Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. Electronic Game Show, better known as EGS, the largest video game event in Mexico, ended its first edition in the city of Guadalajara, Jalisco, working side by side with Ricolino, Digital Creative City (CCD, acronym in Spanish), and Los 40 Principales, offering visitors the best entertainment experience available.
As they have done every year, EGS CEO, Jorge Lizárraga, together with the CCD Trust President Mauricio Navarro; Jaime Reyes, Secretary of Innovation, Science and Technology of the State of Jalisco, and the Competitive Intelligence Unit (CIU) CEO, Ernesto Piedras, kicked off the activities with the traditional ribbon cutting ceremony.
Once EGS opened at 10 a.m., 7,000 attendees and more than 150 journalists and media streamed through the doors to walk through the Expo Guadalajara halls and explore the different experience areas and exhibitions set up for the trade show, such as Freeplay, EGS Kids and EGS Retro.
This edition marked the first time the Mexican Video Game League (LMV, acronym in Spanish) joined EGS in Guadalajara by creating a gaming space featuring activities like the Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft tournament and challenges against the best FIFA player in Latin America. Other special grand finals included Super Smash Bros., FIFA 16, Street Fighter V, and the Ricolino Press Start tournament where the brand gave the winner an all-expenses paid trip to the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) in Los Angeles, California.
Cosplay awarded the winner of its contest, Zero – a fictional character in the MegaMan X video game saga, an all-expenses paid trip to PAX in Seattle, Washington.
The long lines confirmed one of the most important initiatives featured at the show, EGS DEVELOPERS, promoted by Digital Creative City, where representatives of video game development studios in the region, such as Kaxan Games, Games Starter, Cosmogonia, Pice Software, One Simple Idea, Poiesus Games, Unosquare, 2Dnutz, Tzonpantli, Guao Studio, Futbolopolis, and Villavanilla, among others, spent the entire day showcasing their projects to connect with potential allies.
The activities behind this initiative started on May 6 with a panel entitled “The current state and opportunities for development of the Video Game industry in Mexico,” led by Jorge Suárez from Karaokulta, Ricardo Gómez from Kaxan Media Group, Jorge Morales representing Larva Studios, Ovidio Escobedo from One Simple Idea, Martín Meléndez representing Cosmogonia, and Jacobo Ríos who has collaborated with Electronic Arts on different projects. CCD’s Mauricio Navarro and Hugo Cordova, Managing Director of the CCD Trust Fund were also part of the panel that focused on the importance of working together to ensure accelerated growth and development of the industry in Mexico while also building bridges to connect developers with investors. The panel addressed the importance of creating a productive chain for developers and build up SMEs to help them boost their sales and marketing skills.
EGS DEVELOPERS featured auditorium speakers of the stature of Mario Valle, Business Development Director at Electronic Arts; Ned Sherman, CEO and Co-Founder of Digital Media Wire; Carla Castillo (Sibrel), Partnerships Associate Twitch México; Beto Ramírez, Co-Founder of Gamecoder Studios; and Guillermo Dupinet, Character Animator at Squeeze Studio Animation. The speakers provided in-depth information about the value of the Video Game market, and the importance of promoting independent games across platforms like Twitch, and planting game developers to build up the domestic industry, among other topics.
Simultaneous activities during the day included featured speakers in the main auditorium, including “Mexican Video Game Champions” debating the challenges and opportunities professional Video Game players face in Mexico, and “Talent in Big Video Game Studios” that encouraged video game developers to persevere, not fear failure, and train to raise their professional levels.
Electronic Game Show Guadalajara, together with Creative Digital City, undoubtedly showcased the talent in the region and the potential to develop new opportunities and jobs, by working together with companies like Riot Games, who trusted the platform enough to recruit local talent during the event. EGS Guadalajara will be the hotbed for great local talent as it also offers children, youth and families, ad-hoc content tailored to meet their needs and maximize the potential for them to enjoy the world of gaming and digital entertainment to the fullest.
[This unedited press release is made available courtesy of Gamasutra and its partnership with notable game PR-related resource GamesPress.]