Andrew Rogers
BBC Newsbeat reporter

We’re signing off for now here at MCM x EGX after another busy day.

From indie games to arcades, cosplay to comics, it’s clear why so many people have made the journey here today.

Plus, it was Thomas’ first Comic-Con. So, will he be back? Apparently, yes! We’ll hold you to that!

If you've been keeping up with us, you'll know today's show is jam-packed with excitement.

Here's your quick guide to what we've covered so far:

• We've caught up with the voice actors of Ash from Pokémon and Silco from Arcane
• We've also had a chat with artists Manon Wright and Mike Maydak, who are more about passion than pounds, enjoying their craft over cash
• We've delved into gaming giants like Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 and explored indie gems like Jazzhands, a rhythm game controlled by gestures
• For those with a flair for cosplay, we've got everything from Crypto of Apex Legends to Joker, plus a whole parade of Pikachus
• And if you're feeling the need to stretch after a marathon gaming session, check out the swordsmanship training
• You can also delve into our full coverage of the show here

Finally, if you're a costume enthusiast craving more, don't miss our Strictly Come Dancing Halloween Special live page tonight.

Prefer gaming? Tune in next week for another live coverage on the League of Legends World Championship Finals.

Andrew Rogers
BBC Newsbeat reporter

Apex Legends battle for glory, fame and fortune. Cosplayer Danni, who's come as the character Crypto from the game is adding representation to the list too.

The gaming content creator, known online as Hijabi Hoo, incorporates her hijab into her looks - and she's packed no fewer than three costumes for this weekend.

"You still don’t see a lot of representation for the POC (People of Colour) community and especially Muslim women online," she says.

"A lot of people will look to someone else to show them it’s OK to be who they are. I didn’t have that growing up so I decided to fill that role.

"It’s very important to show people that we do exist and we’re out here and we’re having fun and it’s OK to do these things and be religious at the same time."

Thomas Copeland
Live reporter

Across the aisle, I chat to Mike Maydak while he signs his book of “forest punk” art for a customer.

He’s travelled all the way from Kentucky to be here this weekend.

Like Wright, Maydak says this isn’t about the money.

“This is more of an adventure,” he says, “I could only bring so much in my suitcase!”

Maydak has been part of this world for 30 years, starting at age 15 when he worked for company making paper for comics books.

“Things are much bigger now that you have to pick which conventions are worthwhile,” he says, ”but this is definitely a good one!”

Thomas Copeland
Live reporter

Now I am in the comic section of the show where hundreds of artists gather to showcase their works.

We all know this is a big day for comic book fans, but events like this are a lifeline for independent artists.

Behind her stall of pictures, posters, and pins stands Manon Wright.

“I got into comics because I have dyslexia, so as a child the first books I connected with were Tintin,” she says.

Wright studied art and has now published her debut comic, entitled Children of the Earth and Sky.

After paying her fees to be in the show, Wright says she’ll only break even, but for creators, this isn’t always about making money.

“Being an illustrator you spend a lot of time alone so it’s nice to connect with your audience,” she says.

Andrew Rogers
BBC Newsbeat reporter

Voice actress Sarah Natochenny took her role as Ash Ketchum pretty seriously - extending her mission to catch 'em all to her own life too.

"I did Pokémon GO in the booth," she tells me. "I couldn't get away from it.

"There was a gym in the studio! Don't put a gym in the studio if you don't want me to play Pokémon GO."

It might even have helped her get in character, as she says: "They might have been my best episodes".

She stopped to chat alongside Lisa Ortiz and Erica Schroeder who between them play dozens of Pokémon.

Lisa says Pokémon "changed the world" - but if there's one thing about the series that affects most of us to this day, it's the theme song.

"It is one of those songs that makes everyone stop and sing along," says Erica.

"It's like Sweet Caroline because literally, it's the only other song in the world that when it starts, everybody sings along."

Andrew Rogers
BBC Newsbeat reporter

I’ve just had a chance to chat with voice actor Jason Spisak. He’s played a long list of characters, from Kid Flash to Spider-Man’s Scorpion.

But it's his role as Silco from the Netflix series Arcane that we're here to discuss today.

The animated series was first released to critical acclaim in 2021, and a second series is on the way next month.

"Arcane stands singularly because of their commitment to not settling," says Jason.

And coming to Comic Con means Jason, who says he's normally "in a booth behind glass" without an audience, is able to connect with fans.

