(No doubt, I will be put on the naughty list, but I need to say this: I’m sorry for the lengthy thread in advance. 100 points for reading it all)
I have been going to EGX yearly since 2013; I see this as a yearly pilgrimage as it is one of the most significant events for celebrating video games in the UK in my opinion, playing new releases and seeing the wonderful Indies, which I owe most of my career to.
2024 saw the “merging” of the UK’s most prominent cultural events, MCM and EGX. From how it was advertised, I believe it would be essentially two events, one side EGX and the other MCM. On paper, this reads amazing, but in reality, it was not.
If I wanted to kill off an event while making it look like I was at least trying to keep it alive. What Reed Pop did at this event would echo precisely how I’d do it: make it small and disappointing and blame the lack of interest. If EGX returns, I will be very shocked; it will die unless something massively changes with its management.
I was lucky enough to be granted a creator pass for this event. While applying, I wrote that I intended to Livestream the event, and I tried. There was no way I could do this as the mobile data there was nonexistent, and the Wi-Fi was impossible to use for streaming or likely to cost me over £100 for a connection.
After two hours of trying to create content, I gave up. It was unfair to my community to have to watch my BRB screen while I was trying to make a constant connection. The events did not offer Creator Wi-Fi, so creating content was impossible!
I decided to take a load off as I was overwhelmed and wanted to rest, so I headed to the “creator lounge.” I had to climb two floors of stairs, as the escalators were off, to get to the lounge, which ended up being a cold, blank room with no chill-out areas or refreshments. It was also poorly controlled, as many people weren’t even creators! Ultimately, I left and returned to the recharge area, where I sat on the floor.
I honestly do not want to go back. It would not be worth my time as a gaming content creator, and I hope Reed Pop does something drastic to attract the gamer crowds. The UK is struggling due to the lack of gaming events, and this is not one I’d recommend currently.