EB Games Expo, commonly known as EB Expo or EBX, was a
video game
A video game or computer game is an electronic game that involves interaction with a user interface or input device (such as a joystick, game controller, controller, computer keyboard, keyboard, or motion sensing device) to generate visual fe ...
trade fair
A trade show, also known as trade fair, trade exhibition, or trade exposition, is an exhibition organized so that companies in a specific Industry (economics), industry can showcase and demonstrate their latest Product (business), products and se ...
and
convention held annually from 2011 to 2018 in
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...
. It was organised by
EB Games Australia
Electronics Boutique Australia Pty Ltd, trading as EB Games Australia, is an Australian video game, consumer electronics, and gaming merchandise retailer. EB Games mainly sells video games, consoles, and accessories for Nintendo, Personal compu ...
. It was used by many video game developers to show off their upcoming games and game-related hardware. Unlike
E3, it allowed members of the general public to attend. The most recent show was held in 2018 as part of the
Penny Arcade Expo
PAX (originally known as Penny Arcade Expo) is a series of gaming culture festivals involving tabletop, arcade, and video gaming. PAX is held annually in Seattle, Boston, Philadelphia, and Melbourne. Previously, it was also held in San Anton ...
.
2011
EB Games Expo 2011 was held at the
Gold Coast Convention and Exhibition Centre
The Gold Coast Convention and Exhibition Centre (GCCEC) is located on the Gold Coast Highway in Broadbeach, Queensland, Australia. The venue was opened on 29 June 2004 at a cost of A$167 million. It is linked by a covered walkway to The ...
from 15 to 16 October; it was the first time the event was open to the public. The expo was attended by 14,278 people and 26 exhibitors.
Exhibitors
2012
EB Games Expo 2012 was held at the Sydney Showground from 5–7 October, and was the first time it was held at the venue. The expo was attended by 30,745 people and 32 exhibitors.
Exhibitors
2013

EB Games Expo 2013 was held at the Sydney Showground from 4–6 October. The expo was attended by over 38,000 people.
Exhibitors
2014
EB Games Expo 2014 was held at the Sydney Showground from 3–5 October. Sessions were from 9am to 3pm and from 3pm to 9pm. The twilight session was only allowed for people older than 15.
Exhibitors
2015

The 2015 edition of the EB Games Expo ran from 2–4 October 2015 at the
Sydney Showground. The event had two "daylight" and "twilight" sessions, each six and four hours long respectively, on 2 and 3 October, with one six-hour session on 4 October, following the same format as the previous two years. The Dome (Hall 1), Ross Pavilion (Hall 2) and Binnie Pavilion (Hall 3) once again hosted the exhibition floor. This expo was the third to showcase games for the
PlayStation 4
The PlayStation 4 (PS4) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Announced as the successor to the PlayStation 3 in February 2013, it was launched on November 15, 2013, in North America, November 29, 2013, in ...
and the
Xbox One
The Xbox One is a home video game console developed by Microsoft. Announced in May 2013, it is the successor to Xbox 360 and the third console in the Xbox#Consoles, Xbox series. It was first released in North America, parts of Europe, Austra ...
, and the fifth to showcase games for the
Wii U
The Wii U ( ) is a home video game console developed by Nintendo as the successor to the Wii. Released in late 2012, it is the first eighth-generation video game console and competed with Microsoft's Xbox One and Sony's PlayStation 4.
The W ...
. Multi-platform games ''
Star Wars: Battlefront'' and ''
Call of Duty: Black Ops III'' were available exclusively at
Sony Computer Entertainment
Sony Interactive Entertainment LLC (SIE) is an American video game and digital entertainment company that is a major subsidiary of Japanese conglomerate Sony, Sony Group Corporation. It primarily operates the PlayStation brand of video game co ...
's
PlayStation
is a video gaming brand owned and produced by Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE), a division of Japanese conglomerate Sony. Its flagship products consists of a series of home video game consoles produced under the brand; it also consists ...
stand.
