WASD is No More, The Quiet Death Of Games Conventions

The United Kingdom’s premier gaming industry show WASD has come to an end. This is after the show’s website went down a few months ago leading to speculation that something was coming. 

As shared by the folks at VGC, the show has been cancelled due to ever increasing costs and less demand for stands from publishers and those in the gaming industry. The company behind WASD has entered liquidation. The show that inspired WASD – EGX REZZED had this year been combined with MCM Comic-con, which means that the U.K. now has no one large event to showcase all of the indie talent. 

This closure comes in a wave of industry struggles. The U.K. gaming industry has seen serious job cuts and studio closures. As reported by the BBC. The BBC also stated that the Insomnia Gaming Festival had also been cancelled early this year as a result of lay-offs. 

There has been speculation from many that events like these are struggling because big names no longer support them. That may well be the case, but COVID-19 must not have helped either. Paired with a saturated games market and flaky buyers, the industry has changed dramatically. This may well  be why several companies have moved to subscription models to help bolster their earnings. 

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