IgroMir (russian: ИгроМир, ''Gaming World'') is the first large-scale annual exhibition of computer and video games in Russia, organized in
Moscow
Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...
by the committee of the
Russian Game Developers Conference
The Russian Game Developers' Conference (russian: Конференция Разработчиков Игр), or KRI (russian: КРИ, KRI), was an annual event for industry professionals devoted to game development, publishing and distribution in ...
(KRI) since 2006.
The exhibition quickly grew to a four-day event (Thursday to Sunday), with the first day reserved for industry members, the press, and VIPs. It was held on the first weekend of November at
VDNKh Exhibition Center
Exhibition of Achievements of National Economy (russian: Выставка достижений народного хозяйства, ''Vystavka dostizheniy narodnogo khozyaystva'', abbreviated as VDNKh or VDNH, russian: ВДНХ, ) is a perman ...
for its first five years, then from 2011 moved to
Crocus Expo and was held on the first weekend of October. Since 2014,
Comic-Con Russia
Comic-Con Russia is a speculative fiction entertainment annual exhibition and fan convention of computer and video games, TV series and comic movies in Russia, organized by the committee of the Russian Game Developers Conference and Bubble Comi ...
has been held as part of IgroMir and attendance has averaged 160,000 people, the capacity of the venue.
History
2006
The exhibition was first held 4–5 November 2006, at the
VDNKh Exhibition Center
Exhibition of Achievements of National Economy (russian: Выставка достижений народного хозяйства, ''Vystavka dostizheniy narodnogo khozyaystva'', abbreviated as VDNKh or VDNH, russian: ВДНХ, ) is a perman ...
. According to the organizers, attendance exceeded 25,000 people.
About 45 domestic and foreign companies were present, showing more than 100 games for different platforms.
2007
In 2007, IgroMir returned to the VDNKh Center for an expanded exhibition 2–4 November (Friday to Sunday). The exhibition area increased from , and there were about 45,000 to 50,000 visitors, including exhibitors and the press.
The exhibition was attended by domestic game companies such as
Russobit-M
Russobit-M is defunct distributor of PC games in Russia and the CIS. It served an important role in PC game distribution in the Post-Soviet states. In 2003 it partnered with GFI to release game software and DVDs throughout Russia.
Russobit-M was ...
,
1C,
Akella, and
Nival Online, as well as by Western publishers such as
Electronic Arts
Electronic Arts Inc. (EA) is an American video game company headquartered in Redwood City, California. Founded in May 1982 by Apple employee Trip Hawkins, the company was a pioneer of the early home computer game industry and promoted the d ...
,
Microsoft
Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational technology corporation producing computer software, consumer electronics, personal computers, and related services headquartered at the Microsoft Redmond campus located in Redmond, Washing ...
,
Sony Computer Entertainment
Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE), formerly known as Sony Computer Entertainment (SCE), is a multinational video game and digital entertainment company wholly owned by multinational conglomerate Sony. The SIE Group is made up of two legal co ...
,
Nintendo
is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational video game company headquartered in Kyoto, Japan. It develops video games and video game consoles.
Nintendo was founded in 1889 as by craftsman Fusajiro Yamauchi and originally produce ...
,
Sega
is a Japanese multinational corporation, multinational video game and entertainment company headquartered in Shinagawa, Tokyo. Its international branches, Sega of America and Sega Europe, are headquartered in Irvine, California and London, r ...
and others. Some games were shown to the public for the first time. Many were presented by developers, such as
Epic Games
Epic Games, Inc. is an American video game and software developer and publisher based in Cary, North Carolina. The company was founded by Tim Sweeney as Potomac Computer Systems in 1991, originally located in his parents' house in Potomac, M ...
President
Mike Capps,
Ubisoft
Ubisoft Entertainment SA (; ; formerly Ubi Soft Entertainment SA) is a French video game publisher headquartered in Saint-Mandé with development studios across the world. Its video game franchises include '' Assassin's Creed'', ''Far Cry'', '' ...
's
Jade Raymond
Jade Raymond (born 28 August 1975) is a Canadian video game creator, best known for helping create the '' Assassin's Creed'' and ''Watch Dogs'' franchises, and for building the Ubisoft Toronto and EA Motive Studios. On 16 March 2021, Raymond a ...
and representatives of
Bizarre Creations
Bizarre Creations Limited was a British video game development studio based in Liverpool, best known for their racing video game, racing titles ''Metropolis Street Racer'' (Dreamcast) and the follow-up Project Gotham Racing, ''Project Gotham Rac ...
,
Creative Assembly
The Creative Assembly Limited (trade name: Creative Assembly) is a British video game developer based in Horsham, founded in 1987 by Tim Ansell. In its early years, the company worked on porting games to MS-DOS from Amiga and ZX Spectrum platfor ...
and
Running with Scissors.