Exhibition
The 2015 edition of the EB Games Expo was the first without the presence of
Riot Games
Riot Games, Inc. is an American video game developer, publisher, and esports tournament organizer based in Los Angeles. It was founded in September 2006 by Brandon Beck and Marc Merrill to develop ''League of Legends'' and went on to develop ...
or ''
League of Legends
''League of Legends'' (''LoL'', commonly referred to as ''League'', is a multiplayer online battle arena video game developed and published by Riot Games. Inspired by ''Defense of the Ancients'', a Mod (video games), custom map for ''Warcraf ...
''. In previous years, Riot had staged the annual Oceanic Regional Finals for ''League'' at the convention, but had instead chosen to host it instead in August 2015 at
Luna Park Sydney
Luna Park Sydney is a Heritage register, heritage-listed amusement park located at 1 Olympic Drive, Milsons Point, New South Wales, Australia, on the northern shore of Port Jackson, Sydney Harbour. The amusement park is owned by the Luna Park ...
, where it was able to host a larger audience than the Southee Complex at the Sydney Showground; the event's previous venue at the 2014 EB Games Expo.
Entertainment
The Expo featured a performance from comedy duo
The Umbilical Brothers, and comedian John Robertson, presenting his
stand-up
Stand-up comedy is a performance directed to a live audience, where the performer stands on a stage (theatre), stage and delivers humour, humorous and satire, satirical monologues sometimes incorporating physical comedy, physical acts. These ...
act ''Horror Stories from a Bad Gamer''.
Exhibitors
Activision
Activision Publishing, Inc. is an American video game publisher based in Santa Monica, California. It serves as the publishing business for its parent company, Activision Blizzard, and consists of several subsidiary studios. Activision is one o ...
showcased the fifth entry in the ''
Skylanders'' franchise with ''
Skylanders: Superchargers'', promoting the game at the event by giving away exclusive "Frightful Fiesta" Skylanders figures to the first few attendees to visit the booth. In addition to ''
Forza Motorsport 6
''Forza Motorsport 6'' is a 2015 racing video game developed by Turn 10 Studios and published by Microsoft Studios for the Xbox One. It is the sixth ''Forza Motorsport'' and eighth overall installment in the '' Forza'' series, and available worl ...
'' and
Remedy Entertainment's ''
Quantum Break'', ''
Halo 5: Guardians'' was available to play at the
Xbox
Xbox is a video gaming brand that consists of four main home video game console lines, as well as application software, applications (games), the streaming media, streaming service Xbox Cloud Gaming, and online services such as the Xbox networ ...
booth, showcasing the game's 24-player "Warzone" multiplayer mode on the show floor. The Xbox stand also made use of a "One Pass", a card that allowed attendees to tap in after playing certain games in the booth, entering a draw to win prizes. In contrast to previous years where the One Pass was a separate card, it was incorporated into the wristband sold upon the purchase of a ticket to the expo.
Showcase
2016
The sixth annual running of the EB Games took place at the
Sydney Showground from 30 September to 2 October 2016.
PlayStation VR
The PlayStation VR (PS VR) is a virtual reality headset developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment, which was released in October 2016. The headset works with the company's PlayStation 4 video game console and is forward compatible with PlaySta ...
made its second and final appearance before its commercial release in October 2016.
Ubisoft
Ubisoft Entertainment SA (; ; formerly Ubi Soft Entertainment SA) is a French video game publisher headquartered in Saint-Mandé with development studios across the world. Its video game franchises include '' Anno'', '' Assassin's Creed'', ' ...
's lineup of games for 2016–17 release included ''
Watch Dogs 2
''Watch Dogs 2'' is a 2016 action-adventure game developed by Ubisoft Montreal and published by Ubisoft. It is the sequel to 2014's '' Watch Dogs'' and the second installment in the '' Watch Dogs'' series. It was released for the PlayStation 4 ...
'', ''
For Honor
''For Honor'' is a Multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) action game developed and published by Ubisoft. The game allows players to play the roles of historical forms of soldiers and warriors such as knights, samurai, and vikings, controlled u ...
'', ''
Just Dance 2017'', ''
Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Wildlands'',
''Steep'' and ''
South Park: The Fractured but Whole''.
