PAX West and Australia are being replaced with PAX Online in September

No lines online

News by Lauren Morton Contributor

Published on June 17, 2020

At this point, I imagine anyone planning to travel to Seattle or Melbourne for the Penny Arcade Expo in September was anticipating a change in schedule. Almost every physical game event this year has been changed, delayed, or gone online due to the spread of the Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic. PAX West and Australia are no exception. Both are being cancelled and replaced with a free, nine day event called PAX Online this September.

PAX is a series of events that happen year round, bringing attendees together in various cities for game demos, panels, tournaments, and other live stuff. “PAX Online brings that shared experience home, along with game reveals, exclusive hands-on experiences, the chance to hear from and speak with your favorite game developers, plus so much more," says PAX co-founder Jerry Holkins.

PAX organisers say that the event will run 24 hours a day over the course of the nine day event. It will feature "surprising game reveals, hands-on demos, thrilling esports tournaments, and a carefully curated selection in the Indie Showcase." They say that platforms for watching and participating in the event will be shared in the coming weeks.

In April, we were still hoping to bring you PAX West this year. But health and safety are paramount, and as we worked on solutions, it became clear that if we really wanted to welcome everybody home, we'd have to take PAX Online. Read the full post here: https://t.co/tMoLP5ndfA pic.twitter.com/7VVJYzn4aa
— PAX (@pax) June 16, 2020

Online events can't possibly be the same as physical ones, but I can't complain about giving my feet a rest this year. Best yet, it's free. Oh, and you won't have to anxiously wait in those online queues crossing your toes that you manage to buy an attendee badge.

PAX Online will run from September 12-20th, replacing both PAX West and Australia which were both scheduled for the same month.

By the by, we just recently found out that Warframe: TennoCon will also be online this year.

You can read more about PAX Online on the PAX website.

Disclosure: ReedPop are one of PAX's organisers and also Gamer Network's parent organisation. Gamer Network are RPS's parent. That makes the convention RPS's corporate, uh, cousin? Half-sibling? We wave to one another at the grocery store but don't swap stories at the family barbecue—how's that?

Read this next