Published , by Ozzie Mejia
Published , by Ozzie Mejia
Among the gaming events that take place throughout the calendar year, two of the most high-profile ones are PAX West and PAX East. Notice that PAX South, annually held in San Antonio, TX, is not on that list. The third of the domestic PAX expos is usually an uneventful show and it looks like the folks behind PAX have come to realize this themselves. On Friday, the PAX team announced that PAX South would be no more.
Here's the full announcement from the PAX South website:
When the first PAX was held in 2004, we expected at most a hundred locals to show up. Never in our wildest dreams did we anticipate more than 3,000 passionate fans to arrive, or for our one-time event to turn into a series held in five cities around the world.
While each of our other events have flourished, some of them drawing hundreds of thousands of attendees from around the world, PAX South hasn't expanded and to some extent has remained the same show that it was when we opened it in 2015.
Faced with that reality, and compounded by the impact of COVID-19, we have made the difficult decision to bring PAX South to an end for the foreseeable future.
The heart of PAX South lives on in the incredible memories we made in our Texas community and with the international fans and Enforcers who came out to support the show. We’re sorry to all our friends who were looking forward to the show's return in 2022 - we join them in that - but we hope to see you again at our other events as PAX returns. You will forever be part of our family and the legacy of PAX. We learned a great deal from you, and future shows will be better for it.
Thank you, San Antonio, for always embodying the PAX spirit by welcoming home gamers and the people who make the things we love.
- The PAX Team
PAX has been recovering gradually from the COVID-19 pandemic, holding PAX East as "PAX Online" back in July and PAX West back in September. PAX Australia was recently postponed and pushed into an unknown 2022 date.
On top of the reasons stated by the PAX staff, it should also be noted that PAX West had some drama earlier this year regarding proof of vaccination requirements. The Seattle convention originally did not require attendees to show proof of vaccination before doing an about face just days later. With PAX South taking place in the increasingly volatile state of Texas, it's just as likely that the PAX staff did not want to take on a fresh batch of headaches stemming from this issue.
Whether PAX South is gone for good or will return in a new form remains to be seen. For now, the only PAX shows in the United States will be the ones in Boston and Seattle, though a third PAX dedicated to tabletop gaming called PAX Unplugged is currently slated for December. We'll keep an eye on this story and offer any updates as they come in.