It was amazing to see EGX back up and running for 2021 after a pause during the pandemic. This year saw EGX return to the ExCel centre in London. Covering 4 days from Thursday 7th October to Sunday 10th of October. Including everything in the world of gaming. From big names like Deathloop to small indie titles in the Rezzed zone. As well as that there was a tabletop gaming zone, shopping stalls and even a rare retro console zone.
The most obvious change to EGX 2021 over previous instalments was the distinct lack of big names like Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo. Also EGX 2021 was much less dense with fewer big gaming installations and setups. Obviously being the first time back since the pandemic and still being in a world where things are getting back to normal this is understandable. The fact that EGX is back is amazing news. Also the lack of bigger names meant there was much more focus on the smaller indie titles, which in my opinion is great.
EGX 2021 Rezzed
The indie or rezzed zone had prime position as the first thing you’d see coming into EGX. Including a range of amazing games from solo developers all the way to bigger indie teams and publishers like PQube. Followed straight after by the Leftfield Collection which is a selection of some of the more unique titles. Like artistic games and new games for retro consoles.
Fall Guys had a huge presence at EGX 2021 with potentially the biggest instalment. Including a huge travellator setup where people would compete to collect the most crowns. As well as loads of consoles setup to play the game. Not bad for essentially another indie game.
Baldurs Gate 3
Baldurs Gate 3 had what was potentially the nicest looking setup with a Mindflayer threatening the unsuspecting crowds. As well as that there was a merch store and loads of PCs setup in a nice closed off area to get sucked into the world of Baldurs Gate 3.
Team 17 had an excellent installation where you could kick off your shoes and relax your socks to some couch co-op gaming. With loads of games on display from Blasphemous, to Alien Breed Greak and more. This was a great place to sit down and relax with some games without people crowding you.
Another great place to sit down for some couch co-op was the console corner. Rows upon rows of all types of consoles with a range of games to jump straight into with a friend.
TikTok Gaming
An interesting new addition to the world of gaming, at least to me, was TikTok. They had music blasting, games playing and filming zones aswell. It looked pretty fun and it made me interested to find out more about TikTok as a gaming platform.
A name I’ve not seen in gaming for a while but I’m glad to see making a comeback is Crysis. The Crysis games were some of my favourite first person shooters in the last decade. It was great to the Crytek setup with the Crysis Trilogy available to play and the new Crysis game available to play behind a closed screen and queuing system.
Another new name to the world of gaming was Ikea. Situated alongside the ASUS camp. Ikea were there showing off their new gaming focused line of furniture and to be honest it looked pretty good.
For competitive players and fans of fighting games the EGX Arena had a great setup. Seeing players pitted against each other in a selection of games from Street Fight V even to Tekken Bowling. All amplified by the smoke and sounds of Top Guns Danger Zone pumping loud.
Retro Games
EGX 2021 truly had something for everyone. And for those of us who like our retro games as much as we like our next gen there was a huge selection of retro games on display setup in a great way. Rows of consoles lined up to show the progression of different franchises and systems like Mario, Nintendo, Sega, Sonic and Street Fighter just to name a few. On top of this a Rare Retro section displayed some of the rarest and hard to find consoles and games in existence. My personal favourite being the PSX on display.
For those looking to delve into the world of retro games a bit deeper, a Games Library let you pick from a selection of games, throw them in a console and get stuck in. And for all the IRL gamers the huge Tabletop Zone included some of the best board games around.
One area that was a bit lacking for me was the Retail Zone. There were a handful of stores to check out ranging from Funko Pops and T Shirts to art pieces, figures and even fudge. However there was really a lot of competition between the stores and there were absolutely no store selling retro games. Again this is understandable considering the impact of the pandemic, but it is something I would definitely like to see grow at EGX 2022.
EGX Events
To top off all the amazing games and setups on display. A series of talks, shows and mini events covered the four days which took place at the EGX Theatre, EGX Live stage, EGX Arena, Cosplay Central and the Rezzed Sessions. These were some of the highlights of the event with fighting game competitions, indie game showcases, cosplay chats and talks ranging from getting into game development and content creation as well as diversity and inclusion in gaming.
My personal favourite talk being Alan Thorns talk about getting into game development as a career and debunking common misconceptions. A genuinely interesting and relevant talk.
Although EGX 2021 might not have been the same scale as previous years. It was still a great fun and informative time and a sign that EGX is back. Something that has already been confirmed with two new events being announced EGX Birmingham on 3-5 March 2022 and EGX London on 22-25 September 2022.
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