At 7:30PM AEST,EB Games Australiaannounced that they will be hosting Australia’s largest gaming event in history. The event is three years in the making and will be held on October 15 and 16 on Australia’s Gold Coast and will be 10,000 square meters of pure win!
With major publishers like Electronic Arts and Ubisoft confirmed (and Nintendo, Sony, Microsoft, Activision and more rumored), this will rival international events such asPenny Arcade Expoand E3.
The announcement was set to be announced through the viral link whatwherewhen.ebgames.com.au which later changed toebexpo.com.auas soon as the countdown hit zero. On the site you can now find a trailer with an introduction from EB Games National Events Manager, Trent Weekes, and then a trailer for the event itself.
“Our internal October conference is already Australia’s largest gaming event which attracts a huge amount of international gaming talent,” says Weekes, “so it was a natural progression that we open the event to the gaming community. While full exhibitor lists will be released in the coming months, we’re really excited that we are able to offer a gaming event of this scale in Australia which will give the gaming community a chance to get their hands on such high caliber playable code as we did internally last October withCall of Duty,Assassin’s Creed,Dragon AgeandDuke Nukem, to name a few.”
Effectively, you will get to see what EB Games Managers get a sneak peek at once a year; in previous years I have seen Cliffy B. playGears of War 2, and Patrice Desilets show offAssassin’s Creed. With this year being such a massive year for releases, includingSkyrimandGears of War 3,I would not be surprised if some big names will be showing off their games to attendees.
The event will be held at theGold Coast Convention and Entertainment Centre (GCCEC)in Australia’s Queensland, and tickets will be sold via theEB Games Australiawebsite and stores. EB Games has also partnered withWorld Cyber Gamesfor the event, and will hold the Australian finals at the event itself. There will also be Cosplay competitions, and so much more awesome stuff to see and do at the event!
Tickets will go on sale on June 2nd with two prepaid ticket prices available:
EB Games Australia stated on their Facebook page: “There are 13,800 general admission tickets. 4,600 per session. There are 1,200 VIP tickets. 400 per session.”
I was lucky enough to hang out with the Dtoid crew at PAX in 2008 and 2009, and this is our chance to have the same experience in our own country! I have a few things planned for Australian Dtoider’s who are wanting to attend the event, including DtoidAustralia parties in the evenings and more. We will also have sections on our Facebook page so that you can plan to room with fellow Dtoiders to save money, and where to meet up with all of us. Be sure to join the DtoidAustraliaFacebook pageso that you can be a part of the planning!
After reading the Q&A on theEB Games Australia Facebookpage, it’s obvious that this is the first of many events to come, and that there will be events held across Australia at some stage, so keep an eye onDtoidAustralia’s blogfor events near you!
