LOS ANGELES — Thousands of developers from all around the world attend the annual Electronic Entertainment Expo tradeshow to show off their games and take notes on the competition. Kanye West is no different. While he may be a megastar rapper, he’s just starting to wade into the waters of game development.
In February, West told a New York radio station that he is working on a game based on his hit single “Only One.” In the song, West imagines what his late mother, Donda West, would say to his baby daughter, North.
“Right now, I’m working on a video game for ‘Only One,’” West said in the interview. “The idea is it’s my mother going through the gates of heaven. And you’ve got to bring her to the highest gates of heaven by holding her to the light.”
It’s unclear if he actually plans to release this game, much less what platforms it’ll appear on. No one on GamesBeat’s E3 crew saw him in person, but thanks to the power of social media, we can reconstruct West’s day with tweets and photos about which games he played.
Let’s start with Wednesday morning. The earliest mention I could find of West’s appearance was this meeting with senior vice president of the Entertainment Software Association (the company that organizes E3 every year) Rich Taylor.
So, yeah…this is happened at #E32015 Thanks @kanyewest for coming to the show and being so gracious. #ThisIsWork? pic.twitter.com/meCROFJqeB
— Entertainment Software Association (@theESA) June 17, 2015
Later that morning, West went to the Xbox booth to try on HoloLens, Microsoft’s augmented reality headset. Stephen Totilo, editor-in-chief of gaming publication Kotaku, overheard the rapper’s diplomatic impressions on the new technology. While we may never know what West thought of Minecraft, Totilo did manage to snap a picture of him.
I briefly spotted Kanye West upstairs at the Xbox booth. No photos allowed. Was asked what he thought of hololens. Seemed into it, but.. 1/2
— Stephen Totilo (@stephentotilo) June 17, 2015
…I couldn't make out next part.Then he said: "I'm not known for being politically correct." And he went off to play the Minecraft demo 2/2
— Stephen Totilo (@stephentotilo) June 17, 2015
West then walked over to the PlayStation booth, which is just a few steps away from Microsoft’s. He played a demo of Uncharted 4 and tried on Sony’s Project Morpheus VR headset. I’m 99.9 percent sure he didn’t have to wait in any lines for either of them. One of our freelance writers, Miguel Concepcion, tweeted about it.
The Gamespot war room is half full and quiet now that Kanye is nearby. https://t.co/2zacs6h4CW
— Miguel Concepcion (@NormalMode) June 17, 2015
https://twitter.com/rayversus/status/611281131388866560
West crossed over to the other side of the Los Angeles Convention Center to visit the folks at Electronic Arts. He played the new Star: Wars Battlefront demo with members from developer DICE.
.@kanyewest showed up to play our #StarWarsBattlefront #E32015. @hectrix @DICElostinsthlm pic.twitter.com/G4DLJAbXtv
— Patrick Bach (@PatrickBach) June 17, 2015
It seems Mr. West couldn’t get enough of VR. Will Smith from Tested.com (no, not that Will Smith) saw him in a “super-secret” demo room. West’s entourage sounds a bit too … aggressive.
@hofftv They didn’t let us within 15 feet. All I heard was him saying “super dope” over and over.
— Will Smith (@willsmith) June 17, 2015
But that 15-feet policy clearly didn’t apply to Geoff Keighley. The well-connected gaming personality and creator of The Game Awards was seen escorting West outside of GameSpot’s booth. With his hood on and Red Bull in hand, West seamlessly blended into the E3 masses.
https://twitter.com/therealcliffyb/status/611325653015642113
But not every company was fortunate enough to see him.
Kanye West did not visit our E3 booth today.
— XSEED Games (@XSEEDGames) June 18, 2015
Better luck next time, Xseed.