After a tumultuous few years, video game events are back on track and in full swing for 2023. That means plenty of in-person meet-ups, global showcases, and much more besides. Even organisers who spent the last two years online have now transitioned to a hybrid system – providing spaces for those who are able to attend physical events, while keeping fans around the world in the loop online.
From pop culture celebrations to major video game presentations like E3 and The Game Awards, here’s every major video game event for 2023, and what to expect in the coming year.
This article will keep track of all the notable game-related events for developers and video game enthusiasts throughout 2023, and will be periodically updated to reflect the latest information. If you have a video game event you’d like to see listed, get in contact via email. (Last updated: 12 April 2023)
Monthly Highlights
April
Supanova Comic Con & Gaming: Gold Coast
15-16 April 2023
Gold Coast Convention & Exhibition Centre, Gold Coast, Australia
The first major Supanova convention of 2023 will kick off in the Gold Coast, Queensland. During the show, you’ll be able to attend panels, meet celebrity guests, buy merchandise and artwork from local creators, visit a number of pop culture-themed shops, and even sit down for a gaming session with friends.
Red Bull High Grounds
20 April 2023 & 4 May 2023 (Qualifiers) & 27 May 2023 (Finals)
Fortress Sydney (Qualifiers), The Star Sydney (Finals)
Red Bull Australia is launching a new live event, known as Red Bull High Grounds, in April 2023. This competitive Fortnite showcase will offer amateur esports players the chance to compete with a ‘celebrity dream team’, and take home an AU $50,000 prize pool. An online component will offer players from around Australia the chance to participate.
Supanova Comic Con & Gaming: Melbourne
22-23 April 2023
Melbourne Showgrounds, Ascot Vale, Australia
The Supanova show in the Gold Coast will be followed swiftly by the Melbourne version of the event. This will feature similar activities and celebrity guests, although it will spotlight new local creators and artists, and feature different panels.
DreamHack Melbourne
28-30 April 2023
Melbourne Olympic Park, Melbourne, VIC
DreamHack, one of the world’s biggest esports events, is returning to Melbourne in April 2023. Attendees will be able to take part in massive LAN tournaments, and there’ll also be a number of other on-site gaming activities throughout the exhibition, including tabletop gaming sessions and showcases from local independent studios.
May
LudoNarraCon 2023
4-8 May 2023
Steam (Online)
LudoNarraCon, the long-running online celebration of narrative games, will return in 2023 with fresh showcases for upcoming games, and deep dives into past gaming hits. As usual, we’re expecting LudoNarraCon to feature an array of developer special guests, and plenty of unique insights into the games industry.
GamesBeat Summit 2023
22-23 May 2023
Marina del Rey Marriott, California, United States
The GamesBeat Summit returns in 2023, with its 15th annual showcase of games industry thought leadership and innovation. This yearly event brings together a host of prominent industry members to talk the ‘big picture’ – and this year, will play host to folks from Skybound, Hasbro, YouTube, Unity, Fable Studio, and more. A digital GamesBeat component on 24 May 2023 will invite everyone into the party.
June
Oz Comic-Con: Adelaide
3-4 June 2023
Adelaide Showgrounds, Adelaide, Australia
The Adelaide leg of the latest Oz Comic-Con tour hits in June, amidst a number of other events, exhibitions, and conventions. Following this, a variation of the same show will hit Melbourne, before moving onto other states.
Tribeca Festival
7-18 June 2023
New York City, United States
The Tribeca Festival is a celebration of all things entertainment and culture, including video games. The 2023 event will feature folks from across TV, film, immersive entertainment, and gaming talking about the global creative industries, and their triumphs.
Summer Game Fest
8 June 2023
Online & YouTube Theatre, Los Angeles, United States
As E3 shifted its gears, games journalist and industry advocate Geoff Keighley, known for creating The Game Awards, started to use his influence to bring developers and publishers together in the middle of the calendar year to collect and curate a clump of new game reveals and announcements. The Summer Game Fest for 2023 will feature exactly that, with everyone invited to tune in for a wallop of new reveals and surprises. Stay tuned for more details as we get closer to the event.
Oz Comic-Con: Melbourne
10-11 June 2023
Melbourne International Convention Centre, Melbourne, Australia
As in Adelaide, the Melbourne leg of Oz Comic-Con will feature cosplay, merchandise, gaming sessions, celebrity guests, and plenty of activities for pop culture fans of all ages.
