Endix Expo is preparing for its Fall 2026 virtual games showcase, slated for Nov. 6-8, 2026, for three days dedicated to digital gaming. After attending the Spring Endix Expo in May 2026, I left the experience impressed by what it stood for. As my first major virtual gaming showcase, it left me wondering: where did Endix Expo begin, and where is it headed?
This is a condensed version of our conversation, exploring Endix Expo’s origins, evolution, and what makes the experience so different. While Endix Expo is still relatively young, it has already begun carving out a unique place within the gaming showcase landscape. It may be one of the easiest events to enter and interact with, giving gamers, press, and game developers a way to connect in real time through an immersive MMO-like experience using both text chat and proximity voice chat.
A Deep Dive Into The Founder of Endix
For Nikos, the story of Endix goes back to 2019, when he was completing his Master’s degree in Innovation Strategy in the United Kingdom. A lifelong gamer who started playing at five with Disney’s Hercules, Nikos was tasked with finding ways technology could disrupt an industry. At the time, major gaming events like E3, Gamescom, and the Tokyo Game Show were some of the biggest ways to experience what was happening in gaming, but actually attending them was another story. When he was younger, finances and getting parental approval stood in the way. Later, when those were no longer problems, finding the time became the bigger issue.
Living in Greece also gave Nikos another perspective. Major gaming events and announcements could feel distant, particularly for regions that were not considered priority markets by publishers and event organizers. As part of his thesis research, he interviewed gamers from several countries, including Peru and Italy, and began hearing many of the same concerns. Geography and culture were different, but the problem was familiar: getting access to major gaming events, announcements, developers, and the games themselves was not always easy.
What began as something Nikos and his friends experienced themselves started to look like a much bigger problem. The more people he spoke with, the clearer it became that there were gamers around the world who wanted a better way to take part in these events. That idea would eventually become Endix and the foundation for what the platform is trying to accomplish today.
“It turned out that us gamers have more or less the same needs. There are many countries that don’t have major events or big announcements, and that showed us there was a genuine need.”
The Spark That Created Endix
For Nikos, the spark behind Endix came from a frustration he and his friends already knew well. Whenever major events such as E3 rolled around, they would try to follow along from afar through livestreams, creator coverage, and gaming announcements. It gave them a look at what was happening, but it still wasn’t the same as actually being there.
That experience eventually got Nikos thinking about what gaming expos were missing. Online games had been bringing people together for years, with players forming friendships through titles such as World of Warcraft and Lineage and sometimes meeting in person later on. So why couldn’t gaming events create some of those same connections?
That question helped shape what would become Endix. The idea was to let attendees experience an event through an avatar while interacting with other players, creators, and developers in real time. Getting there would take years of startup challenges and development hurdles, but the reason for building it never really changed. Nikos and his friends wanted something more engaging than simply watching a gaming event unfold online.
Nikos described this as what academics sometimes call a “latent need,” essentially a problem that exists before people realize there could be a practical solution for it. He compared the idea to the way online navigation eventually replaced bulky road atlases. In his view, virtual events can similarly remove some of the barriers that have made major gaming showcases difficult for people to experience. They can also give exhibitors something in return, creating a shared space where major publishers and smaller independent studios can exist alongside one another.
“It creates a genuine sense of community, allowing people to connect and easily experience major brands while also discovering smaller studios that don’t have the resources to travel the globe and showcase their work.”
The Essence That Makes Endix
“The uniqueness of Endix, even if you enjoy AAA or AA games, smaller studios, or solo developers working on passion projects, you can find pretty much everything. It’s good for the audience, but it’s also exhibitors, especially smaller ones with smaller budgets.”
According to Nikos, that accessibility extends beyond players and creators. One of Endix’s central goals is creating opportunities for smaller developers to share space with established publishers in ways that are often difficult to achieve at traditional events. In a physical expo setting, major publishers and independent studios may occupy the same venue, but opportunities for direct interaction are often limited.
