PAX East 2021 is cancelled but PAX Online is coming back in July

If you're looking at the 2021 calendar and really starting to miss your usual gaming convention trips, PAX has some good and bad news. The bad news is that PAX East, which had been tentatively scheduled for June 2021, is officially cancelled. The good news is that PAX Online will make a comeback in July and the organizers are feeling "cautiously optimistic" about hosting PAX West in person this September.

Back in December, PAX organisers shared some prospective dates for this year, including PAX East in June. They said at the time that if Covid-19 remained a serious barrier to gathering safely they would choose to cancel or host the show online. As of today, they've officially made the choice.

"In light of ongoing public health concerns, ReedPop and Penny Arcade will not hold PAX East this year," they say. "ReedPop and Penny Arcade will continue to monitor the situation surrounding COVID-19, observe government guidelines and local laws, and defer to health officials and experts on what is deemed safe."

Instead of heading to Boston this summer, PAX Online will be back this year. Watching from my desk at home can't quite compare to heading to the east coast, but I won't deny that staying home was its own kind of adventure last year. Oh, and it was free. That part was nice.

PAX Online will officially run from July 15th-18th this year. As with last year, you can keep an eye on the PAX Online website for updates as the event gets closer.

PAX organisers also say they're "cautiously optimistic" about holding PAX West in September and PAX Unplugged in December this year. That's certainly no guarantee, but hey, I'm feeling cautiously optimistic about autumn too.

On the same optimistic note, Gamescom is planning a hybrid event with a digital and physical component for August. Meanwhile, E3 will be online this year, instead of being outright canceled again.

Disclosure: PAX is run by ReedPop, who also own RPS.