PAX East Recap
In front a room full of 3,000 fans, everyone was ready to watch Randy Pitchford deliver his announcement of the highly anticipated Borderlands 3. What they weren’t expecting though, was the first widely released tabletop game in the Borderlands Universe, Tiny Tina’s Robot Tea Party, a collaboration between Gearbox Software, Nerdvana Game Studios, and XYZ Game Labs. It was introduced to the world in a way only an entertainer could: with a magic trick. You can check out the reveal yourself below.
The Booth
Immediately after the panel, fans came out big and supported the game. The Borderlands marketing before PAX East promised that “Mayhem is coming” and boy did it at the booth, as people showed up in droves.
It was absolutely thrilling to see so many gamers, from people who don’t know anything about Borderlands to hardcore fans stopping by to buy merch, admire the props or just learn about the game. And of course people went crazy on the occasion that Randy made an appearance to play games and sign gear. Speaking of signing, once the people realized that the design and development teams from Nerdvana Games and XYZ, they wanted their loot signed from everyone there too.
Get dat loot
A big allure of the booth were some amazing props created by friends of XYZ. Princess Fluffybutt, created by Anna Maria Lustofin from Autumn & Ivy Designs and Sir Reginald, created by Nick Reardon. Our very own Mike Waid, Jordan Miller and Lauren Nepomuceno collaborated on creating the rest of the tina-esque atmosphere, including the booth’s big easter egg: An actual lootbox.
On day 1 we filled that lootable object with as much exclusive swag as we could find and then just waited for a die-hard Borderlands fan to recognize it and loot it. It took 2.5 days for someone to finally muster up the courage to just open the box and boy were they rewarded. That’s right, our lootbox at the entrance of booth was lit (just like in the game when a box hasn’t been opened) and it was FILLED with great free loot including a Borderlands t-shirt, Tiny Tina’s Robot Tea Party, patches, bandit mask, and a main squeeze plush bunny. We reset the box for Day 3 and Day 4 (and both times someone looted it – good job folks) So, keep that in mind if you see a lootbox in the future. It pays to be a bit bold.
This was such a great experience for all of us at XYZ Game Labs and Nerdvana Games. We were overwhelmed by the amount of people and especially the amount of support from the attendees, enforcers, and our neighborly exhibitors. We couldn’t have asked for a better weekend! If you missed us at our booth, you can get #TinyTinasRobotTeaParty at tinytinagames.com. If you want to see more great photos from PAX East, follow us on social media on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. If you really just want the in-person experience, the next convention we’ll be at is Origins Game Fair (June 12-16, Columbus, OH).
We’ll see ya there!
