WHERE GAMING MEETS THE INTERNET
As a frequent convention goer, one thing I can say is RTX is one of the best conventions I have ever attended. This is my fourth year attending and these folks manage to outdo themselves every single time. For those unaware, RTX is a three day convention hosted by Austin’s own Rooster Teeth, the media company responsible for some of the internet’s best content such as Red vs Blue, RWBY, and Achievement Hunter.
The convention ran from July 7th-9th at the Austin Convention Center and brought fans from all over the world, bringing in about 60,000 in attendance.
One of the many things that separates this convention from others is the community engagement. Whether it’s the moment you step onto the convention floor or are waiting an hour for your favorite panel to start, everyone in attendance greets each other as if they were long time friends. Part of this is thanks to the friendly and down-to-earth members of Rooster Teeth themselves as personalities such as Barbara Dunkelman, Mariel Salcedo, and Gavin Free stop to converse with fans.
There is a mutual appreciation from the fans and the online celebrities that came to see them and that’s something that’s not reciprocated often at events similar to this one. It’s almost like one big three day party.
The cosplayers were out in full force, dressing as characters from Red vs Blue, RWBY and many other gaming and anime franchises.
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Yang Cosplayer during RTX 2017 (Photo by Danny Benavides)
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RWBY Cosplayers during RTX 2017 (Photo by Danny Benavides)
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RWBY Cosplayers during RTX 2017 (Photo by Danny Benavides)
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RWBY Cosplayers during RTX 2017 (Photo by Danny Benavides)
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Link & Zelda Cosplayer during RTX 2017 (Photo by Danny Benavides)
There were several fantastic panels from 343 Studios, Lazer Team and the Founding Fathers of Rooster Teeth. Some of my favorite panels I had the pleasure of attending included Kinda Funny, Always Open and RWBY to name a few. Check out some of my highlights below.
The Kinda Funny crew, which consists of Greg Miller, Tim Gettys, Nick Scarpino, and Andy Cortez, certainly know how to put on a panel, even when entirely improvised. No matter what time of the day, you always get 100% energy from them, especially from their ringleader, Greg Miller who even hulked out of his shirt at one point during the panel.
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Kinda Funny panel during RTX 2017 (Photo by Danny Benavides)
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Kinda Funny panel during RTX 2017 (Photo by Danny Benavides)
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Kinda Funny panel during RTX 2017 (Photo by Danny Benavides)
One of the biggest treats of the convention came from Andy Serkis and Joe Letteri, of War for the Planet of the Apes, who were the subjects of a panel on Friday. The two discussed their longtime partnership and go into details of motion capture and animation. The panel was moderated by, who better than, the Head of Animation at Rooster Teeth, Gray Haddock and the Director of RWBY, Kerry Shawcross. Details of which can be seen here.
Andy Serkis and Joe Letteri discuss their new film “War for the Planet of the Apes” during RTX 2017’s first day keynote at the Austin Convention Center in Austin, Texas on Friday, July 7, 2017. (Photo by Jack Plunkett)
As a huge fan of the series, The RWBY panel was a delight and included Barbara Dunkelman, Lindsay Jones, Kara Eberle, Arryn Zech, Kerry Shawcross, Miles Luna and Gray Haddock. The group revealed the release date for RWBY Volume 5 which premieres exclusively for FIRST members on October 14th. More details on the RWBY panel can be found here.
RWBY panel during RTX 2017 at the Austin Convention Center in Austin, Texas on Friday, July 7, 2017. (Photo by Jack Plunkett)
RTX one-up’d themselves from previously years by also hosting a special performance by the incredible Phantogram at Stubb’s BBQ Saturday night.
Phantogram performs on the second night of RTX 2017 at Stubb’s Amphitheater on Saturday, July 8, 2017 in Austin, Texas. (Photo by Jack Plunkett)
Rooster Teeth also dropped several announcements during the convention:
Rooster Teeth Animation announced a new animated series in the works called gen:LOCK, and it’s a mecha-themed anime set in the not-too-distant future. On the losing side of a global culture war, an Experimental Science Unit is pushed to identify a team of young pilots who can control a variety of prototype, next-generation mecha (giant, robotic, weaponized bodies). The recruits will find, however, that their newfound abilities come at no small cost.
Another huge announcement to come out of RTX is their next feature length movie, called Blood Fest, which will be a horror comedy and will be unlike anything we have seen from the media company before. Filming starts in August. No release date yet.
The cast of Day 5 were in attendance for their red carpet premiere and to debut the trailer for the upcoming season which can be viewed below.
RTX finished another strong year. Just when you think it isn’t possible, every year the team at Rooster Teeth managed to make the convention bigger and better than the previous year. With the amount of new content the media company has on the way, it’s no surprise next year’s convention will be even bigger.
Didn’t get to make it to RTX this year? Don’t worry, the company has already announced their dates for next year. RTX 2018 will run from August 3rd -5th.