PAX (event)#PAX West 2017

The first Penny Arcade Expo was held on {{start and end dates|2004|8|28|2004|8|29}}, at the Meydenbauer 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 the Washington State Convention and Trade Center, where it drew some 39,000 in 2007,{{cite web|last= Magrino |first= Tom |title= PAX 2010 descends on Boston |url= http://www.gamespot.com/news/6197016.html |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20091124114641/http://www.gamespot.com/news/6197016.html |work= Gamespot |publisher= CBS Interactive |date= August 29, 2009 |archive-date= November 24, 2009 |access-date= September 7, 2009 |url-status=live}} 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.{{cite web |last1=Ellis |first1=Tim |title=How Penny Arcade manages PAX ticket sales – and why your crazy idea to fix them won't work |date=May 13, 2015 |url=https://www.geekwire.com/2015/how-penny-arcade-manages-pax-ticket-sales-and-why-your-crazy-idea-to-fix-them-wont-work/ |publisher=Geekwire |access-date=11 July 2019}}

In 2009, Penny Arcade partnered with ReedPOP.{{Cite web |last=Venables |first=Michael |title=How Pax Became The Biggest, Greatest Fellowship Of Gamers, Geeks And Civility in the World |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/michaelvenables/2013/09/02/how-pax-became-the-biggest-greatest-fellowship-of-gamers-geeks-and-civility-in-the-world/ |access-date=2021-09-05 |website=Forbes |language=en}}{{Better source needed|date=September 2021}}

PAX Prime 2013, the first four-day PAX, was held on {{start and end dates|2013|8|30|2013|9|2}}; passes sold out in six hours.

In 2010, the first PAX East was held at the Hynes Convention Center on {{start and end dates|2010|3|26|2010|3|28}}, drawing 52,290 attendees. The first PAX Prime drew 67,600 attendees in 2010. PAX East moved to Boston Convention and Exhibition Center in 2011; a 2012 agreement cemented Boston as the home of PAX East until 2023.{{cite news |author=Herald Staff |url=https://www.bostonherald.com/2012/02/15/pax-east-commits-to-boston-for-10-more-years/ |title=PAX East commits to Boston for 10 more years |work=Boston Herald |date=February 15, 2012 |access-date=December 8, 2020}}

The first international event was PAX Australia, first held {{start and end dates|2013|7|19|2013|7|21}} at the Melbourne Showgrounds. The following year, it moved to the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre, where it remains.{{cite web |title=PAX Australia on Twitter|url=https://twitter.com/paxaus/status/1500984673018990592 |publisher=Twitter |access-date=March 8, 2022 |date=March 8, 2022}}

The first PAX South was held in San Antonio, Texas, at the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center on January 23–25, 2015. It set a PAX record for highest attendance for an inaugural year.[https://www.ign.com/articles/2015/01/26/pax-south-attendance-breaks-records PAX South Attendance Breaks Records]. IGN. January 25, 2015. But the event saw little growth in later years, and was cancelled in October 2021.{{Cite news|last=Rodriguez|first=Megan|date=2021-10-30|title=PAX South gaming convention in San Antonio canceled for 'foreseeable future'|url=https://www.expressnews.com/news/local/article/PAX-South-cancelled-San-Antonio-16577453.php|access-date=2021-10-31|website=San Antonio Express-News|language=en-US}}

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".{{cite web |url=http://dev.paxsite.com/faqs.php |title=PAX Dev FAQs |publisher=dev.paxsite.com |access-date=April 7, 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120331161611/http://dev.paxsite.com/faqs.php |archive-date=March 31, 2012 }} Unlike other game-developer events like GDC, 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 the Pennsylvania Convention Center. The event focused on tabletop games, a type that was only incidental in other PAXes.{{Cite web|url=http://unplugged.paxsite.com/|title=PAX Unplugged - Philadelphia, PA Nov. 17 - 19, 2017|website=unplugged.paxsite.com|access-date=March 14, 2017}}

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.{{cite web|last1=Khoo|first1=Robert|title= @skelevader b/c if i make an announcement people will read too much into it. Besides, press releases are lame. PAX WEST FOR LIFE. |url=https://twitter.com/rkhoo/status/667122653820542976|website=Twitter|access-date=February 26, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160226054359/https://twitter.com/rkhoo/status/667122653820542976|archive-date=February 26, 2016|url-status=live|date=November 18, 2015}}

PAX consists of the following activities:{{cite web |title=PAX West 2017 Guidebook |url=https://guidebook.com/guide/102681/ |publisher=Guidebook |access-date=11 July 2019}}

• Freeplay, further broken into: Console, Classic Console, Handheld, PC, VR, and Tabletop.
• Tournaments, further broken into: Console and Tabletop. Some PAXes feature additional tournaments hosted by vendors.
• "Bring Your Own Computer" or BYOC, a LAN Party.
• Panels, talks, signings, and similar events.
• Concerts.
• PAX Arena, an eSports tournament.
• The Omegathon.
• An Exhibition Hall, which includes game studios, merchandise, and the Indie Megabooth.

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 included Tetris, Pong, Halo 3, and skee-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.{{cite web |url=https://west.paxsite.com/enforcers |title=Enforcers - PAX West |publisher=PAX |access-date=11 July 2019 |archive-date=July 11, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190711083616/https://west.paxsite.com/enforcers |url-status=dead }}

{{Main|List of PAX events}}

File:Logo of PAX West.svg|PAX West (Formerly Penny Arcade Expo, then PAX and later PAX Prime) has been held annually in Seattle, Washington, United States, since 2004.

File:Logo of PAX East.svg|PAX East has been held annually in Boston, Massachusetts, United States, since 2010.

File:Logo of PAX Aus.svg|PAX Aus has been held annually in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, since 2013.

File:Logo of PAX Unplugged.svg|PAX Unplugged has been held annually in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, since 2017.

File:Logo of PAX South.svg|PAX South was held annually in San Antonio, Texas, United States, between 2015 and 2020.

File:Logo of PAX Dev.svg|PAX Dev was held annually in Seattle, Washington, United States, between 2011 and 2019.

File:Logo of PAX Online.svg|PAX Online was held virtually between 2020 and 2021, during the COVID-19 pandemic.

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• DreamHack
• E3
• ChinaJoy

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• {{Commons category-inline}}
• {{Official website|https://www.paxsite.com/}}

{{Penny Arcade}}

{{Reed Elsevier}}

{{Video Game Trade Shows}}

{{Washington State Fandom Conventions}}

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