"Comic Con’s a way for me to feel that connection to the people who’ve heard those stories," he says, adding his character's storyline with Jinx is one fans have been keen to talk to him about.

"The way Jinx’s mental illness is represented on screen has affected many people in a positive way by giving them something to point to and say, 'yeah that’s part of my life experience'," he says.

Image source, Getty

Did you know that lasersaber fighting is officially a sport?

Back in 2019, the French Fencing Federation (FFF) officially recognised lightsaber duelling as a competitive sport. Much like fencing, lightsaber duels are scored on a points-based system with an umpire keeping watch. However, unlike the tip-first jabs of traditional fencing, lightsaber duellists need to strike with a smooth motion (just like in the Star Wars films).

While using a lightsaber to hit each other is good for physical health (according to the FFF), some people are taking a more mental approach.

Take the combat academy, for instance, which is performing today. They teach Tai Chi with a lightsaber.

Through their work, "We are allowing ourselves to rediscover the natural function of our bodies, restoring ourselves and achieving balance," the academy says.

If you've picked up a weapon during your travels through the convention halls, the next thing you'll need is some battle training.

Right by the entrance, you'll find rows of would-be warriors on a padded floor, practising their moves with swords and spears in hand.

Faisal Mian runs Silver Sabres Combat Academy, and he's been teaching martial arts for 20 years.

"You have to be a nerd to be good at martial arts," he says.

And beneath the lightsabers and swords, this is old-school Tai Chi, complete with the meditation and mindfulness.

"None of this is new, it's been established for 5,000 years," Mian says, "we've just changed the box that it comes in."

We've been enjoying ourselves at the UK's biggest video game and comic show.

We've been talking about massive games like Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 and indies like Jazzhands, a gesture-controlled rhythm game.

For those keen on eye-catching cosplay, we've got everything from Joker to Husk, and a whole parade of Pikachus.

Our reporters on the ground have just wrapped up a chat with a lightsaber-wielding swordsman and will spill the beans on what was said shortly. Stay tuned.

Image source, Getty Images

So, we've just introduced you to a Yu-Gi-Oh! pro. But what is Yu-Gi-Oh!?

Yu-Gi-Oh!, meaning King of Games, began life as a card-game manga in Japan's Shonen Jump from 1996 to 2004.

In 1999, it shuffled its way into the real world as a trading card game. Fast forward a decade, and it was crowned by Guinness World Records as the best-selling trading card game ever, with over 25 billion cards sold, according to manufacturer Konami.

The franchise didn't stop there - it expanded its empire to include video games, books, toys, and figurines.

Andrew Rogers
BBC Newsbeat reporter

I've just drawn a card against James Tiffin - a Yu-Gi-Oh! pro from Reading who's here at the EGX game show to mark the game's 25th anniversary.

Like a lot of us, James says he started playing Yu-Gi-Oh! as a kid but got back into it about five years ago.

Since then, his hobby's taken him all over the world as he competes in duels and tournaments.

"The game itself is so complex," he says. "It’s like playing chess but every piece has 18 different things it can do.

"There's been a big resurgence in the Yu community with Covid," he says, adding his own club has grown fivefold since he started just before lockdown.

"During that time we had Master Duel come out so there were online simulators which, when they couldn’t leave the house, people could use.

"I think a lot of that was people connecting back to what they did as children during what was quite a dark time."

Tinshui Yeung
Live editor

With all these games we've been chatting about, you might wonder if the UK's gaming industry is thriving.

Well, not quite.

Don't get me wrong. The UK's games industry is globally respected, employs an estimated 76,000 people and is thought to bring £6bn a year to the UK economy.

But it's also a sector in the midst of a crisis.

Over the last two years, thousands of workers worldwide have lost their jobs and studios have been shut down.

Much of the focus has been on big names such as Microsoft and Sony, both of which have laid off hundreds of staff in 2024.

But smaller studios are feeling the pinch too.

• Read more on the UK gaming industry and its crisis here

Thomas Copeland
Live reporter

I knew that Comic Con and EGX were big, but I wasn’t prepared for the sheer scale of this event.

More than 100,000 attendees will descend on the ExCeL, travelling from across the UK and beyond for this, the organiser tells me.

I’m not tall enough to take a picture that can capture it all, so here is a picture through a window of our upstairs press room.

