With the Summer game festival season approaching, players are once again preparing for a flood of livestreams, trailers, and digital showcases. But while most events ask viewers to sit back and watch, Endix wants players to step directly into the experience.
The upcoming Endix Showcase, taking place May 23 and 24 on Steam and the Epic Games Store, is attempting something far more interactive than the traditional digital presentation. Instead of watching a showcase on YouTube or Twitch, attendees download Endix itself, create an avatar, and explore a fully playable virtual event built in Unreal Engine.
For Endix creators Nikos Perifanis and Daniel Thorsen, the goal is to create something that feels less like a video stream and more like a living gaming convention.
“So Endix is kind of a unique event,” Perifanis told Insider Gaming during a recent interview. “It’s a gaming event that everyone can attend through their avatars. … Every exhibitor prepares mostly their own experiences, meaning that when you attend a specific booth, it’s kind of a unique experience because it’s built from game assets from that game and every booth is a totally different experience from one another.”
That means attendees are not simply walking through static virtual booths. One area may transform into a dungeon that players can explore before discovering a trailer. Another could feature animated characters interacting with visitors. Some booths hide Easter eggs, mini-games, or unlockable rewards.
Thorsen described Endix as “a virtual theme park” for gaming fans.
Unlike browser-based virtual events that became common during the pandemic, Endix functions as a downloadable multiplayer game. Built entirely in Unreal Engine, the showcase gives studios the ability to bring their own environments, assets, and ideas into the event itself.
“We know also that others have been trying to do virtual events,” Thorsen said. “But the thing with a virtual event, it also needs to be an experience that you can enjoy, and to try something like that in a browser-type setup, it will not work.”
Studios provide assets or completed environments that the Endix team integrates directly into the event. According to Perifanis, developers can either send over fully built 3D spaces or individual pieces that are then assembled by the Endix team based on the exhibitor’s vision.
The result is an event where every section can feel dramatically different from the last.
A Showcase Built Like a Multiplayer Game
Players attending Endix can choose between first-person and third-person gameplay while exploring the event. Avatar customization is also a major focus this year, with the showcase introducing a new feature for players.
“We will also, for the first time ever, have game characters from other games that you can choose to be in your own avatar,” Thorsen said.
Social interaction is another core component of the experience. Endix includes proximity voice chat, allowing attendees to speak directly with developers, creators, and other visitors throughout the event.
Thorsen shared one example from a previous Endix event involving THQ Nordic.
During the showcase, content creator CohhCarnage was livestreaming his time inside Endix when a THQ Nordic influencer manager joined the game, walked up to him using proximity chat, and personally guided him through the publisher’s booth.
“And she got 20 good minutes of him showing ReAnimal, Titan Quest, all of the games on her island over proximity chat,” Thorsen explained.
The Endix team is also introducing developer schedules this year, allowing exhibitors to publicly list times when representatives will be live inside the event and available to speak with fans.
That social accessibility is part of what the team believes separates Endix from physical events.
Players who may struggle with travel costs, disabilities, or social anxiety can jump in and out of the showcase at their own pace without the pressure of attending a crowded convention center.
“This is the solution for you,” Thorsen said. “You can jump in and out as much as you want. You can play for an hour one day and go back on Sunday and play for a few more hours.”
More Than Just Watching Trailers
While trailers remain part of the experience, Endix is heavily focused on interaction.
Visitors can participate in mini-games, compete on leaderboards, search for hidden Easter eggs, and complete quests tied to specific exhibitors. One upcoming activation will even reward players with in-game items for completing objectives inside Endix before a game’s launch.
Some exhibitors are leaning heavily into the immersive side of the platform.
Previous booths have featured monsters bursting from ceilings, animated NPCs interacting with players, and dynamic environmental effects tied directly to trailers. The showcase will also feature unreleased trailers and premieres that attendees will be able to watch during the event.
Around 60 Games and Major Publishers
This year’s event will feature around 60 titles, according to Perifanis, with exhibitors including THQ Nordic, 505 Games, Team17, Untold Tales, and more.
The showcase itself is split between a traditional exhibition center and the larger “Endix City” environment.
The exhibition hall contains multiple floors of booths, while the city features larger “mega booths” and themed experiences designed around specific publishers or games.
THQ Nordic, for example, previously created an entire island inside the world of Endix featuring games like Titan Quest 2, ReAnimal, Gothic 1 Remake, and Tides of Tomorrow.
Other collaborations are also planned this year, including content tied to 10 Chambers and Den of Wolves.
“We will have footprints of the game inside of Endix,” Thorsen teased.
Community Feedback Driving the Event
One of the biggest priorities for the Endix team is community feedback.
According to both Perifanis and Thorsen, nearly every new feature added to the showcase comes directly from player suggestions.
This year’s improvements include more interactive booths, additional mini-games, full-screen trailer viewing, Steam participation rewards, and community-voted awards for the best booth and best activation.
“So what Thorsen said before is that every event, we do not think about what would be cool to have,” Perifanis explained. “We go to the community to add things on the development pipeline.”
That approach appears to be resonating with both players and publishers.
Thorsen revealed that several companies from previous events, including THQ Nordic and 505 Games, specifically requested to return for future showcases after seeing the response firsthand.
For a team of fewer than five people, that validation has been significant.
“We are a super small indie team, less than five people doing this,” Thorsen said.
A Different Vision for Digital Events
Endix originally began as a concept around 2019 before evolving into a playable showcase platform.
For Perifanis, seeing the community embrace the idea has been one of the most rewarding aspects of the project.
“Seeing that we have early supporters that are like super dedicated and they even like do their own tours because they are familiar with Endix when there are people around and they want to, you know, be part of how Endix grows from the consumers and the gamers side of things, it’s something that fascinates me,” he said.
As digital showcases continue to evolve, Endix is clearly trying to carve out a very different identity from the traditional trailer-heavy format.
Rather than simply broadcasting announcements to viewers, the showcase is attempting to turn the event itself into a game.
Whether that approach becomes a larger part of the industry’s future depends on the adoption, but for players looking for something more interactive than another livestream, Endix may offer one of the more unique experiences of the showcase season.
Mike has been covering the gaming industry since 2012, and has reported on some of the largest events in the industry while also working as an investigative reporter. Outside of…
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This is the shit… Can’t wait!!