One of the things Endix tries to do is put everyone in the same virtual space. Players can move from one exhibit to another without the size of a studio determining where they can go or what they can discover. Previous events have included publishers such as THQ Nordic and Gameforge alongside smaller development teams, giving those smaller projects a chance to be seen by people who may have initially come for a much bigger name. At the same time, the larger names can help draw people into the event in the first place, giving smaller studios an opportunity to benefit from that traffic.
“People might join Endix because they’re excited about a game from a major publisher, but then they discover other games along the way. That’s something unique that Endix can offer.”
Building Blocks of Endix
One of the biggest challenges Nikos faced early on was the fact that Endix lacked a clear point of comparison. When the first pilot event was held in 2022, there were no established examples he could point exhibitors toward when explaining the concept. The earliest supporters invested not through financial backing, but with their time and trust. According to Nikos, that made attracting exhibitors particularly difficult because there was no existing platform he could reference and say, imagine this, but with our approach. While some community members would later compare Endix to PlayStation Home, those comparisons emerged after the platform had already begun taking shape.
While building Endix, Nikos began receiving feedback that reinforced why the platform mattered. Some community members told Nikos that attending a traditional gaming event simply wasn’t realistic for them. For some, money was a problem, or social anxiety, or personal circumstances made attending difficult. Being able to enter Endix from wherever they were gave those people a chance to experience an event they otherwise may have missed. Several users reached out simply to thank the team for creating a space where they could participate in an event they otherwise would have missed. For Nikos, those messages became some of the most meaningful moments in Endix’s development.
“You know that you’re doing something good and bringing your whole heart into it; you want to give your visitors and exhibitors an awesome experience, but seeing the other ways that what you are building has proven to be useful and enjoyable afterwards is an amazing feeling.”
An Experience You Can’t Express
That same feedback helped shape one of Endix’s guiding philosophies. Nikos explained that the platform is surprisingly difficult to describe until someone experiences it firsthand. Creators often join their first Endix event, begin streaming, and quickly realize that words alone struggle to capture how the experience works.
According to Nikos, it is not uncommon for viewers to join an event after watching a stream, interact with creators in real time, and become part of the experience themselves. As awareness of Endix has grown, so has recognition of the platform. He pointed to Gamescom as a milestone, recalling conversations where publishers and studios already knew what Endix was before it needed an introduction.
“With each edition, it keeps growing and many people returning. Gamers, exhibitors, but also press and creators, which is important because we want to have that community.”
Community-Driven Experience
Despite Endix’s continued growth, Nikos emphasized that the platform is still developed by a small team of fewer than ten people working across marketing, development, creator relations, and business operations. With a team of fewer than 10 people, Endix can’t afford to chase every idea that sounds impressive. Nikos explained that new features have to be worth the time and resources needed to build them. That has led the team to focus heavily on things the community actually asks for, including easier access to exhibitor press kits, multiplayer mini-games, and continued work on server optimization.
“We aren’t going to build something that drains our resources just because it looks super cool. We focus on features that improve the overall Endix experience. I feel it’s important to be community-driven because that’s the vision we have for Endix.”
One of Endix’s longest-running attractions is a maze originally introduced in 2022, which Nikos admits he still struggles to complete without a dose of luck. The maze is another example of how Endix’s community has shaped the experience. It was already part of the event in 2022, but once multiplayer was introduced in 2025, it took on a life of its own. Visitors could explore together, get separated in different sections, and use voice chat to try to find one another again.
Nikos recalled watching streamers and their communities spend a surprising amount of time trying to find their way through the maze. Viewers would joked that one participant had become “one with the maze” and were never going to escape. At that point, getting lost had practically become part of the entertainment. Groups of players, creators, and community members would wander around together, trying to figure out where they were and where everyone else had gone.
Whether through conversations between developers and fans, community-requested features, or hundreds of players exploring a virtual maze together, the focus remains on creating moments that would be difficult to replicate through a traditional livestream alone.
Refinements to Endix
Looking back, Nikos admits the earliest vision for Endix was much larger in scope than what exists today. Coming from a business and agency background rather than a development one, he initially imagined expansive virtual worlds and experiences that would have required substantial budgets to create and maintain. As development progressed, however, the team began refining the concept around a central question: what aspects of the experience truly mattered most to visitors and exhibitors?
