The UK has much more of a gaming scene than people may first think, especially outsiders who hear the name and think of tea and the queen’s guard. In reality, the UK, being one of the most well-developed nations, for all their faults, has a good number of gatherings for gamers, from their own Esports leagues and teams to Gaming Expos that shake the world. The list starts small and gets huge, so strap in, nobody wants whiplash.
Join me as I go through the biggest and best gaming events the UK has to offer. Let's discover together Sapphire's Exquisite Sapphire of gaming events as they pertain to the UK.
10. London Anime and Gaming Con
-London Anime and Gaming Con Tour Video
London Anime and Gaming Con is one of those little guys in the industry, hidden by its own size, but claims itself to be the biggest and best. They reach a pretty small crowd of 3,000 attendees, which doesn't seem like a lot compared to others on this list, but it is a decently sized convention in terms of things to do:
- PC and Indie Games
- Talent Show
- Cosplay Masquerade
- Cosplay Auction
- Anime Viewing Room
- Artists’ Alley
- Anime Merch Exhibitors
- RPG Scheduled Adventures
- Pick Up and Play RPGs
- Board Games
- TCG tournaments
- Video Game Tournaments
- Casual Video Game Challenges
Anime And Gaming Con is run by Anime Leagues, which is a problem. The people who run the program have done many bad things, such as stealing from charity funds, linking Muslim down-talkers to a porn site of a man boinking a pig, and general predatory behavior towards minors.
Here are the ticket costs:
- Both Days-$35
- All Saturday-$23
- All Sunday-$16
- Priority Addon-+$6
- VIP Addon-+$20
Great prices for an inhumane event, so come on now, it's time to make this one famous for being run by terrible humans.
Founders Twitter: https://twitter.com/Animeleague
9. Tabletop Scotland
-Tabletop Scotland Tour Video
Tabletop Scotland is as it sounds, a tabletop games festival from Scotland. They won my heart by offering all their events as free with the cost of admission, meaning you only pay for your ticket, and line up on time.
This event is all in all, not something that someone might put on their bucket list, but it does pull in a loyal 6,000 attendees, which must mean they are doing something right. Here are the activities they have at the event:
- Board Games
- Dungeons and Dragons
- RP Games
- Hobbycraft Events
- Starship Simulator
There are events within these events, so remember to book your seat to avoid being disappointed on arrival. Tickets costs aren't bad, and with the bring and buy event you can sell a few board games to make up the difference:
- Saturday Adult-$13
- Saturday Young Adult-$9
- Saturday Family-$39
- Sunday Adult-$11
- Sunday Young Adult-$7
- Sunday Family-$32
- Full Weekend Adult-$20
- Full Weekend Young Adult-$13
- Full Weekend Family-$58
The prices feel about average for an event of this size.
Tabletop Scotland Twitter: https://twitter.com/TabletopScot
8. Play Expo Manchester
-Play Expo Manchester Tour Video
This expo is all about indie titles, retro games, and arcade cabinets, which is a great way of showcasing smaller developers and providing a venue to those who need playtesters. The event is also an awesome place for cosplay lovers, as they gather to show off their hard work.
The event isn’t terribly expensive either, so let’s look at ticket prices:
- $20 for adults single day
- $14 for children single day
- $58 for family single day
- $38 for adults full weekend
- $24 for children full weekend
- $96 for family full weekend
After seeing the prices and the activities available, I’d say it's worthwhile to check it out at least once, as if you somehow don’t enjoy it, you will likely only be out $20. The event pulls in 25,000 attendees, so 25,000 people can't be totally wrong about the event being worthwhile, right?
Runners of Play Expo Manchester Twitter: https://twitter.com/ReplayEvents
7. UK Games Expo
-UK Games Expo Video\
The UK Games Expo is the top tabletop games expo in the UK, taking place in Birmingham. It follows the general expo format, with exhibitors lining the walls and spreading through the main area, with offset rooms for other activities.
The event features a couple of areas, including the main exhibitor’s hall, the family room, and the free play games area, where people can go to play test games free of charge. These few activities pull a solid 25,000 unique and 45,000 total attendees.
The cost of entry varies from $15-$18 per day over a three day weekend, which makes it all the better to support, because it is not overwhelmingly expensive.
UK Games Expo Twitter: https://twitter.com/UKGamesExpo
6. London Games Festival
-London Games Festival Video
The goal of the London Games Festival is to make London the premier city for gamers of all kinds, and they achieve this goal over a 10 day span that attracts a total of 65,000 attendees. They do so by keeping everyone very busy throughout the 10 day event, with parades, cosplays, games tournaments, and much more to keep everyone from getting bored.
Ticket prices are pretty good, with basic full 10 day access starting at $99 and upgrades such as VIP passes for an extra price.
