The PAX Rising Showcase launches to enable more indie devs to bring their games to PAX

PAX has always been a celebration of all gaming -- from the latest tentpole AAA titles, to the labors of love that could only be created by indie game developers. Of course, the challenges of making an indie game don't end when the game is released. Without the name recognition or marketing budgets the traditional studios enjoy, it can be next to impossible for even the most worthy indie games to get seen, much less played.

That's a problem the inaugural PAX Rising Showcase aims to help with. The showcase is a new route within reach of any indie game developer to have a shot at showing off their game at the industry and consumer respected events, starting with PAX East 2022.

While the PAX Rising Showcase represents a new and unified approach to celebrating indie games, PAX has a long history of indie game showcases going back as far as 2008. Many of the previous winners have gone on to considerable acclaim and success, such as Bastion, Celeste, Fez, Super Meat Boy, Johann Sebastion Joust, Towerfall, Darkest Dungeon, Mini Metro, and many, many more. As impossible as it may seem in retrospect, at one point every one of those games could have used a little help getting noticed.

Developers of indie games would be the first to admit that promoting independent games is hard and it's opportunities like the PAX Rising Showcase that enable them to get their work in front of the discerning public. Being able to interact with the community of fellow devs and hear feedback live and in person can be far more fulfilling than nervously eyeing Steam wishlist numbers go up on an announcement day. This is, in part, why prior winners of PAX showcases have worn their inclusion as a badge of honor for years after initial release.

While every game has something of value to offer the industry, the winning entries of the PAX Rising Showcase will be intensely curated by the team behind the show to offer something for every gamer, no matter what genre or platform you may favor, creating an immediate destination on the show floor to find and play a collection of excellent titles you could only find at PAX.

For more information on entering your game, see the PAX Rising Showcase website. The submission deadline is March 1st, so don't delay. The team behind the shows will pick out their very favorite entries, announcements will be made by April 1st, and you'll be able to find all of the selected titles in Boston at PAX East 2022 on April 21st - 24th.