2008
IgroMir continued to grow and switched to a four-day format (Thursday to Sunday) held on 6–9 November in 2008. The first day was called the business day
in which games were presented to industry members and the press in arelaxed business setting. The remaining three days were open to the public. The total number of visitors exceeded 65,000 people,
with more than 120 exhibitors. Among them were leading western companies: Electronic Arts, Microsoft, Sony Computer Entertainment, Nintendo, Sega, Ubisoft, and
Blizzard Entertainment
Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. is an American video game developer and publisher based in Irvine, California. A subsidiary of Activision Blizzard, the company was founded on February 8, 1991, under the name Silicon & Synapse, Inc. by three graduat ...
. The total exhibition area increased to .
2009
The 2009 exhibition again took place at the VDNKh Center, 5–8 November. According to estimates of the organizers and the VDNKh police department, the exhibition was visited by 82,000 people.
The exhibition attracted domestic game companies (such as
1C,
Akella, Buka,
Nival), and Western companies Microsoft, Sony Computer Entertainment, Blizzard Entertainment, Electronic Arts,
Activision
Activision Publishing, Inc. is an American video game publisher based in Santa Monica, California. It serves as the publishing business for its parent company, Activision Blizzard, and consists of several subsidiary studios. Activision is one o ...
, Nintendo and Sega. VIP guests to the exhibition included
Joe Kucan
Joseph David Kucan is an American video game developer, director, actor, screenwriter, and casting director for various gaming companies and films. He is a resident of Las Vegas, Nevada. He is well known for his role as Kane from the ''Comm ...
and
Anatoly Wasserman
Anatoly Aleksandrovich Wasserman (russian: Анато́лий Алекса́ндрович Ва́ссерман, uk, Анатолій Олександрович Вассерман; born 9 December 1952) is a politician, journalist and political pu ...
.
2010
In 2010, the fifth IgroMir was held 3–6 November at VDNKh, and was partnered with Gamer.ru social network and
Mail.ru
VK, known as Mail.ru Group until 12 October 2021, is a Russian technology company. It started in 1998 as an e-mail service and went on to become a major corporate figure in the Russian-speaking segment of the Internet.
VK operates an e-mail s ...
. The exhibition was attended by more than 110 companies, and occupied more than of exhibition space. The business day was attended by more than 3,500 professionals and more than 900 members of the press. According to estimates of the organizers and police, over 90,000 people attended.
2011
The sixth edition of the exhibition was held at the
Crocus Expo hall in Moscow, held 6–9 October. The total size of the exhibition exceeded . It attracted Microsoft, Sony Computer Entertainment, Nintendo,
Electronic Arts
Electronic Arts Inc. (EA) is an American video game company headquartered in Redwood City, California. Founded in May 1982 by Apple employee Trip Hawkins, the company was a pioneer of the early home computer game industry and promoted the d ...
,
1C-SoftClub,
Akella,
Nival,
Wargaming.net,
Gaijin Entertainment
Gaijin Entertainment is a Hungarian video game developer and publisher headquartered in Budapest. The company is mostly known for ''War Thunder, Crossout'', '' Star Conflict'', '' CRSED: F.O.A.D.'' (formerly known as ''Cuisine Royale'') and '' ...
, Blizzard Entertainment and others. In addition to exhibits, a main stage had a special entertainment program which included rapper
Noize MC
Ivan Aleksandrovich Alekseyev (russian: link=no, Иван Александрович Алексеев; born 9 March 1985), known professionally as Noize MC, is a Russian rapper, singer, and actor.
Biography
Birth, early work (1985–2002)
Aleks ...
and
Underwood Underwood may refer to:
People
*Underwood (surname), people with the surname
Places
United States
* Underwood, Shelby County, Alabama
* Underwood, Indiana
* Underwood, Iowa
* Underwood, Minnesota
* Underwood, New York
* Underwood, North Dakota
* ...
. As in the previous three years, the four-day exhibition began with a business day followed by three public admission days.
2012
IgroMir 2012 was held 4–7 October at Crocus Expo. For the first time, family games were exhibited in a separate room. There was also
competitive gaming
Esports, short for electronic sports, is a form of competition using video games. Esports often takes the form of organized, multiplayer video game competitions, particularly between professional sports, professional players, individually or as ...
, featuring the final fights of the ''
Panzar: Forged by Chaos'' game contest with prize money of million.
2013
IgroMir 2013 was held 3–6 October at Crocus Expo. Exhibition space was increased to , and
Gaijin Entertainment
Gaijin Entertainment is a Hungarian video game developer and publisher headquartered in Budapest. The company is mostly known for ''War Thunder, Crossout'', '' Star Conflict'', '' CRSED: F.O.A.D.'' (formerly known as ''Cuisine Royale'') and '' ...