London Games Festival Twitter: https://twitter.com/londongamesfest
5. Insomnia Fest
-Insomnia Gaming Fest 2019 Tour
Insomnia is perhaps one of the most prominent figures on this list, pulling in 65,000 people by enticing them with the most brilliant of wonderlands. The activities at this event are extensive and provide gamers, cosplayers, and esports lovers a place to convene. Let's look at some of the stuff to do at Insomnia:
- Bring your own computer - A 2,800 seat LAN event that harkens back to Insomnia’s roots.
- The expo - Companies and indie devs bring new announcements for games every year.
- Esports - Over 20 tournaments and thousands in prize pots
- Virtual Reality
- Tabletop games
- Meet and Greets
- Panels
An excellent list of great things to do, but what price could someone possibly be asked to pay for this much cool stuff? Well, it might be a little more pricey than you bargained for, depending on what you consider a deal. Let's take a look at the tickets and their prices:
- Weekend standard-$79
- BYOC standard (Access to all standard and BYOC event)-$108
- BYOC priority (Access to early events and after hours events)-$123
- BYOC VIP (Double allocation, free parking, two community raffle tickets, etc.)-$268
- Day Ticket-$28
- Day priority-$38
- Day family-$21
- Day family priority-$32
- Child-$2
- Escape rooms-$30
Plenty to consider there, and to be fully honest it’s not terrible pricing. Anyone willing to shell out for the BYOC VIP ticket is going to get amazing benefits, so it's not crazy to assume they would be willing to pay extra.
Insomnia Fest Twitter: https://twitter.com/IGFestUK
4. Scottish Games Week
-No Current Videos, here is an adorable Bulldog pup instead.
This week-long event is new, as in, brand new. It starts sometime this year and will encompass all of Scotland, being both broadcast and in person as it tours different towns. The attendance numbers are yet to be determined, but it looks to be one of the biggest events the UK will see in the future, and what an exciting future it is!
Some of the things they plan to get done during the event include educational courses involving video games, games awards, a conference for the industry, and a section they label ‘more than games’. It all looks very exciting, really.
Scottish Games Week Twitter: https://twitter.com/scotgamesweek
3. MCV Awards
-MCV Awards Highlights
This is an awards ceremony and voting platform for every aspect of the game production universe, meaning everyone gets a chance at recognition. The recent revamp of the 20 year old event has seen a major change in the voting process, being that instead of a panel of judges holding all the power over the awards, people like you and I get a voice in the matter, making it a democratic voting event.
All in all, this particular event is big because it means industry wide recognition that is not present at all times when it should be absolutely an ever present part of being in the games community/industry. It's time to show this one some love because they seem like they actually care.
MCV Twitter: https://twitter.com/MCV_DEVELOP
2. EGX London
-EGX Tour Video
EGX is that Games event that can’t seem to decide what its true home is. I say this because its name is EuroGamer Expo and it started in London, went off to Birmingham, had a vacation in Germany for a bit, then came back to London in 2022. The event is a weekend long and makes for good fun, especially considering it being one of the biggest events the UK has seen and still having enough for everyone to queue up for.
Let's take a good look at all the cool stuff you can do here, then we can talk prices:
- Indie Games and Triple-A Titles Free Play
- Panels for Games Announcements and Industry Q/As
- LeftField Zone (Indie Games Zone)
- Portfolio Review sessions
- Cosplay Masquerade/Competitions
- Retro Gaming Zone
Not bad at all, with multiple events happening within these events it's going to be hard not to consider this one of the best gaming conventions out there. But let’s find those ticket prices before we decide to go all in:
- Single Day-$22
- Single Afternoon-$15
- Early Entry-$24
- Super Pass-$75
All these prices are excluding the booking fee, so just remember to add a little extra padding to your account before paying. All in all, it seems a very worthwhile endeavor to visit this con and see what it is that 80,000 people love so much!
EGX Twitter: https://twitter.com/EGX
1. DreamHack
-DreamHack Reflection Video
There’s a good reason this is number one on so many lists. It visits the entire world, both broadcasting and live, and within the locations it visits, London makes an appearance. Total DreamHack attendance in 2019 exceeded 300,000, which feels astronomical when compared to every other event on this list and puts it easily at the top of its class.
DreamHack boasts a multitude of events for visitors to join in on, from cosplay events to a giant PC game room with what some people consider to be the greatest wifi possible. The biggest thing DreamHack does is actually it’s hosting of tournaments, which get an enormous live and online audience to watch as people dominate in the virtual world.
Tickets are a bit pricey, but if you are willing to put in the cash, I’m sure you’ll have a wonderful time:
- One Day-$250
- Three Days-$550
It is indeed a pricey event, but they need to pay for all those provided PCs somehow as well as that brilliant wifi.
DreamHack Twitter: https://twitter.com/DreamHack