Supanova Comic Con & Gaming: Sydney
17-18 June 2023
Sydney Showground, Sydney Olympic Park, Australia
In June, the Sydney leg of Supanova will kick off. This will feature fresh celebrity guests, new panels, local artists and creators, cosplay, gaming sections, and plenty of activities for all ages.
Supanova Comic Con & Gaming: Perth
24-25 June 2023
Perth Convention & Exhibition Centre, Perth, Australia
Finally, the first half of Supanova’s yearly events will hit Perth, giving visitors a chance to enjoy cosplay, gaming with friends, celebrity panels, and pop culture-themed shopping.
GDC Showcase 2023
27-29 June 2023
Online
The GDC Showcase is a digital event designed to allow game developers to connect with and celebrate the global games industry without needing to go to a physical venue. This year’s online showcase will feature speaker Q&As, interactive panels, keynotes, interviews, and much more, for those who purchase tickets.
Brazil International Game Festival 2023 (BIG Festival 2023)
28 June – 2 July 2023
São Paulo Expo, Brazil
Brazil’s Best International Games Festival 2023 has been running since 2023, catering to the public and industry for the Latin American region. The 2023 iteration promises to be the biggest yet, with publishers like Atari and Devolver having been announced.
July
BitSummit Let’s Go!!
14-16 July 2023
Miyako Messe Exhibition Center, Kyoto, Japan
BitSummit is an annual independent games exhibition for Japanese developers, and it returns with a major show in 2023. This year’s theme is ‘to the future’, and this will likely be clear in each showcased title. The event takes place in person and is open to the public, with news trickling out to the rest of the world post-show.
Games for Change 2023
18-20 July 2023
Times Center, New York City, United States
Games for Change is the annual conference that brings developers together to talk about serious games – games for the purposes of education and societal change. It will return in 2023 with a multi-day in-person event, and feature industry spokespeople holding panels about education, wellness, environmental sustainability, and more essential topics.
San Diego Comic-Con (SDCC)
20-23 July 2023
San Diego Convention Center, San Diego, United States
While not as games-focussed as other events on this list, SDCC is usually worth tuning in for, even if you’re only a fan of gaming. In previous years, comic-adjacent game adaptations have been shown off, and this year’s show may prove to be the same. Keep an ear to the ground for more news.
August
Gen Con 2023
3-6 August 2023
Indiana Convention Center, Indiana, United States
Gen Con is the largest tabletop gaming convention in North America, with each annual exhibit featuring the latest and greatest in card, board, and TTRPG gaming. This event is where the biggest titans of the tabletop industry gather to show their wares, and it’s a fantastic place to connect with keen players.
QuakeCon
10-13 August 2023
Gaylord Texan Resort & Convention Center, Grapevine, Texas, United States
QuakeCon is finally returning to a physical event in 2023, after years of being a digital-only show. This year, the convention will focus on the BYOC (Bring Your Own Computer) LAN portion of the event that originally put it on the map. QuakeCon 2023 will also have a range of livestreamed component featuring talks and potentially, new game announcements from parent company Bethesda.
Gamescom
23-27 August 2023
Koelnmesse, Cologne, Germany
Gamescom remains one of the world’s absolute biggest consumer video game conventions. Following a successful return to in-person events in 2022, it will again open its doors to the games industry and the public in 2023. Expect to see a number of big game reveals, along with plenty of indie games showcased during proceedings, and potentially some surprise announcements along the way.
September
Nintendo Live 2023
1-4 September 2023
Seattle, USA
Nintendo is bringing its previously Japan-only live fan event to the West for the first time in 2023, with the event planned to have a large, themed area for family-friendly activities. Previous events have featured themed concerts, game tournaments, and other activities to celebrate the company’s various properties. The event will coincide with PAX West.
PAX West
1-4 September 2022
Seattle Convention Centre, Seattle, USA
The West Coast version of PAX returns in 2023, featuring all the things you can typically expect from the conference. There’ll be hands-on sessions with upcoming video games, panels with developers and gaming personalities, and areas dedicated to tabletop and free play.
