I wasn’t really sure whether the organizers behind the event marketed the event to make the local community of gamers aware about such an event. We did what we could to aid IGX [GamingBolt is an official media partner of IGX], but there is no denying that from a pure marketing perspective, I did not witness anything that would entail the hordes of crowds that are usually associated with gaming expos. As such, I kept my expectations low and went about my job and attended the event.

The other morning I reached the event, and much to my surprise, there were literally hundreds of gamers queuing up, eager to get in. I stood there for a moment and thought about the power of the gaming community. Gamers are a close knit community and seeing hundreds flocking towards India’s first premium gaming show was a testament that word-of-mouth marketing still beats the hell out of modern marketing techniques. Not all of them read a GamingBolt or a IndianVideoGamer or a Gadgets 360…the news about this expo simply spread amongst the local gaming community. I immediately knew that the event was a success. It was a success not only for the organizers and the exhibitors, but a success for video games, and their power to bind their audience together.

"IGX was a success not only for the organizers and the exhibitors, but a success for video games, and their power to bind their audience together."

The event was literally bustling with players, queuing up to play the biggest games of the year. Of course, no major developer or publisher was present at the show themselves, but the likes of Konami, Warner Brothers and Bethesda were represented by e-xpress Games, a local distributor. They arguably had the biggest booth at the show, not to mention their grand contest running across two days. On the other hand, PlayStation also had a presence at expo, showcasing almost all of their first party games that were released this year. One would obviously expect Microsoft to show up at such an event- the Xbox One has a presence in country after all. But disappointingly, Microsoft were nowhere to be found. What exactly happened is not known and we will never know why they opted out, but it’s a shame, especially given their amazing line up for 2015.

There were a couple of exciting indie projects, such as Apar Games’ Scribbled Arena, which has already been greenlit on Steam, but the star of the show was Absentia VR’s Tesseract Headset. We have covered the capabilities of this headset before, but in short, it can make any PC game VR compatible. Support for PS4 and Xbox One is also on the way. It was easily the most crowded booth at the expo, and deservedly so.

According to Gadgets 360, around 8000 people attended the show. That number is no where near E3, TGS, or Gamescom, but it’s a start. A start of something fantastic and wonderful for the local gaming scene. The big question to ask right now is whether the exhibitors and sponsors will see enough worth in doing this on an annual basis. Do they think whether the attendance number was enough for them to recoup the sponsorship costs, which most likely ran into a seven digit figure? Honestly, I don’t know. In my opinion, IGX was at the very least successful in getting distributors’ and sponsors’ interest piqued. Will this be enough to ramp up an expo for the next year? That remains to be seen.

"IGX also served as a testing bed for local distributors and publishers, a test for them to see the true scope and engagement of the local gaming market."

In many ways, IGX also served as a testing bed for local distributors and publishers, a test for them to see the true scope and engagement of the local gaming market. The biggest problem with the local scene is that no one is making the effort to make people understand what AAA gaming actually means, or is capable of. People remain ignorant of the scope or reach of video games as a medium, because no one has made the effort to explain to them just what video games are, or what they can do. IGX is the first co-op effort by major distributors and publishers to educate their consumer base. And hearteningly enough, when they did that, gamers simply flocked in the thousands.

For its first ever showing, IGX is a massive success. With some coherent strategies, next year’s event could be an even bigger deal. If this event is not a testament to the growing local games industry, I don’t know what is.

IGX 2015, the first major games oriented convention in India, has just received a major boost in prominence- Sony has confirmed that they will sponsor the event as an Associate Sponsor, and also that they will be an exhibitor, bringing with them their products such as the PS3, PS4, PS Vita, as well as games like Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection.

Fans can look forward to sampling the best PlayStation 4 exclusive games at Sony’s massive IGX booth, plus a chance to participate in competitions and take home some great freebies. The full list of games that Sony will be bringing with it to the event includes:

• Bloodborne
• DriveClub
• Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection
• Until Dawn

IGX 2015 takes place in Mumbai this November. GamingBolt is an official media partner of the event, so stay tuned for all of the latest and greatest news for you, straight from ground zero.

India’s very own gaming convention, IGX, approaches, and we finally have the official dates and venue- the inaugural IGX will take place at Mumbai’s premier event and exhibition space, Bombay Exhibition Centre, located at the Nesco Grounds, off the Western Express Highway in Goregaon East.

IGX will be free to attend for everyone, with registrations set to commence on the official IGX website –gamesexpo.in – on October 7. IGX attendees will have the chance to win some great prizes, take home lots of freebies, witness product launches, participate in a gaming cosplay, in addition to going hands on with some of the biggest games of the year such as Batman: Arkham Knight, Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, and Assassin’s Creed Syndicate, all of which are confirmed for the showfloor.

GamingBolt will be an official media partner for IGX this year, so stay tuned for more coverage and information on the event.

India is getting its very own gaming convention. It’s called IGX, it will be held in Mumbai later this year, and it is being pegged as the biggest technology oriented show India has ever had. Loads of new news and information, at least for the Indian market, is anticipated to come from the event.

As with any games expo, the most important thing here will be the games that visitors to the event will be able to play on the showfloor. Major games will be playable, and will allow many Indian gamers their first chance to go hands on with some of the biggest game releases of the year. The first list of playable games includes:

• Assassin’s Creed: Syndicate (Ubisoft)
• Batman: Arkham Knight (Warner Bros.)
• Mad Max (Warner Bros.)
• Mortal Kombat x (Warner Bros.)
• Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain (Konami)
• Pro Evolution Soccer 2016 (Konami)

More games are anticipated to be added to the list, and we will have more on IGX for you in the coming weeks, so stay tuned to GamingBolt.

As the Indian market continues to grow in size and importance, it becomes more and more obvious that it will continue to garner enough interest from consumers and content creators to be able to host its own local games show, like so many other major markets do. The expo will take place in the Indian commercial capital, Mumbai, and it will allow visitors to ‘play the latest games across all platforms, go hands-on with cutting edge hardware, and even preview games and hardware that aren’t yet available in the Indian market,’ said IGN, the official media partner of the expo.

IGN also claimed that every major platform, from mobile to consoles and PC, will be represented, as will all major games. Their wording does raise interesting questions about the possibility, for example, of Nintendo systems (hardware not yet officially available in India) maybe debuting at IGX. It would certainly give the NX a larger market to sell to when it launches if it could also sell to a new market of a billion.

More details on IGX will follow, so stay tuned to GamingBolt for more coverage.