's booth included two real WWII-era tanks. There was a separate room for competitive gaming, where tournaments were held for the final of ''
League of Legends
''League of Legends'' (''LoL''), commonly referred to as ''League'', is a 2009 multiplayer online battle arena video game developed and published by Riot Games. Inspired by ''Defense of the Ancients'', a Mod (video games), custom map for War ...
'', ''
StarCraft II
''StarCraft II'' is a military science fiction video game created by Blizzard Entertainment as a sequel to the successful ''StarCraft'' video game released in 1998. Set in a fictional future, the game centers on a galactic struggle for dominance ...
'', and others.
2014
In 2014, IgroMir was held 2–5 October at Crocus Expo and combined with the
Russian Game Developers Conference
The Russian Game Developers' Conference (russian: Конференция Разработчиков Игр), or KRI (russian: КРИ, KRI), was an annual event for industry professionals devoted to game development, publishing and distribution in ...
(KRI). The first
Comic-Con Russia
Comic-Con Russia is a speculative fiction entertainment annual exhibition and fan convention of computer and video games, TV series and comic movies in Russia, organized by the committee of the Russian Game Developers Conference and Bubble Comi ...
was also hosted as part of IgroMir. Attendance over the four days was estimated at 152,000.
2015
In 2015, IgroMir was held 1–4 October at Crocus Expo, and again included Comic-Con Russia.
Cosplayers were also recruited for the exhibition. Attendance exceeded 160,000.
2016
In 2016, IgroMir was held 29 September to 2 October at Crocus Expo.
There were 250 exhibiting companies attracting 1,900 members of the press and an estimated 163,000 attendees.
2017
In 2017, IgroMir was held 28 September to 11 October at Crocus Expo. The main guests were game developer
Richard Garriott
Richard Allen Garriott de Cayeux (''né'' Garriott; born July 4, 1961) is an American video game developer, entrepreneur and private astronaut. Although both his parents were American, he maintains dual British and American citizenship by birth. ...
, and actors
Christopher Lloyd
Christopher Allen Lloyd (born October 22, 1938) is an American actor. He has appeared in many theater productions, films, and on television since the 1960s. He is known for portraying Dr. Emmett "Doc" Brown in the ''Back to the Future'' tril ...
,
Rutger Hauer
Rutger Oelsen Hauer (; 23 January 1944 – 19 July 2019) was a Dutch actor. In 1999, he was named by the Dutch public as the Best Dutch Actor of the Century.
Hauer's career began in 1969 with the title role in the Dutch television series ' ...
and
Stephanie Corneliussen. The exhibition area was , and estimated attendance was 164,000.
2018
In 2018, IgroMir was held 4–7 October at Crocus Expo. Comic-Con Russia continued to be held with it. As in the past years, attendance strained the four-day 160,000-capacity limit of the venue.
To date, this was the last IgroMir.
2019
In 2019, the exhibition was scheduled for 3–6 October at Crocus Expo but it was cancelled for unknown reasons.
2020
In 2020, the exhibition was scheduled for 1–4 October at Crocus Expo but it was cancelled due to
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...
.
2021
In 2021, the exhibition was scheduled for 7–10 October at Crocus Expo but it was cancelled again due to
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...
.
2022
There is no official announcement.
Attendance
See also
*
Asia Game Show
*
Electronic Entertainment Expo
E3 (short for Electronic Entertainment Expo or Electronic Entertainment Experience in 2021) is a trade event for the video game industry. The Entertainment Software Association (ESA) organizes and presents E3, which many developers, publisher ...
*
Game Developers Conference
The Game Developers Conference (GDC) is an annual conference for video game developers. The event includes an expo, networking events, and awards shows like the Game Developers Choice Awards and Independent Games Festival, and a variety of tutori ...
*
Gamescom
Gamescom (stylized as gamescom) is a trade fair for video games held annually at the Koelnmesse in Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Since 2018, it has been organised by ''game – Verband der deutschen Games-Branche'' (English: Associa ...
*
Games Convention
The Games Convention (GC), sometimes called the Leipzig Games Convention, was an annual video game event held in Leipzig, Germany, first held in 2002. Besides video games, the event also covers Infotainment, Hardware, and Edutainment. Its concep ...
*
Paris Game Festival
*
Russian Game Developers Conference
The Russian Game Developers' Conference (russian: Конференция Разработчиков Игр), or KRI (russian: КРИ, KRI), was an annual event for industry professionals devoted to game development, publishing and distribution in ...
*
Tokyo Game Show
, commonly known as TGS, is a video game expo / convention held annually in September in the Makuhari Messe, in Chiba, Japan. It is presented by the Computer Entertainment Supplier's Association (CESA) and Nikkei Business Publications, Inc. ...
References
External links
Official website
{{Video Game Trade Shows
Events in Moscow
Video game trade shows
Video gaming in Russia
Gaming conventions