June marks the official beginning of summer, that time of year when a young gamer’s heart turns to conventions! In that spirit, let’s walk through what we’ve got planned for Guild Wars 2 and the convention circuit.
* E3 – First, let’s get one of the most-asked questions out of the way. We are NOT going to be on the floor at E3. We really have mixed feelings about E3. On the one hand it can be a great centralized way to meet press and retailers. On the other hand, it’s anti-fan. As the marketing guy, if I’m going to spend a boatload of money on a booth, videos, props, etc., I want to be able to share it with the folks who’ll geek-out on it the most – the fans! IMO, E3 could steal a page from gamescom, which is a combination of a civilized business/industry area and a showy exhibit hall that’s open to consumers. If they did that, E3 would be a no-brainer in my book.
* San Diego Comic-Con (July 22-25) – This is traditionally not a big show for us, but this year our City of Heroes brethren are graciously sharing their booth with us. We’ll be celebrating the release of our first novel, Ghosts of Ascalon, with free copies and signings with authors Matt Forbeck and Jeff Grubb. In addition, we’ll have fan favorite artists Rich Anderson, Kekai Kotaki, and Kristen Perry available for signings of the Art of Guild Wars 2 and just to chat about art. Community manager Regina Buenaobra and I will also be on-hand to meet with fans – or just chat about comics!
* gamescom (August 19-22) – This is the big one folks! I’m happy to announce that we will unveil the first public hands-on demo of Guild Wars 2 at gamescom in Cologne, Germany! If you want to be the first in your guild to play GW2 (and you’re in Europe), this is the show to attend. Naturally, we’ll have tons of ArenaNet staff on-hand, including studio head Mike O’Brien and German community manager Martin Kerstein, plus lots of cool activities. But let’s face it; we know it’s all about the game. We’ll have more details about the GW2 demo in the near future.
* PAX Prime (September 3-5) – PAX is probably our favorite trade show because it’s in our hometown of Seattle and we love Penny Arcade. As some of you have astutely noted, ArenaNet is always at this show in full force, so expect to meet your favorite artists, designers, and community people – along with hands-on demo stations of Guild Wars 2. If you’ve ever attended PAX before, you know we always have a lot going on – so much, in fact, that we’re going to need a separate follow-up post to go into more detail.
The Mesmer makes Guild Wars for me.
