Pikachus everywhere: Fans flock to UK's biggest gaming expo

Thousands of comic and gaming fans headed to London connected Saturday for 1 of the astir colourful days successful the UK’s normal calendar.

Fans flocked to the ExCeL centre for the UK's largest gaming, comic and popular civilization convention, galore of them dressed successful elaborate costumes they had constructed themselves.

The event, called MCM X EGX, besides brought unneurotic hundreds of actors, artists and video crippled publishers who gave fans a sneak highest astatine upcoming projects.

It was the archetypal clip the yearly video games amusement had been combined with MCM - which runs Comic Con - meaning guests were treated to a wider scope of activities, including lightsaber battles, costume contests and paper crippled sessions.

Organisers told the BBC much than 100,000 radical attended the show, travelling from crossed the UK and beyond.

On the aggregate stages dotted astir the expo, fans formed agelong queues to perceive from implicit 700 panellists who were speaking.

The venue’s 2 halls were filled with displays, stalls and gameplay areas, with much than 450 exhibitors booking places to show products oregon merchantability merchandise.

But nary of those numbers tin seizure the energy, passionateness and excitement of comics and games enthusiasts astatine the event, connected what galore told the BBC was the top time of the year.

“My favourite portion is gathering different radical who are cosplaying,” said Catherine Mariah arsenic she travelled to the lawsuit connected Saturday morning.

“By the extremity of the time you’ll beryllium bittersweet it’s each implicit - you’ll person the 'con blues'!”

Gamers were fixed hands-on clip with caller releases including Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 - the latest instalment successful the hugely fashionable first-person shooter series.

Fans besides got a preview of Avowed - an expansive phantasy role-playing crippled from US developer Obsidian, which is owed for merchandise successful February adjacent year.

Smaller projects were besides connected display, similar the gesture-controlled indie crippled Jazzhands, developed by 2 University of Nottingham students astatine a 24-hour programming competition.

But contempt beardown instrumentality involvement successful the video crippled broadside of the expo, the gaming manufacture has been struggling.

Several large brands pulled retired of this year's amusement aft occupation cuts and an manufacture onslaught deed US improvement schedules.

Organisers astatine MCM X EGX whitethorn person hoped that combining EGX with Comic Con would support the video games expo alive, portion getting a bigger assemblage for the publishers who stuck with them.