PAX Aus 2024 is just under two months away, and the announcements keep rolling in. This year's guest list was already stacked with Mark Meer (voice of Commander Sheppard) and Julian Wilton (creator of Cult of the Lamb), but new names have made it even more exciting. From voice actors to game directors and even music designers, PAX Aus 2024 will have it all. Also, VR Distribution has announced new tabletop offerings they’re bringing to PAX. So let’s dive into all this exciting new info!
BAFTA-nominated actor Abubakar Salim is locked in to appear down under. Best known for his roles as Alyn in House of the Dragon and Bayek in Assassin’s Creed Origins, Salim has been crushing all parts of the entertainment industry. Alongside his acting endeavours, Salim is a founder of Surgent Studios, which released their first game in April of this year titled Tales of Kenzera: ZAU. You may have seen him appear on various RPG shows, such as Critical Role. I’m sure his potential panel (surely he’ll have one) will be packed full of interesting stories.
As well as BAFTA-nominated actors, big names from the cosplay and e-sports realm have also been announced. International cosplay champion Sameer Bundela will be at the show with another undoubtedly dope cosplay. Australian e-sports team FlyQuest is also joining the lineup for all you e-sports fans. The team includes Christoper Nong, Jay Tregillgas, Joshua Potter, Alistair Johnston, and Declan Portelli, all of which will be available for meet and greets during the weekend.
It's not all just actors and cosplayers; big-name game developers will be at PAX to answer all your burning questions. Most notable are the Final Fantasy XIV dev team members: Senior Story Designer Natsuko Ishikawa and Quest Designer Saki Takayanagi. Final Fantasy XIV has always been a major player at PAX Aus, so having some of the devs down to talk about the game will be a treat for fans. Sticking with MMORPGs, the game director of The Elder Scrolls Online, Rich Lambert, is coming to the show and is excited to interact with the members of The Elder Scrolls community.
On the sound design side of things, Senior Music Designer Sonia Coronado (God of War Ragnarok, The Last of Us Part 2) and video game/anime composer James Landino (Fortnite, Tower of God) will be there to devolve all their juicy music secrets. Rounding out the game devs is Josh Weier, who has worked on massive games such as Half-Life 2 and Portal 2. And to cap off all these announcements are the musical guests performing on Friday Night, local Melbourne metal band Triple Kill. They’ll be playing a one-hour set in the Wombat Theater, which is sure to be an exhilarating time. Also, fun fact: the bass player is my brother-in-law. Small world, isn’t it?
The announcements haven’t just been about the special guests that will be in attendance; VR Distribution has confirmed even more tabletop goodness for this year's event. Star Wars: Unlimited will have the first two TCG sets and the debut of the third set available to play. There will also be an exclusive Grogu card that you can get if you try the game (I would like to see the baby). Going from a massive IP to an indie Kickstarter, the long-awaited Altered will also be playable at the show and have its own PAX exclusive cards.
Game publisher Asmodee is bringing a whole bunch of new games to showcase this year, including first looks at Forest Shuffle, Captain Flip, and King of Tokyo Duel (I have no clue what this is, but it sounds sick as fuck). However, the announcement that excited me the most was the new partnership between Asmodee and LEGO. This partnership means we’re getting LEGO board games for the first time in years (anyone else remember the LEGO Star Wars one?) Monkey Palace is the first game of this partnership and it will be playable at PAX.
PAX Aus 2024 has become even more exciting with these new guests and games! As we get closer to the event, there are bound to be even more exciting news drops. So keep it locked to Couch Soup for all the PAX Aus news to feed your hungry nerd soul.
Are you excited for PAX Aus 2024? Any guests you want to meet? Any tabletop games you wanna play? Let us know in the comments where we can talk all things PAX.
