Pack your parkas. We’re braving the late winter storms and heading to PAX East. You’ll find us at the BioWare Base in rooms 206AB on the 2nd floor of the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center.
Throughout the weekend, we’re hosting panels, signings, and meet and greet sessions where you can hang out and talk with developers from both Dragon Age and Mass Effect. The base is open from 10 am to 6 pm daily so feel free to stop by whenever the mood strikes you.
Just remember to pack a thermos of hot soup to help you survive the snowpocalypse, as it’s possible we may all be incased in an ice fortress by the end of the weekend. Also, if you encounter any yeti (or is it yetis), remember that they’re kind and gentle creatures—unlike their cousin, the abominable snowman.
For our Edmonton developers, the ice of Boston may actually be a vacation.
Friday
10:30 am – 11:30 am: Moving Pictures: the Art of Animation in Games Learn all about how the animation and cinematics in BioWare games are made.
11:30 am- 12:00 pm: Developer Signing A smattering of talented and affable developers will be on hand to sign your BioWare swag.
12:00 pm – 1:00 pm: Creating Believable Characters From writing to animation and design, discover the lengths we go to bring characters to life.
1:00 pm – 1:30 pm: Developer Signing Another chance for our developers to sign your stuff.
2:00 pm – 3:00 pm: Levelling Up Looking to work in games? Learn how you can apply outside skillsets to a variety of weird and wonderful game industry gigs.
3:00 pm – 4:00 pm: Developer Meet and Greet A chance to chat with developers about all kinds of things, including but not limited to how cold it gets in Edmonton (I promise we’ll stop talking about weather now).
4:00 pm – 5:00 pm: What We’re Playing No developer is an island. Join us for a chat about the games we’re playing right now as well as all-time favorites and how they inspire us.
5:00 pm – 6:00 pm: Developer Signing Yet another chance for our developers to sign your BioWare swag.
Saturday
10:30 am – 11:30 am: Playing with Friends What makes co-op pop? Whether you’re playing with friends or the community at large, here’s how we approach multiplayer in our games.
11:30 am – 12:30 pm: Developer Meet and Greet It’s a new day and another chance for our developers to sign your BioWare swag.
12:30 pm – 1:30 pm: From Pixels to Plush Toys Ever wanted an N7 cola or a set of nug slippers? Sit down with BioWare’s business development team and find out how merch gets made. Give us your feedback on our existing merchandise as well as thoughts on things you’d like to see us do in the future.
2:00 pm – 3:00 pm: Women in Gaming Join some of BioWare’s developers for a discussion on being a woman in the gaming industry.
3:00 pm – 4:00 pm: The World & Story of Dragon Age: Inquisition Frozen mountains, fancy balls, and flying dragons – join the lead writer of Dragon Age and learn more about how it all came together. (Spoiler alert.)
4:30 pm – 6:00 pm: Cosplay Parade Come show off your hard work and win prizes. All cosplay’s welcome.
Sunday
10:30 am – 11:30 am: Bringing Scenes to Life BioWare’s animators and cinematic designers talk about the work that goes into creating a believable scene.
11:30 am – 12:30 pm: Portfolio Review Bring your work and we’ll give notes.
12:30 pm – 1:30 pm: Putting a Voice to a Face Learn more about how our voiceover talent teams work with artists on Mass Effect and Dragon Age to create characters that feel right for the role.
2:00 pm – 3:00 pm: Breaking Into the Industry You’ve been to school (or maybe you haven’t). Now what? Learn more about ways you can get noticed by talent scouts and how to break into the games industry.
3:00 pm – 4:00 pm: Signing and HR Recruitment The last signing session of this year’s PAX East will also feature HR representatives happy to answer any questions related to working at BioWare.
4:00 pm -5:00 pm: Building a Multiplayer Experience Find out how BioWare went about creating multiplayer for Mass Effect and Dragon Age—and lessons we learned along the way.