A sweltering Saturday was not enough to keep hundreds of gamers from showing up for TennoCon 2019 in London, Ont.
Hosted by RBC Place London, the annual convention comes in celebration of Warframe, a free-to-play, third-person shooter video game created by London developers Digital Extremes.
Before doors opened at 11 a.m., Londoners would’ve spotted a massive flock of Warframe fans lining up around the block from RBC Place London.
In front of it all was Jeffrey Sung.
Hailing from Richmond Hill, Ont., Sung made a strong case for being TennoCon’s most dedicated fan when he showed up on the doorstep of RBC Place London at 1 a.m. The next fan in line didn’t show until 4 a.m.
“I barely had any sleep… I was pretty much alone,” Sung said, adding that he was driven to show up early due to past experiences at TennoCon where he made the mistake of showing up at 8 a.m. only to find a long line in front of him.
Elsewhere outside the event, Kristian Poemtcinao and Emma Eythorsdottir stood in line amid the unfamiliar heat and humidity of the London, Ont. summer.
The Icelandic pair have been friends since high school, but only decided this year to make the trip overseas for TennoCon.
“I’ve sat at a home watching TennoCon live every year… and I didn’t have anyone to travel with me,” Eythorsdottir said, adding that she and Poemtcinao discovered a mutual love for Warframe when the friends were reunited through work.
“We met up again at work, and were both playing the same game, so we’re like, ‘Hey’s let’s go do this,'” Poemtcinao said.
Inside RBC Place London, Warframe fans were treated to an array of concept art, gaming stations, photo ops, and guest panels.
Anna Gerber travelled from Boston to see what TennoCon had to offer. A Warframe gamer for two years, Gerber offered a fond description of the scene at TennoCon.
“You can be in a safe place to say whatever you want to say and people get what you are saying,” Gerber said.
“Whenever I feel a little lull and I don’t feel as inspired to play anymore, I come to something like this and I’m ready to get back into it.”
Marco Tsang had similar praise for TennoCon, adding that Warframe’s fan base is “just like any community.”
With recent numbers estimating the game has a total of 50 million players, Warframe has grown to be recognized as Digital Extreme’s most successful titles since its release in 2013.
You can find more photos from TennoCon 2019 in the gallery below.