Futuristic sci-fi warriors descend on downtown for gaming convention
TennoCon, an annual gaming convention, brought thousands of gamers to the Forest City on Saturday to celebrate the London-developed video game Warframe — many of them dressed as their favourite characters.
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If you saw futuristic sci-fi warriors wielding lasers and blasters downtown this weekend, don’t be alarmed.
TennoCon, an annual gaming convention, brought thousands of gamers to the Forest City on Saturday to celebrate the London-developed video game Warframe — many of them dressed as their favourite characters.
The convention, now in its fourth year, was held by London company Digital Extremes, the developer behind the wildly popular co-operative online game.
Nearly 50 million people around the globe play Warframe.
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Fans attending the convention met with game developers, competed in Cosplay costume competitions, tried out escape rooms and tested their gaming skills against other Warframe players.
“It’s super surreal,” said Scott McGregor, design director for the game. “The response from the fans gets better every year. The community support blows me away.”
He said the success of Warframe and TennoCon speaks to a growing tech industry in London.
“There’s a lot of companies springing up here,” he said. “We want to support the local community.”
More than 2,000 of the game’s most diehard fans attended the event.
The lineup to get inside stretched outside the entrance of RBC Place, formerly the London Convention Centre, up Wellington Street, and back around King Street.
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Steven Wright travelled from Manchester, England, for TennoCon. He stopped in Michigan to meet up with friends he’d met playing the game online before the group made the trip to the London convention.
“I’ve been playing the game for years,” he said. “You get to make friends around the world.”
Last year’s Cosplay competition winner, who goes by the alias Crystal Sunrise, returned this year dressed as her favourite character, Ember Sun.
The Michigan native said Digital Extremes helps build a tight-knit community of gamers.
“Warframe means a lot to us as friends and family,” Sunrise said. “It got me through some hard times. It’s something to go to at the end of a day that all your friends play.”
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