Tokyo Game Show (TGS)
21-24 September 2023
Makuhari Messe, Tokyo, Japan
The Tokyo Game Show, as you might expect, plays host to a slew of Japanese developers and publishers. While it used to be quite a significant video game event for Western audiences to keep an eye on, many of the companies typically featured have now established themselves more firmly in other English-speaking events during the year. Still, there should be some surprises from Japanese devs during the 2023 show.
Melbourne International Games Week
30 September to 8 October 2023
Various locations, Melbourne, Australia + Online
Australia’s premier calendar event celebrating video games and the local industry encompasses two major conventions, PAX Aus and Games Connect Asia Pacific. In addition, a slew of individual events and workshops that take place both online and in-person across Melbourne feature throughout the week. 2023 will again feature an in-person show, as well as online components.
October
Games Connect Asia Pacific (GCAP)
2-4 October 2023
Melbourne International Convention Centre, Melbourne, Australia + Online
GCAP represents the industry-focussed side of Melbourne International Games Week, and features a series of talks and workshops for game developers to learn from each other and hone their craft. GCAP also plays hosts to networking events that connect developers to publishers and funding opportunities, as well as students to knowledgeable industry veterans.
The Australian Game Developer Awards feature as part of GCAP.
PAX Australia
6-8 October 2023
Melbourne International Convention Centre, Melbourne, Australia
The only PAX-branded convention to take place outside of the USA, PAX Aus has been one of the highlights of Australian video game culture since 2013. It plays host to international developers showing off their upcoming titles, as well as panel discussions, workshops, opportunities to play video games and tabletop games, and a whole section dedicated to local indie development.
After a successful 2022 run in a physical format, the convention will return in 2023.
Read: PAX Aus 2023 badges are on sale now
EGX London 2023
12-15 October 2023
ExCeL London, United Kingdom
EGX, the largest video games convention in the United Kingdom, returns in 2023 with another blockbuster show. This event is expected to play host to four packed days of gaming celebrations, attracting crowds of dedicated fans for on-site multiplayer tournaments, panels, and other excitement.
SXSW 2023: Sydney
15-22 October 2022
Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
For the first time ever, the iconic SXSW festival is coming to Australian shores, with a weeklong celebration of arts, music, film, gaming, and culture coming to Sydney in 2023. This event will directly follow PAX Aus 2023 and pick up similar threads, via panels and showcases for local and international creative minds.
Read: SXSW Sydney 2023 announces first speakers, events, badge details
Gamescom Asia
19-22 October 2023
Suntec Singapore Convention & Exhibition Centre, Suntec City, Singapore
Gamescom Asia returns in October 2023, with a showcase bringing the worlds of computer tech and gaming together. This will largely be an in-person event, and function as a hybrid public and trade show for games and emerging technologies.
Freeplay Parallels
TBC October 2023
TBC Location
A mini-showcase run by the folks at the Freeplay Independent Games Festival, Parallels is a night to celebrate some of the most promising upcoming work from Australian game developers. In the past, games like Untitled Goose Game, Unpacking, and Frog Detective 3 have been shown, so it’s well worth paying attention to – and attending, if you’re able.
November
Supanova Comic Con & Gaming: Adelaide
4-5 November 2023
Adelaide Showground, Adelaide, Australia
The second half of Supanova’s yearly events will begin in Adelaide. As in other years, these shows will feature celebrity guests, art and merchandise stands run by local creators, cosplay, panels, gaming sections, and plenty of other activities for all ages.
Supanova Comic Con & Gaming: Brisbane
11-12 November 2023
Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre, Brisbane, Australia
The final Supanova show of the year will take place in Brisbane, and feature much of the same activities as in past years: cosplay, art and merchandise stands, comic shops, gaming sections, and more. The event will loop around again in 2024.
December
PAX Unplugged
TBC December 2023
Pennsylvania Convention Center, Philadelphia, USA
PAX Unplugged is a PAX convention that focuses primarily on tabletop games. You’ll have opportunities to play unreleased games, attend panels, and visit the numerous vendors in the tabletop space to see their latest wares. While the new dates for 2023 have yet to be confirmed, stay tuned for more information.
The Game Awards 2023
TBC December 2023
Streaming Online & United States
Geoff Keighley’s Game Awards finish the year off with a celebration of some of the best games that have been released in the year prior. However contentious the award categories usually are, the reason to tune in is to catch the high number of new games that are revealed.
Xbox even revealed a console there once.
