Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Gaming
  3. News

‘Destiny 2’ director will deliver keynote at PAX West 2017 gaming convention

Garrett Hulfish
By

As many gamers are likely aware, PAX West 2017 is less than a month away. Set for September 1-4 in Seattle, this gaming convention is jam-packed with exhibitors, panels, and more.

Kicking off the event each year is a keynote delivered by a notable figure in the video game industry. This year’s Storytime keynote will be delivered by Bungie’s Destiny 2 director Luke Smith. Two years prior to joining Bungie, Smith published a feature as a news editor at 1UP titled Broken Halo: Five Ways Bungie Can Fix Halo 2. During his time with the developer, Smith worked as a systems designer for Halo: Reach and Destiny, lead designer for Destiny‘s raids, and creative director for Destiny: The Taken King and Destiny 2.

Recommended Videos

“Luke Smith has been around the block, and I can’t wait to pick his brain about it,” says Jerry Holkins, co-founder of Penny Arcade. “I’m also going to see if they need writers over there at Bungie, because I’ve written a lot of fan fiction under various pseudonyms and I’ve got a ton of great ideas.”

Related

Like other conventions throughout the year, PAX West 2017 features a number of panels for guests to attend. Highlights include Gearbox Software’s Inside Gearbox, Monolith Soft’s Middle Earth: Shadow of War, and CD Projekt RED’s Celebrating the 10th Anniversary of The Witcher. A full lineup of panels throughout the course of the show can be found on the PAX West 2017 website. Those who are not attending can enjoy the panels live on Twitch.

The show floor will be packed to the brim with exhibitors. Big names such as Nintendo, Sony, Microsoft, Bethesda, Bandai Namco, and more will have a presence, in addition to a large number of rising independent developers. A full lineup of more than 200 exhibitors can be found on the Guidebook App.

PAX West was founded in 2004 in an effort to connect leading game developers directly to their fan base. It provides a space where gaming is celebrated through panels, demos, concerts, tournaments, and more. Since its foundation, PAX has expanded to include West, East, South, Australia, and Unplugged events.

For those looking to get tickets, the bad new is that PAX West 2017 tickets are sold out and media registration has closed. The good news is there are many more PAX events still to come, not to mention Gamescom 2017 in Cologne, Germany, later this month.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics
Garrett Hulfish
Garrett Hulfish
Contributor
Garrett is the kind of guy who tells you about all the tech you haven't heard of yet. He also knows too much about other…
Here’s the entire Destiny 2 story explained, up through The Witch Queen
Destiny 2 Beyond Light Beginner's Guide.

Destiny 2 is here, kicking off a new chapter of Activision's wildly popular shared-world shooter. A lot has happened in the universe of Destiny since the original game launched, including expansions, large and small, which add to the story, and countless tweaks to the form and function of the game's fundamental elements. So much has happened, in fact, that a reminder might be in order for anyone wondering what's going on in Destiny these days.

The latest expansion, The Witch Queen, is actually the twelfth chapter in the Destiny saga, depending on how you count. Developer Bungie released Destiny in September 2014, followed by four major expansions: The Dark Below, House of Wolves, The Taken King, and Rise of Iron. Destiny 2 kicked off the series' second arc a few years back and has already seen a few expansions to progress the storyline even further.

Read more
The Witch Queen made me a healthier Destiny 2 player
Hive Guardians created by the Witch Queen Savathun

I used to be what you might call a Destiny addict. Back in the mid-2010s, I was all-in on the first Destiny game, practically playing it daily. I had a dedicated crew I ran raids with, chased the highest-level gear I could find, and competed in the Crucible like it was a job. I clocked over 400 hours playing the game over the course of a few years, and when Destiny 2 came out in 2017, I started on that same path.

But life changed. My free time became more scarce as I got older and the idea of spending all my time on one game became unrealistic. I had other things I wanted to play and it no longer made sense to keep up with an MMO where the grind was always climbing. I still checked out every major expansion, playing through any new story content, but I began to feel like I wasn’t getting a fulfilling experience if I ignored the grind.

Read more
Destiny 2: The Witch Queen weapon crafting guide
A player crafted shotgun in action in Destiny 2.

Destiny 2: The Witch Queen brought with it a long-running feature of traditional RPGs: Weapon crafting. Players will no longer be purely at the mercy of RNG. Guardians can now create certain weapons and select perks to suit their playstyles. It’s a layered system with a few interesting quirks. Fortunately, we are here to teach you in our guide to Destiny 2 weapon crafting.

Further reading

Read more