Back from PAX West!
Harry and Ama just came back from the PAX West (former PAX Prime) and they brought you a whole bunch of pictures.
Everyone who was not able to visit PAX can at least now get a hint of this “convention feeling”.
PAX WEST 2016 – ELEX on Tour!
Our journey to Seattle has come to an end and we can proudly recognize that PAX West 2016 was a huge success. But let’s turn back the hands of time a bit:
It is the year 2016 – 4 am and everyone in Germany is still sleeping. Everyone? No! Two of the bravest warriors have already won the fight against the sandman and are heading towards the Airport in Frankfurt: Ama and Harry – the two chosen one’s of the German development studio “Piranha Bytes” – are ready to discover the magic of Seattle.
And to everyone who doesn’t have an atlas at hand: It’s a damn long trip!
The trainride turns out to be quite unspectacular. Nobody seems to interrupt the mission “Bringing ELEX to America”. Nobody… Except everyone’s nemesis… The German Lufthansa.
It could have been an easy trip, a smooth trip with plenty of time between stepping onto the next ride, but it turns out to become sort of a nightmare. Speakers suddenly started blabbering, security doors were suddenly locked and everyone in the terminal started panicking for an unknown reason.As the minutes pass we draw the only possible conclusion from the waves of information pouring out of the speakers. And this conclusion is being confirmed by the giant board far above our heads.
“ALL FLIGHTS CANCELLED”
Well, seems like we won’t go to Seattle. At least not today.
On the following day no one seemed to be in the mood of running through the security check, causing the airport to shut down anything in a remarkably short amount of time. No, today everything goes just fine. Our 10-hour journey to the USA can finally begin.
A few flightmeals later the Piranhas and the THQ Nordic guys finally touch American ground. And although the missing luggage and the cruel hammer of jetlag take some time to be overcome, these guys are ready to proudly present ELEX to America.
After checking in at their hotel, fighting the jetlag with a short nap, the first typical American breakfast awaits: pancakes, strawberries, eggs and bacon. (This was the first time we thought about not returning to Germany ever). The very best preparation for presenting ELEX to hundreds of thousands of people at PAX.
The feedback is stunning. So many people and players testing ELEX and taking their chances to ask a whole bunch of questions. We stand our ground and try to answer every single one of them. So from the early morning to the late evening we hardly take a break and give our very best to make sure as many people as possible hear about our new baby.
And it seems like we did a good job there. The amount of interest in ELEX is beyond all of our expectations. We quickly run out of ELEX-shirts and bags and can hardly satisfy the constant stream of people who want to play ELEX on their own.
The only thing that keeps us from presenting and answering questions was the PAX closing time at 6 pm. We would continue – we would answer questions all night, but the so called “enforcers” show no mercy and guided all the visitors to a nearby exit.
Well, maybe it isn‘t the worst thing to happen. The raising amount of pain in our legs and the slow but steady loss of our voice seem to be signs that ending this day would be a good idea.
Back at the hotel we share our impressions with the guys from THQ Nordic, Fatshark, GolemLabs Airship Syndicate and Grimlore Games and empty some bottles of soda.
Today was a good day. And the possibility to show ELEX to America was a huge honor. And it was amazing to finally wander on American ground and to get a hint of the so-called ” American way of life”.
Yes, we have to return to Germany the next day, but we take bags of positive feedback and incredible impressions with us. We are so grateful for this stunning interest in ELEX and we want to say „Thank You“ to everyone who visited us at PAX. And of course to our special friends at THQ Nordic ;)
Maybe our trip has ended for now, but the journey of ELEX has just begun.
– Harry
Enjoy the photo galery
