The Game Expo Is Coming To Melbourne In March, But There’s No Guests Yet [Updated]

The Game Expo is a new live convention set to be held at Melbourne’s Convention and Exhibition Centre in March 2023. The show promises that it is “dedicated to gamers, focused on the things gamers love to do and the culture and creativity of gamers.” Tickets are on sale now.

According to the press release, the show is divided into the four colours of the SNES controller’s face buttons. Red for tournaments and esports. Yellow for the Expo Hall, where publishers and indie devs will be demoing their games. Blue for Creative, where punters can meet and interact with content creators and cosplayers alike, and Green, a communal Freeplay area for console, PC, and tabletop gaming.

The show is also homegrown and Australian-owned, a fact it repeats several times in the copy on its website.

All of which sounds great, but here’s the rub: The Game Expo has not, at the time of writing, announced a single guest or exhibitor.

Considering the show is only four months away and that tickets are already on sale, not having any talent announcements for your grand reveal is an interesting strategy, to be sure. Organisers say that more announcements will be arriving in the months leading up to the show, and we’ll keep you apprised when they arrive.

Speaking of tickets: General Admission tickets are going for $40 for single-day passes, or $70 for the weekend. VIP tickets are going for $250. What do the VIP tickets get you? Weekend access to the show, early access to the show floor on both days, and a VIP lounge with snacks and drinks provided. The VIP pass will also let you skip the queues with separate VIP lines. You’ll also get an exclusive founder’s/VIP pin, a $100 voucher for The Game Expo’s merch booth.

Another interesting note about the timing of the show: it has been scheduled for a week ahead GDC, an international event many local developers will be attending. One wonders how many local devs will be willing to squeeze The Game Expo in, or even go to the expense of exhibiting there, with an important and expensive trip to San Francisco looming over them.

The Game Expo is coming to the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre on March 11-12, 2023. You can visit the official website right here.

Our advice: Maybe hold off buying a ticket until we know who’s coming. We’ll keep you updated.

Update 3:24pm: This piece was originally written under the understanding that The Game Expo was a product of CouchWarriors. A representative from The Game Expo reached out to Kotaku Australia to advise that the show is being produced by several parties that have run local Australian events before. A management page on the site lists names from marketing and events agency Events Engine, and competitive events like ITZ Gaming, Respawn and League and The Big LAN, in addition to CouchWarriors.