be on fire. It will in fact attract more attendees than in 2023.
We will be hearing from ESA trying to resurrect the E3 with very vague plans which again will stir up the conversation and nostalgia. Last year I was wrong when predicting E3 will be back in full swing in 2023. As ReedPop is consolidating and “thinking about selling” the media division, it is not likely these guys are up for it again. New challenger would have to enter the ring. And it won’t be Geoff Keighley.
Gamescom and TGS will be bringing a steady number of visitors, expanding their offering to celebrate the whole fandom, not just gaming. In fact, before this piece was written, gamescom teamed up with BIG Festival in Sao Paolo announcing gamescom LATAM. More lifestyle brands and companies outside of gaming will be participating on the showfloor.
Growing pains & tightening the belt
Events can mirror what is happening outside of the games industry very fast. The consolidation and looking inwards period are going to affect them in 2024 resulting in less resources from participating companies. Organizers will be facing tough times to attract sponsors to their events, as travel and event budgets are reduced.
Big events (GDC, TGS) will report higher numbers as last year, as well as gamescom solidifying its position as the most important and biggest event in the world. On the B2B side the number of visitors is going to increase on the local level (sub 1000 visitors’ events). They will be hitting its peaks.
Rise of the Local events
In October, a world class globetrotter and frequent speaker at conferences Fawzi Mesmar was invited to Game Days in Slovakia, and he was surprised. “When I walk into a conference, I know most of the people. Over here I would say I recognize five. I love it”.
Regional conferences are super important not just to the community itself to mingle, test ideas, compare, compete, present, and showcase their work, but are more attractive to scouts, HR/recruiters and companies looking into territories to set up their shop there. Local events will be more important same way as the big events are getting louder.
Local events have been here for ages, and they are uncharted territory. They are attracting new talent, offering access to knowledge, first time networking, making a first contact with the industry but also discovering gems or new speakers. I do wish, these events were getting more attention.
How to support these events? Buy tickets, send representatives, get in touch, offer to speak, and share your findings or better yet, sponsor. The local events are important than ever, and they will need you in 2024.
And there you have it. This time not so ground-breaking predictions. Check back next year to see how wrong I was.
Big update to the GCG database
During the upcoming holidays there will be some changes to the Game Conference Guide. Like in previous years, the main database is already showing events for next season and beyond. Don’t forget to turn on the filter and choose 2024 for upcoming events.
Around Christmas all 2023 events will be archived with the rest spanning back to 2020. You will be able to go back to them, filter by location, month, and region.
On the main page the donut graphs will be breaking down the nature and geo location of 2024 events, so keep that in mind when wondering why the numbers of events are suddenly so low. As of now there are 73 events scheduled to happen next year. I will be adding more of them as they are announced, plus cross referencing the database from previous year so you have access to the up-to-date list all the time.
As my guilty pleasure, Showcases will continue to be tracked as well. I just have to come up with an archived version, as they are also testament how the year has been shaped and are mirroring the trends in the games industry.
All of Showcases listed are equipped with a links to on demand version or highlights, so you can rewatch all of them, except those that happened on-site and weren’t broadcasted.
Happy holidays and New Year!
This is it for 2023.
It has been a very challenging year for the games industry. We have seen the biggest releases scoring 90+ on Metacritic and celebrating million copies sold. On the other side many companies were hit with layoffs leaving a bitter taste in mouth while looking at the variety and fresh new releases.
Events were flourishing. 2023 was record breaking year with the biggest number of events happening (319 of them). I will be breaking down the numbers in the traditional Year in Review next month followed by analysis on ticket pricing.
Don’t forget to subscribe, and the findings will land in your inbox once published.
Until then, I wish you all the best, have an amazing holidays, spend it with your family & friends, unwind and get comfortable as much as possible. See you all in 2024.
[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