Softpedia was in attendance at Game Connection Europe 2014, and it was an interesting opportunity to get an inside peek at a much more focused and business-oriented kind of event than the usual suspects.

Unlike Gamescom and E3, Game Connection is not consumer-oriented, which means that you don't get to see flashy panels, cosplayers and massive flocks of gamers trying to get the latest scoop. It's not about who has the most visually impressive demo on display, it's not about eye candy and selling people on future games.

It's about video game and software developers meeting with like-minded people, as well as with publishers and investors, establishing new contacts and opening the door for future collaboration. And it's run very efficiently too.
First, a word about the setting

Game Connection Europe 2014 took place in Paris, France, in Hall 4 of the Paris expo Porte de Versailles. As if there is the need to say this, Paris is one of the most important cities of the world, both right now and historically.

Aside from being a huge, sprawling metropolis, Paris also owns some iconic landmarks, and you could wander its streets all day long, just taking in the architecture. Like any old European city, it has a ton of narrow and winding streets, and it constitutes a seamless blend of new and classic, from its vintage building facades and hyper-modern business centers, to its very denizens, very diverse in color, flavor and style.

It's a truly beautiful city, and there's a lot to see. No matter what your preferences are, you're bound to discover a ton of things of interest.

This year's edition was organized in partnership with Paris Game Week, an imposing display of everything gaming-related who drew a massive crowd (last year's attendance was estimated at around 250k people, and this year's at 275k), taking place in the same exhibition center as Game Connection.

Having the trade fair right across the street from the business venue means that you can casually drop into the second biggest video game-related expo in the world, after Gamescom, once you take care of your schedule.

What is Game Connection?

The first edition of Game Connection took place back in 2001, and since then the convention has become an international success, drawing in game industry people from all across the globe. Although the main bulk of the attendance is made out of West European and North American entities, people from as far as Brazil and China find their way to there regularly.

The conference only spreads across three days, but those days are packed. Weeks before the convention actually takes off, you start scheduling appointments and filling up your time slots, so that each day during the actual thing, you already know whom you're going to meet, and your agenda is pretty much packed.

It works like some sort of business speed dating, with people meeting for 30 minutes at a time in order to pitch their ideas and show off their projects. This means that there's no time to waste, everything is pretty intense and you get a lot done very fast.

Everyone is there for business, as the event is not consumer-oriented, and everyone is busy doing something. It's a very good marketplace for game developers, service providers and publishers to get in touch with each other and find new business partners, and everyone is excited to be there.