PAX East 2022 Was A Refreshingly Intimate Affair Between Players And Indies

thegamer.com:

PAX East was held at the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center this weekend for the first time since March 2020. Developers, players, and publishers returned, not in droves, but with tentaiveness. Despite vaccine and mask requirements at the convention center, the COVID-19 Pandemic is very much not over, and its impact on the event was unmistakable. Major publishers like Sony, Nintendo, Bungie, and Square Enix were a no-show, and even the biggest presentations in the main theater, like The Gearbox Show, had plenty of empty seats.

Though a considerably smaller show than years past, PAX East 2020 was refreshingly intimate. Without the major spectacle and opulence, the show was able to get back to basics, in a sense. This weekend was all about discovering new indie games. It wasn’t the most exciting year at PAX, but it was everything PAX is meant to be.

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It was certainly difficult to ignore how many of the usual suspects were missing. Gearbox had one of the biggest booths and the only games it was demoing were games that were already available, like Tiny Tina’s Wonderland, Tribes of Midgard, and Have a Nice Death. Larian Studios had an elaborate booth for Baldur’s Gate 3, but the demo that was available to play didn’t have any new content that isn’t currently available in the game. Devolver Digital was there showing off Cult of the Lamb and Terra Nil, among others.

Tiny Build had the biggest booth, with games like TinyKin, Hello Neighbor 2, Potion Craft, and Rawmen on display. Focus Home brought Evil West to show off for the first time, while YSBRYD brought World of Horror to show off for the umpteenth time. Thunderful’s booth featured LEGO