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Pax East Returns After 2 Years, With New Promise

Despite fewer large companies present due to COVID, Indie Devs pick up the slack
By Cecil Gao
Apr. 24, 2022 updated 06:13

 Photo contributed by Dan

After a year off due to the global pandemic, PAX East, the biggest gaming event on the East Coast, returned to Boston from April 21st to April 24th. This year, despite not returning to its former glory, PAX East prepared many game demos, new technology demonstrations, and esports-related events, as we found out on the scene.

As one of the largest official stages, AMD showcased their new gaming products and technologies, including Ryzen processors and Radeon's graphics cards. AMD also invited some games as guests to test the performance of new products, and Ghostwire: Tokyo from Tango Gameworks, led by Shinji Mikami, was one of the test games. With the help of AMD series products, we’ve experienced a supernatural Tokyo in a very decent framerate and resolution.

We saw an emptier floor and fewer big names. PAX East regulars like Nintendo, Sony, and Ubisoft did not show up this year. On the other hand, this left more room to showcase indie developers and merchandise.

Type3 studio brought their latest game, Super Marxist Twins, to show what it would have been like if Super Mario was sponsored by the Soviet Union. This interesting 2D side-scroller game has now opened Early Access on Steam, and you only need $5 to share the joy with your comrade!

Gamera Game, known for publishing the very popular sci-fi simulation game Dyson Sphere Program, has brought their new pixel adventure game Mercury Abby, where players can play as cute furry characters to uncover the secrets behind a nursing home. Incidentally, Gamera Game has recently changed its name to Gamera Games, fixing a small grammatical error and clarifying that it will bring more than one exciting game to players.

Part of You, developed by Team Sometimes Y, is another interesting, vivid indie game we found at PAX. In the game, people retrieve their misplaced identity from the lost and found at a convention center, quite similar to what we were doing at the PAX.

VR games were also very popular at PAX, and I Expect You to Die, a locked-room puzzle game with its title derived from lines in James Bond movies, caught our attention. The combination of a locked room puzzle and VR is very clever. It lets players feel immersive and even a little tense while playing.

Partnering with influencers, Intel hosted several events to showcase their best gaming PCs and laptops. A small-scale League of Legend showcase was also performed on the stage.

As a new work of the classic series, Saints Row Reboot attracted many players to try it, and fans who cosplayed as a character from the game could skip to the front of the line. Let's look forward to the surprises Volition and Deep Silver will bring us on August 23rd!

Dolmen, as a very rare science fiction art style-based soul-like game, also participated in this PAX East. This game by Massive Work was first announced via a Kickstarter campaign in 2018 and was recently confirmed to release on May 20, 2022.

PAX also opened an official esports event called PAX arena. This time, MSI sponsored a very exciting Splitgate professional championship. We have a more detailed vlog coming, don’t forget to check that out and see this year’s PAX East with us!