EB Games Expo, commonly known as EB Expo or EBX, was a

video game Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device to generate visual feedback. This fee ...

trade fair A trade fair, also known as trade show, trade exhibition, or trade exposition, is an exhibition organized so that companies in a specific industry can showcase and demonstrate their latest products and services, meet with industry partners and ...

/ convention held annually from 2011 to 2018 in Australia. It was organised by

EB Games Australia EB Games Australia (originally Electronics Boutique) is an Australian video game, consumer electronics, and gaming merchandise retailer. EB Games mainly sells video games, consoles, and accessories for Nintendo, PC, PlayStation and Xbox systems ...

. It was used by many video game developers to show off their upcoming games and game-related hardware. Unlike E3, EB Expo allowed members of the general public to attend. The most recent show was held in 2018 as part of the

Penny Arcade Expo PAX (originally known as Penny Arcade Expo) is a series of gaming culture festivals involving tabletop, arcade, and video gaming. PAX is held annually in Seattle, Boston and Philadelphia in the United States; and Melbourne in Australia. PAX w ...

EB Games Expo 2011

EB Games Expo 2011 was held at the

Gold Coast Convention and Exhibition Centre The Gold Coast Convention and Exhibition Centre (GCCEC) is located on the Gold Coast Highway in Broadbeach, Queensland, Australia. The venue was opened on 29 June 2004 at a cost of A$167 million and is linked by a covered walkway to The ...

from 15 to 16 October; it was the first time the event was open to the public. The expo was attended by 14,278 people and 26 exhibitors.

Exhibitors

EB Games Expo 2012

EB Games Expo 2012 was held at the Sydney Showground from 5–7 October, and was the first time it was held at the venue. It was announced during the Friday and Saturday 'Twilight Spectacular' shows that the Expo will be held at the same location in 2013 and 2014, as part of a 3-year contract for the event organiser. The expo was attended by 30,745 people and 32 exhibitors.

Exhibitors

EB Games Expo 2013

Presentation stage at the 2013 EB Games Expo

Xbox Pavillion at the 2013 EB Games Expo

EB Games Expo 2013 was held at the Sydney Showground from 4–6 October. The expo was attended by over 38,000 people.

Exhibitors

EB Games Expo 2014

EB Games Expo 2014 was held at the Sydney Showground from 3–5 October. Sessions were from 9am to 3pm and from 3pm to 9pm. Twilight session was only allowed for persons 15+

Exhibitors

EB Games Expo 2015

The 2015 edition of the EB Games Expo ran from 2–4 October 2015 at the Sydney Showground. The event had two "daylight" and "twilight" sessions, each 6 and 4 hours in length respectively, on 2 and 3 October, with one 6-hour session on 4 October, following the same format as the previous two years. The Dome (Hall 1), Ross Pavilion (Hall 2) and Binnie Pavilion (Hall 3) will once again host the exhibition floor itself. The Expo was the third to showcase games for the PlayStation 4 and the

Xbox One The Xbox One is a home video game console developed by Microsoft. Announced in May 2013, it is the successor to Xbox 360 and the third base console in the Xbox series of video game consoles. It was first released in North America, parts of ...

, and will be the fifth to showcase games for the

Wii U The Wii U ( ) is a home video game console developed by Nintendo as the successor to the Wii. Released in late 2012, it is the first eighth-generation video game console and competed with Microsoft's Xbox One and Sony's PlayStation 4. Th ...

. Multi-platform games '' Star Wars: Battlefront'' and '' Call of Duty: Black Ops III'' were available to play exclusively at

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 ...

's PlayStation stand.

Exhibition

The 2015 EB Games Expo was held at the Sydney Showground, located in Sydney Olympic Park. The expo occupied The Dome, its neighboring pavilions and the Southee Complex to the north of The Dome. The event was open on two "daylight" and "twilight" sessions, each 6 and 4 hours in length respectively, on 2 and 3 October, with one 6-hour session on 4 October, following the same format as the previous two years. The 2015 edition of the EB Games Expo was the first without the presence of Riot Games or ''

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 custom map for ''Warcraft III'', ...

''. In previous years, Riot had staged the annual Oceanic Regional Finals for ''League'' at the convention, but had instead chosen to host it instead in August 2015 at

Luna Park Sydney Luna Park Sydney is a heritage-listed amusement park located at 1 Olympic Drive in the harbourside suburb of Milsons Point, New South Wales, Australia, on the northern shore of Sydney Harbour. The amusement park is owned by the Luna Park ...

, where it was able to host a larger audience than the Southee Complex at the Sydney Showground; the event's previous venue at the 2014 EB Games Expo.

Entertainment

The Expo featured a performance from comedy duo

The Umbilical Brothers The Umbilical Brothers are an Australian comic duo formed in 1988, consisting of David Collins and Shane Dundas. Their performances heavily feature physical comedy and surreal elements. Stage shows by the Umbilical Brothers include ''Heaven ...

, and comedian John Robertson, presenting his

stand-up Stand-up comedy is a comedic performance to a live audience in which the performer addresses the audience directly from the stage. The performer is known as a comedian, a comic or a stand-up. Stand-up comedy consists of one-liners, stories, ...

act ''Horror Stories from a Bad Gamer''.

Exhibitors

The Expo was the third to showcase games for the PlayStation 4 and the

, and the fifth to showcase games for the

. Highly anticipated titles

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 ...

' '' Star Wars: Battlefront'' and the twelfth entry in the '' Call of Duty'' franchise, '' Call of Duty: Black Ops III'', were made exclusive to play at

Sony , commonly stylized as SONY, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. As a major technology company, it operates as one of the world's largest manufacturers of consumer and professiona ...

's PlayStation stand.

