It’s time to start a new decade of gaming! While most of us gamers wait for the most anticipated games releasing in 2020, some may want to start booking their flights and hotels and set out to annual trip across the world visiting the best and biggest gaming events this year. For this kind of person, we have prepared a definitive guide for every major gaming event out there. In this article, we listed all major gaming events in chronological order and will keep it updated throughout the year. If by some chance we missed an event we shouldn’t have, please let us know in the comments!
DreamHack events (All year!)
If you’re into video games you probably heard about the legendary LAN Party event called DreamHack. What began as a humble gathering of video gamers in Sweden quickly grew into the biggest LAN party event in the world. DreamHack can be called the ultimate gaming festival bringing esports, music, ad of course gamers together.
Organizers of the event decided to bring the event to more places, so all year ’round DreamHack will be visiting a new city almost every month. The first DreamHack of 2020 will be hosted in Leipzig, Germany and afterwards, will be coming to other cities – Anaheim, Dallas, Valencia, Montreal, Rotterdam, Hyderabad, Atlanta, Sevilla and more. If you’re interested, be sure to check out the official event page to find the nearest location.
PAX events (All year!)
Similar to DreamHack, The Penny Arcade Expo (known across the world as PAX) from its humble beginnings grew into something too big to describe in one sentence. It’s a series of events spanning across North America (and now Australia) which usually brings together a lot of gaming fans. Doesn’t matter if you’re into video or tabletop games, you like playing of making games, there’s always something to do at PAX. Be sure to check out the list of the 2020’s PAX events in the official page.
Global Game Jam 2020 (January 31-February 2)
If you love making games, you know that every January marks the new Global Game Jam. If you have never heard of it, be sure to learn more about it since it’s quite possible that the event is happening in your country (or city) too! Global Game Jam is the world’s largest game jam which is an event where participants try to create a game (or its prototype) over a 48-hour-long game development marathon. While the event is focused on programming, there are many other areas where people can contribute to a new game project. Be sure to check out the event page to find the closest venue.
Taipei Game Show (February 6-9)
There are only a handful of gaming-related events in the Asia-Pacific region and Taipei Game Show might be the biggest one there. Last year, the event attracted over 320 000 visitors and broke its own record. In 2020 the Taipei Game Show promises to be even bigger and might pop onto the world map as one of the most interesting and exotic events to explore the best of gaming in Asia.
Gamethon Expo (February 19-21)
Another exotic addition to our annual gaming event list is Gamethon Expo which will become the first event of its kind. Gamethon Expo promises to be the biggest gaming event in India in order to celebrate the entire gaming ecosystem.
IEM Katowice 2020 (February 28-March 1)
There are only a handful of annual esports tournaments that attract hundreds of thousands of gaming fans. One of these tournaments is IEM Katowice – probably the biggest CS:GO and StarCraft 2 event in Europe. If you’re around Katowice during the last days of winter, be sure to check it out, since it has something for every gaming fan. Esports fans can enjoy one of the best competitions in the world, while casual gamers can explore a huge gaming expo full of interesting attractions.
London Games Festival 2020 (March 26-April 6)
This Spring you should definitely check out London. London Games Festival is not just a single event but a series of awesome gatherings and celebrations designed for gamers and game developers. As always there will be multiple different events for every gamer spawning over 2 weeks. The list includes well-known activities such as Now Play This exhibition, BAFTA Games Awards, various industry talks, cosplay parade and more!
Nordic Game 2020 (May 27-29)
Probably the biggest gaming conference (even bigger than GDC Europe) is Nordic Game. This is an annual event for gaming industry professionals which is set to return to Malmö, Sweden at the end of May. Hundreds of speakers, thousands of visitors will ensure a quality time of learning about gaming related topics in one of the most beautiful cities in the world.
E3 Expo 2020 (June 9-11)
It would be really hard to find a more influential gaming industry event than the annual E3 conference. Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) is a premier trade event in the gaming industry and the go-to place for major gaming publishers to announce their future gaming projects. 2020 event could be really interesting since two major hardware market players – Sony and Microsoft – will be unveiling their games for the next generation consoles. Brace yourselves!
Comic-Con International: San Diego (July 23-26)
Without a doubt, San Diego Comic-Con is one of the oldest pop culture events in the world. The first event was organized back in 1970 and grew in size every year attracting hundreds of thousands of visitors every year. While the primary focus of the event is comics and movies, there are a lot of reasons to visit the event if you love games since it includes all entertainment areas – comic books, science fiction, and fantasy-related films, television, animation, manga, toys, collectible card games, video games, webcomics, and fantasy novels and anything else you can think of. A definite place to be if you consider yourself a geek!
The International 2020 (August 18-23)
While esports might not be everyone’s cup of tea, there’s something about The International that keeps on bringing thousands of gamers returning for more. Dota 2 The International is like a World Cup of esports and boasts the biggest prize pool in the world.
Gamescom (August 26-29)
It’s no surprise that the biggest gaming expo in the world will be returning in 2020. Gamescom is the biggest gaming event in the world inviting almost half a million visitors to Cologne, Germany every year. During the event, there is a lot to see for all types of gamers. Prior to the event, there’s usually a GDC (game developer conference) for everyone who works in the games industry. There’s also games press dedicated days to announce all the new games and give game journalists a chance to get their hands on the new titles and share their opinions with the rest of the world. Finally, there’s a massive open Gamescom expo which is hard to describe if you’ve never been a part of it. Thousands of games, companies, and booths to keep you busy throughout the days of the event.
League of Legends World Championship 2020 (TBA)
Yet another noteworthy esports event of the biggest esports game… World Championship is the culmination of the entire year of League of Legends action across many regions. It pits the best teams in the world against each other in the ultimate showdown. We should also add that 2020 will be the 10th League of Legends seasons which makes this event even more iconic. While we still don’t know the exact date of the finals we know that it will be hosted in the Magic City of Shanghai, China.
Tokyo Game Show (September 12-15)
Video games in Japan are a huge deal for both game developers and games’ enthusiasts. First and foremost, Tokyo Game Show is THE event for games that appeal to the Japanese market and game industry. However, while the main focus of the show is on Japanese games, some international video game developers use it to showcase upcoming releases and related hardware. Tokyo Game Show has a rich history – the event started in 1996 and is held annually to this day. Last year the event was attended by almost a quarter-million people.
New York Comic Con (October 8-11)
Like its big brother convention in San Diego, New York Comic Con is designed to celebrate pop culture and this includes the video games’ business. The event is organized annually since 2006 and quickly grew in size. New York Comic Con rightfully claimed the name of the biggest culture event on the East Coast so if you’re nearby in October be sure to soak in the experience and enjoy games, cosplay, comics, and movies in hundreds of interesting panels and mini-events.
Blizzcon 2020 (TBA)
While we still don’t know the date of the Blizzcon event, it’s one of the biggest gaming events in the world dedicated to celebrating games developed by Blizzard. If you’ve never heard about this gaming powerhouse – what the hell are you doing here and how on earth you dare to call yourself a gamer? Blizzard developed a lot of famous gaming franchises such as Warcraft, Starcraft, Hearthstone, Overwatch, and more and Blizzcon is the place where all the new games are being announced and fans can celebrate them together with thousands of like-minded people.
Did we miss an event? Be sure to leave a comment and let us know. We hope to update the list will as more events will announce their dates.
If you’re interested in learning more about annual gaming events be sure to check out our list of 2019 gaming event schedule.