Nikos explained that every major increase in development and operating costs would eventually need to be reflected through tickets, fees, or other revenue streams. Rather than pursuing complexity for its own sake, Endix evolved toward a model that balanced immersion, accessibility, and affordability. That philosophy remains evident throughout the platform’s design. Nikos pointed to the decision to have visitors spawn in a city upon entering Endix, a choice influenced by interviews he conducted early in the project’s development. Those conversations revealed that the excitement of an event begins long before opening day.
For many fans, anticipation builds weeks in advance as they plan who they want to see, what games they hope to try, and who they might meet along the way.
“So the way that Endix is being structured, to a big extent, is to replicate the feelings and emotions an event can have on a fan.”
The Vision Becomes Reality
When asked what aspect of Endix’s growth he is most proud of, Nikos immediately recalled a story from Gamescom. An Endix exhibitor attending the event was approached by a member of the German press who recognized their voice from previous conversations inside Endix. For Nikos, the moment represented exactly what he had hoped the platform would accomplish: creating virtual connections that could later carry into the real world.
He described a similar experience of his own, where an exhibitor he had previously communicated with through email and Discord recognized him while exploring Endix and called out to him through proximity voice chat.
“You meet people virtually and then connect with them in real life.”
Those encounters reinforced his belief that Endix occupies a unique position within the event space. Rather than replacing physical expos, the platform creates additional opportunities for players, developers, creators, and members of the press to meet, interact, and build relationships that extend beyond the event itself.
“It shows us that we’re doing something that feels right and can be an extra part of the event experience.”
Building Endix And Earning Trust
Creating Endix proved far more difficult than simply creating the platform itself. Nikos described the early years as a typical startup struggle: a small team, limited resources, no development background, and the challenge of convincing exhibitors to trust an entirely new concept. Technical hurdles created additional friction, with early users needing to download a launcher, create accounts, and navigate bugs that have since been resolved. Launcher download issues were resolved when Endix launched directly on the Steam and Epic Games storefronts. Finding people who shared the vision and were willing to invest their time in an unproven project became one of the team’s biggest obstacles.
Beyond development, Nikos said one of the most unexpected challenges was visibility. Even when an event was successful from an operational standpoint, there was little evidence afterward that it had happened. Early events lacked the social media presence, recognition, and community momentum that larger expos rely on. While visitors and creators attended, the impact often felt fleeting once the event concluded. Looking back, he admitted he underestimated how difficult it would be to build awareness and establish Endix as something people would actively seek out.
“When you start something, there’s a bit of wishful thinking,” Nikos explained. “You think that because it looks good and fills a need, people will understand it.”
Instead, he learned that concepts like Endix only make sense once people experience them firsthand. After spending years developing and refining the platform, he had to recognize that new users needed easy access, opportunities to engage with the event, and reasons to share their experiences with others before the community could begin growing organically.
Nikos Inner Reflection
For Nikos, the conversation became most reflective when discussing the personal impact of building Endix, how it shaped him and affected his life, especially when faced with struggles with the vision he held for the future of digitally gamified exhibitions. Nikos reflected that building something, anything, really, that becomes your child, an extension of oneself. For all of Endix’s growth, community milestones, and technical evolution, Nikos admits the journey has had a significant personal impact.
Nikos described the experience in a way many startup founders might understand. “Over the past five years, I’ve aged 30 years.”
Behind the joke is the reality of building a company without extensive resources, development experience, or financial backing. He spoke candidly about the emotional highs and lows that come with building something from nothing, including moments of doubt before major events and wondering whether the experience would ultimately meet expectations. Even today, he admits that feeling never completely disappears.
There were also times when Nikos questioned whether continuing was worth the sacrifice. During those moments, he said support from family, friends, and trusted people around him became essential, helping him separate emotional frustration from the reality of what the team had accomplished. Ultimately, what kept him moving forward were the people who found value in what Endix was becoming.
”People reach out to you and thank you for what you’re preparing. People want to be involved and help in any way they can.”
For Nikos, those messages serve as a reminder that the years of effort, setbacks, and uncertainty have created something meaningful for the community.
“We’re making something the community needs, enjoys, and is eager to see the next iteration of.”
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