BlizzCon Competitors

The SAN DIEGO COMIC CONVENTION (Comic-Con International) is a California Nonprofit Public Benefit Corporation organized for charitable purposes and dedicated to creating the general public’s awareness of and appreciation for comics and related popular art forms, including participation in and support of public presentations, conventions, exhibits, museums and other public outreach activities which celebrate the historic and ongoing contribution of comics to art and culture. Comic-Con International: Started as a one-day “minicon” in 1970. The success of the minicon led to the first full-fledged, three-day San Diego Comic-Con (called San Diego’s Golden State Comic-Con) at the U.S. Grant Hotel. Over 300 attendees packed into the hotel’s basement for that groundbreaking event, which featured a dealers’ room, programs and panels, film screenings, and more: essentially, the model for every comic book convention to follow. The show's main home in the 1970s was the El Cortez Hotel. In 1979, Comic-Con moved to the Convention and Performing Arts Center, staying there until 1991, when the San Diego Convention Center opened. With attendance topping 130,000 in recent years, the event has grown to include satellite locations, hotels, and outdoor parks. Programming events, games, anime, Independent Film Festival, and the Eisner Awards all take place outside of the Convention Center, creating a campus-type feel for the convention throughout downtown San Diego. WonderCon: Aspects of that show, including comics, movies, TV, animation, the Masquerade, and more. The event has grown in all aspects over the years: more attendees, more exhibitors, more programming, and more fun. WonderCon was started in 1987 in Oakland. Comic-Con International took over the show in 2002 moving it from Oakland to San Francisco in 2003. After 15 years as a Bay Area event, WonderCon was forced to move to Anaheim in 2012 (construction at the Moscone Center) and has been held in southern California since.

The Game Developers Conference (GDC) brings the game development community together to exchange ideas, solve problems, and shape the future of the industry across five days of education, inspiration, and networking. Attendees include programmers, artists, producers, game designers, audio professionals, and business leaders. Some key features of GDC include: The market-defining conference has a comprehensive selection of lectures, panels, and roundtable discussions. The GDC Expo showcases the latest game development tools and services from leading technology companies such as Amazon, Epic, Google, Intel, Nvidia, Oculus, and Sony. Dedicated community spaces where GDC attendees can take a break from all of the learning to relax and meet new people in themed areas for playable indie games, retro games, alternative controllers, and more. GDC also hosts two awards ceremonies recognizing the creativity, artistry, and technical genius of the finest developers and games: The Game Developers Choice Awards is the leading peer-based video game awards show celebrating the industry’s top games and developers. The Independent Games Festival honors the most innovative and exemplary projects in indie game development.

IndieCade Festival game Submissions are open! https://indiecade.com/submissions/ IndieCade supports independent game development and organizes a series of international events showcasing the future of independent games. It encourages, publicizes, and cultivates innovation and artistry in interactive media, helping to create a public perception of games as rich, diverse, artistic, and culturally significant. IndieCade's events and related production and publication programs are designed to bring visibility to and facilitate the production of new works within the emerging independent game movement. Like the independent videogame developer community itself, IndieCade's focus is global and includes producers in Asia, Latin America, Europe, Australia, and anywhere else independent games are made and played. IndieCade was formed by Creative Media Collaborative, an alliance of industry producers and leaders founded in 2005. You can contact IndieCade at central@indiecade.com