| PAX | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Status | Active |
| Genre | Gaming (video game, tabletop,CCG, role-playing) |
| Venue | Various
|
| Locations | Various
|
| Country | United States Australia |
| Inaugurated | PAX West: August 28–29, 2004 Other PAX(s)
|
| Most recent | PAX West: August 29–September 1, 2025 Other PAX(s)
|
| Next event | PAX Aus: October 10–12, 2025 Other PAX(s)
|
| Organized by | Penny Arcade RELX |
| Website | www |
PAX (originally known asPenny Arcade Expo) is a series ofgaming culture festivals involvingtabletop,arcade, andvideo gaming. PAX is held annually inSeattle,Boston,Philadelphia, andMelbourne. Previously, it was also held inSan Antonio.
PAX was created in 2004 byJerry Holkins andMike Krahulik, the authors of thePenny Arcadewebcomic, because they wanted to attend a show exclusively for gaming.[1] The shows include a keynote speech from an industry insider, game-culture inspired concerts, panels on game topics, exhibitor booths from both independent and major game developers and publishers, aLAN partymultiplayer, tabletop gaming tournaments, and video game freeplay areas.
The first Penny Arcade Expo was held on August 28–29, 2004 (2004-08-28 –2004-08-29), at theMeydenbauer Center, and was attended by about 3,300 people. Renamed PAX, it became an annual event. Attendance grew rapidly, topping 9,000 in 2005 and 19,000 in 2006.
Outgrowing the Meydenbauer Center, the event moved to theWashington State Convention and Trade Center, where it drew some 39,000 in 2007,[2] 58,500 in 2008, 60,750 in 2009, and 70,000 in 2011. The show stopped reporting attendance numbers in 2011, citing difficulties in tracking attendance in a multi-day event.[3]
In 2009, Penny Arcade partnered with ReedPOP.[4][better source needed]
PAX Prime 2013, the first four-day PAX, was held on August 30 – September 2, 2013 (2013-08-30 –2013-09-02); passes sold out in six hours.
In 2010, the first PAX East was held at theHynes Convention Center on March 26–28, 2010 (2010-03-26 –2010-03-28), drawing 52,290 attendees. The first PAX Prime drew 67,600 attendees in 2010. PAX East moved toBoston Convention and Exhibition Center in 2011; a 2012 agreement cemented Boston as the home of PAX East until 2023.[5]
The first international event was PAX Australia, first held July 19–21, 2013 (2013-07-19 –2013-07-21) at theMelbourne Showgrounds. The following year, it moved to theMelbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre, where it remains.[6]
The first PAX South was held inSan Antonio,Texas, at theHenry B. Gonzalez Convention Center on January 23–25, 2015. It set a PAX record for highest attendance for an inaugural year.[7] But the event saw little growth in later years, and was cancelled in October 2021.[8]
From 2011 until 2020, Penny Arcade held PAX Dev, an annual event meant to allow the game developer community to "speak freely and focus entirely on their trade".[9] Unlike other game-developer events likeGDC, PAX Dev did not allow press. 750 people attended in 2011.
At PAX South 2017, Penny Arcade and ReedPop announced that a new event type, PAX Unplugged, would be held on November 17–19, 2017, at thePennsylvania Convention Center. The event focused on tabletop games, a type that was only incidental in other PAXes.[10]
PAX was originally known as the "Penny Arcade Expo", but quickly became known by its acronym "PAX". Seattle's PAX was renamed PAX Prime in 2010 and PAX West in 2015.[11]
PAX consists of the following activities:[12]
Each PAX features an event called the "Omegathon", a festival-long tournament consisting of a group of randomly selected attendees competing in a game bracket for a grand prize (which has varied from a large game bundle, to a trip to Japan, to a trip to any PAX in the world). The final round of the Omegathon makes up part of the closing ceremonies of PAX. Past games for the final round of the Omegathon have includedTetris,Pong,Halo 3, andskee-ball.
Early PAXes were largely run by a large group of volunteers, which the show calls "Enforcers". Now a paid role, most Enforcers are still not professional conference organizers or temps, but rather selected from an application available to attendees on the PAX website.[13]
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