Fan events have taken over the calendar for a lot of game publishers, and some smaller studios are experimenting with different kinds of expos. This led a number of independent developers to the Denver Comic Convention last month in search of a way to stand out, and that’s exactly what they found.
The Denver Comic Con is a huge annual event that happens each summer in the heart of Colorado’s largest city. But because Denver is also one of the largest cities for 500 miles in any direction (Oklahoma City is 495 miles away), it attracts comic book lovers from several of the bordering states as well. More than 115,000 people attended this year’s three-day event in the first weekend in July. That’s more than the Electronic Entertainment Expo trade event that opened to the public this year or the Penny Arcade Expo fan shows.
And for the first time, Denver Comic Con attendees had a chance to check out a handful of video games on the show’s main floor.
“For the longest time, you know, comic people feel like comics are educational and games are a waste of time,” Serenity Forge chief executive officer Zhenghua “Z” Yang told GamesBeat. “This year has been great. In fact, they even put us right here by the front entrance.”
Serenity Forge is a local developer. Z started the company in Boulder, and he is one of the people most responsible for bringing games into the event. He secured the space and invited other local developers as well as indie studios from around the world. Ben Hopkins from Colorado is developing a four-player fighter for Steam called Mystic Melee, and he got to show off his game at the edge of Serenity Forge’s space.
Raw Fury, meanwhile, was showing off its already released games Kingdom and Tormentor X Punisher.A different audience
After the show opened, the developers at Denver Comic Con quickly learned that they were reaching a different audience than they would at PAX or E3. Where most gaming expos draw adults, families and kids made up a significant portion of the 115,000 attendees here.
I played Mystic Melee with Hopkins when a pair of kids walked up and joined us. I asked the developer what it was like having younger people approach his game over and over.
“It’s been great so far,” said Hopkins. “I’ve loved to get people’s feedback….
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