Exhibition
Following an identical format to previous years, the 2016 edition of the EB Games Expo was open on two sessions on the Friday and Saturday of the expo, known as "daylight" and "twilight" sessions, and a single session on Sunday. Daylight sessions last six hours, from 9am to 3pm, while twilight sessions run for five hours from 4pm to 9pm; the Sunday session, designated as "family day", lasts eight hours.
The expo featured an "E-Sports Alley", touted as an
e-sports
Esports (), short for electronic sports, is a form of competition using video games. Esports often takes the form of organized, multiplayer video game competitions, particularly between professional players, played individually or as teams. ...
competition venue for "kids, parents and pro e-athletes". Over 2,000 prizes, worth $10,000 in total, were given away in competitions held at the E-Sports Alley.
Competitions for
cosplay
Cosplay, a blend word of "costume play", is an activity and performance art in which participants called cosplayers wear costumes and Fashion accessory, fashion accessories to represent a specific Character (arts), character. Cosplayers often i ...
ers were also held, per tradition at the expo, with exclusive competitions and prizes, worth $5,000, available to those who purchased an "Ultimate Cosplayer Pass" ticket – a new ticket class introduced for the 2016 expo.
Entertainment
Non-gaming attractions at the 2016 edition of the EB Games Expo include the annual
Lego
Lego (, ; ; stylised as LEGO) is a line of plastic construction toys manufactured by the Lego Group, a privately held company based in Billund, Denmark. Lego consists of variously coloured interlocking plastic bricks made of acrylonitri ...
exhibition, a "horror maze", movie vehicles, and the Zing Pop Culture and
EB Games
EB Games (formerly known as Electronics Boutique, EBX, and EB World) was an American computer and video games retailer. First established as an American company in 1977 by James Kim with a single electronics-focused location in the King of Prus ...
Megastore.
Exhibitors
At least nine video game publishers exhibited, including
Activision
Activision Publishing, Inc. is an American video game publisher based in Santa Monica, California. It serves as the publishing business for its parent company, Activision Blizzard, and consists of several subsidiary studios. Activision is one o ...
,
Nintendo
is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational video game company headquartered in Kyoto. It develops, publishes, and releases both video games and video game consoles.
The history of Nintendo began when craftsman Fusajiro Yamauchi ...
,
Sony Interactive Entertainment
Sony Interactive Entertainment LLC (SIE) is an American video game and digital entertainment company that is a major subsidiary of Japanese conglomerate Sony, Sony Group Corporation. It primarily operates the PlayStation brand of video game co ...
(
PlayStation
is a video gaming brand owned and produced by Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE), a division of Japanese conglomerate Sony. Its flagship products consists of a series of home video game consoles produced under the brand; it also consists ...
),
Ubisoft
Ubisoft Entertainment SA (; ; formerly Ubi Soft Entertainment SA) is a French video game publisher headquartered in Saint-Mandé with development studios across the world. Its video game franchises include '' Anno'', '' Assassin's Creed'', ' ...
and
Microsoft Studios
Xbox Game Studios (previously known as Microsoft Studios, Microsoft Game Studios, and Microsoft Games) is an American video game publisher based in Redmond, Washington. It was established in March 2000, spun out from an internal Games Group, fo ...
(
Xbox
Xbox is a video gaming brand that consists of four main home video game console lines, as well as application software, applications (games), the streaming media, streaming service Xbox Cloud Gaming, and online services such as the Xbox networ ...
).
PlayStation VR
The PlayStation VR (PS VR) is a virtual reality headset developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment, which was released in October 2016. The headset works with the company's PlayStation 4 video game console and is forward compatible with PlaySta ...
made its second appearance at the expo, its last before its release in October 2016.
Showcase
2017
EB Games Expo 2017 was held on 7–8 October at the Gold Coast Convention and Exhibition Centre.
2018
EB Games Expo 2018 was held between 26 and 28 October as part of the
Penny Arcade Expo
PAX (originally known as Penny Arcade Expo) is a series of gaming culture festivals involving tabletop, arcade, and video gaming. PAX is held annually in Seattle, Boston, Philadelphia, and Melbourne. Previously, it was also held in San Anton ...
at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre.
References
{{Video Game Trade Shows
Defunct gaming conventions
Video game trade shows
Exhibitions in Australia
Recurring events established in 2011
GameStop
Video gaming in Australia