WITH 75,000 people playing hundreds of games and attending talks with top developers from around the world, Birmingham became the epicentre of the games industry for just four days.

The annual EGX (Eurogamer Expo) show returned to the NEC from September 21 to 24 which showcased everything from indie games to the upcoming blockbusters like Star Wars Battlefront II and Call of Duty: WWII. But the video games consumer show also attracted the likes of performance capture artist Peter Serkis, who is behind Gollum in The Lord of the Rings and Star Wars’ Supreme Leader Snoke.

Peter spoke about his career, involvement in the games industry with Team Ninja and the game he is working on with his own company, Imaginarium Productions, called Planet of the Apes: Last Frontier.

Another fascinating talk was with the Digital Foundry team who talked about the Xbox One X – currently the most powerful console which you could try out on the show floor. They also discussed the difference between Microsoft and Sony’s model for the future of console gaming and how high specs are not everything given the success of the low powered but innovative Nintendo Switch.

EGX is always fascinating because of how it shows not just the power and sophistication of games but their influence and reach as well.

Nearly 33 million people in the UK play games and this has been recognised by the government who funded a graduate talent competition at the show.

‘Tranzfuser’ saw the next generation of video game talent go head-to-head to compete for up to £25,000 of funding by pitching their projects. That is part of the philosophy of EGX which welcomes games of all scales and budgets.

Among the highlights this year were PS4’s tense, narrative-led neo noir thriller Detroit and Nintendo Switch’s Super Mario Odyssey, pictured, which has a ‘body snatchers’ style twist where the moustachioed plumber can throw his cap at enemies to transform into them. It already has the makings of a classic.