The University of Southern California’s Department of Cinematic Arts announced Friday that this year’s USC Games Expo will feature Mark Hamill, Judd Apatow, and a handful of free games for download.
COVID-19 precautions have already forced many of the year’s conferences to either cancel or reschedule. Notably, plans for June’s E3 and, more recently, the Tokyo Game Show were both nixed. Regardless, the USC Games Expo is set for May 12th at 2 p.m. PT. This year’s event will be hosted entirely online as a workaround to rising public safety concerns related to the pandemic.
In addition to offering keynote speeches from industry professionals like Nolan Bushnell (Atari Founder) and Jeffrey “Daddy Jeff” Kaplan (Blizzard CEO), the expo offers video game fans and creators an inside look at one of the world’s leading game-design programs and a chance to see the next generation of tabletop, mobile, and AR video games.
As confirmed by USC, the full list of celebrities and industry professionals that will be making an appearance at next week’s expo include:
- Mark Hamill, Actor Star Wars Judd Apatow, Writer/Producer/Director Nolan Bushnell, Founder Atari Jeffrey Kaplan, Blizzard CEO Mark Lamia, Studio Head Call of Duty David Perry, Developer Earthworm Jim Geoff Keighley, Host and Producer of The Game Awards Felicia Day, Artist/Director Andy Gavin, Creator Crash Bandicoot Chris DeWolfe, Jam City And more!
The university also released a trailer on Friday, which is accented by remarks from both Hamill and Apatow. Watch the promo video below:
The expo will begin promptly at 2 p.m, at which time over 50 free games will be available to the public for download. There’s no telling what most of these games will look like, but the lineup will speculatively consist of a cocktail of student and public submissions. Perhaps a few gems from notable university alumni and guest speakers will be thrown into the bag as well.
It’s too late to submit your own game for the 2020 expo, but those who are interested in watching the action can do so at uscgamesexpo.com come May 12th. Participants are also urged to register for the free event right here.