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 ...

showcased the fifth entry in the ''

Skylanders ''Skylanders'' is a toys-to-life action-adventure video game series published by Activision. ''Skylanders'' games are played by placing character figures called the Skylanders on the "Portal of Power", a device that reads the figures' tags throu ...

'' franchise with '' Skylanders: Superchargers'', promoting the game at the event by giving away exclusive "Frightful Fiesta" Skylanders figures to the first few attendees to visit the booth. In addition to ''

Forza Motorsport 6 ''Forza Motorsport 6'' is a 2015 racing video game developed by Turn 10 Studios and published by Microsoft Studios for the Xbox One. It is the sixth ''Forza Motorsport'' and eighth overall installment in the '' Forza'' series, and available w ...

'' and

Remedy Entertainment Remedy Entertainment Oyj, trading internationally as Remedy Entertainment Plc, is a Finnish video game developer based in Espoo. Notable games the studio has developed include the first two instalments in the '' Max Payne'' franchise, ''Alan ...

's ''

Quantum Break ''Quantum Break'' is a 2016 science fiction action-adventure third-person shooter video game developed by Remedy Entertainment and published by Microsoft Studios for Microsoft Windows and Xbox One. The game centers on Jack Joyce ( Shawn Ashmor ...

'', the highly anticipated '' Halo 5: Guardians'' was available to play at the

Xbox Xbox is a video gaming brand created and owned by Microsoft. The brand consists of five video game consoles, as well as applications (games), streaming services, an online service by the name of Xbox network, and the development arm by the ...

booth, showcasing the game's 24-player "Warzone" multiplayer mode on the show floor. The Xbox stand also made use of a "One Pass", a card that allowed attendees to tap in after playing certain games in the booth, entering a draw to win prizes. In contrast to previous years where the One Pass was a separate card, it was incorporated into the wristband sold upon the purchase of a ticket to the expo.

Showcase

EB Games Expo 2016

The sixth annual running of the EB Games took place at the Sydney Showground from 30 September to 2 October 2016.

PlayStation VR The PlayStation VR (PS VR, known by its code name Project Morpheus during development) is a virtual reality headset developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment, which was released in October 2016. It is fully functional with the PlayStation 4 an ...

made its second and final appearance before its commercial release in October 2016.

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 lineup of games for 2016–17 release included ''

Watch Dogs 2 ''Watch Dogs 2'' (stylized as ''WATCH_DOGS 2'') is a 2016 action-adventure game developed by Ubisoft Montreal and published by Ubisoft. It is the sequel to 2014's ''Watch Dogs'' and the second installment in the ''Watch Dogs'' series. It was ...

'', ''

For Honor ''For Honor'' is an action game developed and published by Ubisoft. The game allows players to play the roles of historical forms of soldiers and warriors such as knights, samurai, vikings, controlled using a third-person perspective. The game ...

'', ''

Just Dance 2017 ''Just Dance 2017'' is a 2016 dance video game developed and published by Ubisoft. It was unveiled on June 13, 2016, during its E3 press conference as the eighth main installment of the series, and was released in October 2016 for PlayStation 3 ...

'', '' Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Wildlands'', ''Steep'' and '' South Park: The Fractured But Whole''.

Exhibition

Following an identical format to previous years, the 2016 edition of the EB Games Expo was open on two sessions on the Friday and Saturday of the expo, known as "daylight" and "twilight" sessions, and a single session on Sunday. Daylight sessions last six hours, from 9am to 3pm, while twilight sessions run for 5 hours from 4pm to 9pm; the Sunday session, designated as "family day", lasts eight hours. The expo featured an "E-Sports Alley", touted as an

e-sports 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 players, individually or as teams. Although orga ...

competition venue for "kids, parents and pro e-athletes". Over 2,000 prizes, worth $10,000 in total, were given away in competitions held at the E-Sports Alley. Competitions for cosplayers were also held, as per tradition at the expo, with exclusive competitions and prizes, worth $5,000, available to those who purchased an "Ultimate Cosplayer Pass" ticket – a new ticket class introduced for the 2016 expo.

Entertainment

Non-gaming attractions at the 2016 edition of the EB Games Expo include the annual Lego exhibition, a "horror maze", movie vehicles, and the

Zing Pop Culture ZiNG Pop Culture is an Australian Pop Culture retailer. The company is headquartered in Eagle Farm, Queensland (a suburb of Brisbane) and operates over 100 stores across Australia as well as running the e-commerce website ZiNG Marketplace. ZiNG ...

and

EB Games EB Games (formerly known as Electronics Boutique and EB World) is an American computer and video games retailer. First established as an American company in 1977 by James Kim with a single electronics-focused location in the King of Prussia mal ...

Megastore.

Exhibitors and games

Nine video game publishers have so far been confirmed as exhibitors at the EB Games Expo 2016, including

, Nintendo, Sony Interactive Entertainment ( PlayStation),

and

Microsoft Studios Xbox Game Studios (previously known as Microsoft Studios, Microsoft Game Studios, and Microsoft Games) is an American video game publisher and part of the Microsoft Gaming division based in Redmond, Washington. It was established in March 2000, ...

(

, who have exhibited at the EB Games Expo since 2011, have not yet announced their intention to exhibit at the 2016 edition of the expo.

will make its second appearance at the expo, and will be its final appearance at the show before its scheduled commercial release in October 2016.

Showcase

EB Games Expo 2017

EB Games Expo 2017 was held on 7–8 October at the Gold Coast Convention and Exhibition Centre.

EB Games Expo 2018

On 13 March 2018 it was announced that EB Games Expo 2018 would be held between 26 and 28 October 2018 as part of the

at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre.

References

{{Video Game Trade Shows Video game trade shows Exhibitions in Australia Recurring events established in 2011 GameStop Video gaming in Australia