We got on a bus without any preamble and headed 15 minutes down the road to meet the Incredible Adventures team at the Strategic Operations facility. In the morning, I met the rest of the group: five writers like myself, and five influencers from YouTube and Twitch. I drove down on a Friday and stayed in a hotel with the other attendees. Was I going to get to fire an actual sniper rifle? My mind was racing. I figured I’d get to play the game and chat with the devs, but after that, who knows. I’d get funny emails that said things like, “hope you have a BLAST )” and “make sure you wear pants with belt loops,” which is an oddly specific request. I had no idea what to expect when I got there, partially because every press event is different, but mostly because the PR company running the event had been intentionally vague in the weeks leading up to it. I signed up immediately and drove down to sunny San Diego two weeks later for a day of Sniper Ghost Warrior-related fun. At this point, I would have taken an offer to tour a saltwater taffy factory in New Jersey as part of a promotion for the next Candy Crush Saga update (that’s a free one, Activision). Related: Sniper Ghost Warrior Contracts 2 Is A Success, Next Game Already In The WorksĮarlier this month, I was invited to an event celebrating the launch of Sniper Ghost Warrior: Contracts 2. In 2020, I watched Summer Game Fest alone in my room and cried a lot. I covered 12 press events for TG in 2019 all across the United States and Europe. After that, an entire year’s worth of conventions were quickly called off or moved online, including Gamescom, PAX West, BlizzCon, Comic-Con, TwitchCon, Gen Con, and many, many more. The same week, the ESA announced that E3 2020 was canceled.

The last event I made it to before the lockdown was PAX East in March 2020. Of course, the pandemic changed everything. I can’t overstate just how important these outings are for us and how much we look forward to them all year. A lot of gaming sites, TheGamer included, are decentralized, so the only opportunity I have to meet up with my co-workers and other games writers is at conventions, press events, and in-person play sessions. They’re always a great opportunity to learn more about upcoming games, chat with developers face-to-face, and catch up with other games journalists and content creators. There’s nothing media types like myself enjoy more than an in-person event.

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