This is one of two cavernous halls filled with displays, stalls and gameplay areas - more than 450 exhibitors have booked their place.

On the multiple stages dotted about, long queues are forming to hear from the over 700 panellists booked to speak.

But none of those numbers can capture the energy here, the passion and excitement of comic and games fans on what many of them tell me is the greatest day of the year.

Andrew Rogers
BBC Newsbeat reporter

Image source, Obsidian

Avowed, an expansive fantasy role-playing game, or RPG, from Obsidian, has been compared by some to the hugely popular first-person adventure game Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim.

But developers have been keen to explain how this title is taking a different approach.

Carrie Patel, Avowed’s game director, and Obsidian region director Berto Ritger, travelled to London just to show off parts of the game at EGX.

"Sometimes you just have to play it for yourself so you can experience how all the systems, all the content and all the life comes together," Carrie told me.

Gamers will have to wait a while yet.

The title isn’t launching until February 2025. When it does though, it’s going to be another big title dropping onto Xbox’s subscription service Game Pass from day one.

Not a huge surprise, as Obsidian’s one of the many studios Xbox-maker Microsoft has gobbled up over the last decade.

Berto sees that as a big advantage: "It’s a good structure to get a lot more people playing a lot more stuff. It’s been good for us."

Laura Cress
BBC World Service

Image source, Amber & Toby

When I bumped into Toby at EGX's Leftfield Collection area, a space where experimental games are showcased, something told me he might be one of the developers of the nearby game Jazzhands.

Jazzhands is a gesture-controlled, action-based rhythm game that uses a webcam to pick up hand movements. Toby and Amber, both students at the University of Nottingham, made the game in 24 hours at a programming competition (though they admit they've polished it since!).

"Games nowadays need expensive technology to run," says Toby. "With this, you don't need a graphics card or VR. You just need any laptop with a webcam."

The pair are excited to get people's feedback and tell me they even stayed up until 1am last night calibrating it following yesterday's event.

And, how did I do? Alright, they said - though that was on easy. Maybe I'll leave the rhythm to the professionals!

Andrew Rogers
BBC Newsbeat reporter

Image source, Microsoft Activision Blizzard

Having spotted some cosplayers around the venue, let's turn our attention to the main event of the EGX side of the show—the games.

We’ve been chatting to some of the gamers trying out the new Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 for the first time here at EGX.

Ashley says he liked it: "I thought it was really good," he says.

"I played Zombies – it reminds me of the original zombies but new at the same time."

We also caught up with James after he tried the first mission of the new campaign, set during the first Gulf War in the 1990s.

"So far it’s pretty good," he says. "I’m probably going to buy it when I get home and carry on."

They say they went directly to try the game out first when they arrived knowing it would be popular.

Image source, Getty Images

Thomas Copeland
Live reporter

I’m on the convention floor and I’ve decided to set myself a few challenges today.

I want to find out who has spent the longest on their costume.

I come across Ellie by the food stalls, in an instantly recognisable Joker outfit.

She’s eating sushi because the prosthetics around her mouth mean she can’t open it very wide.

“I got up at 6am and spent two and a half hours putting this together,” she tells me.

While taking pictures with strangers nearby, I bump into Poppy, dressed as Husk from a show called Hazbin Hotel.

It only took her 45 minutes to suit up today, but she has spent a whopping three months building her costume from scratch.

The hardest part for was the wings, Poppy tells me, with tiny pieces of felt and gems individually glued together.

“It’s really nice to be a different person for a day and try out a new attitude!” she says.

Tinshui Yeung
Live editor

As you can see, all the cosplayers are dressing up as their favourite characters. And who doesn’t love Pikachu?

There are so many Pikachus wandering around the show that catching them all becomes a fun part of the whole visiting experience.

Hafsa Khalil
Live reporter

Comic Con is not only for comic book lovers.

If you've ever had some strong opinions about anything in pop culture - the Game of Thrones finale, a certain comic-to-screen adaptation, or Channing Tatum as Gambit (a grievance I will never be rid of), then you’re in the right place.

Welcome to Comic Con, where a conversation while standing in line to see a Loki panel, gives you friends for the day - or a lifetime.

It's one of the few dates on the calendar where you can set your inner fan-girl free and have a moment because the chances are that the Ewok next to you is an even bigger fan. And yes, you can cry, unconsciously mimic Yoda (I don't want to talk about it) or just stand dumbly in your starstruck-ness.