PAX East 2023
PAX East, Penny Arcade Expo, is a celebration of gaming and gaming culture featuring captivating panels, an extensive expo hall filled with the best publishers and studios, state-of-the-art game demos, musical performances, tournaments, and a community experience that is unparalleled. Hardcore gamer, gamer enthusiast or gamer lites are all welcome for this fun experience.
What is there to do, seriously?
If you are someone like myself who jumps to the next headline don’t fret we will get you right in track for PAX East.
Expo Hall
This hall is packed with exhibitors ranging from AAA publishers and developers behind the latest blockbuster games, to the innovative indie teams disrupting the industry.
Special Guests and Bandland
Meet and greet talented creators in Bandland, a series of merch vendors supporting bands performing at PAX, artists and other content creators you may recognize from That Thing You Like.
Console Freeplay
Over the years we have collected an absolutely bonkers library of consoles and games, so they might as well make them all available to attendees to play all weekend long.
Panels
They strive to elevate all aspects of the culture around gaming, and perhaps nowhere is that more evident than their panels, with the full schedule available about a month prior to each event.
PAX Arena
What happens when you bring the world’s most competitive gamers together and pit them against each other for fame, glory, and cold hard cash? It is going to be a riot!
Tournaments
If you’ve got the guts to put your skills to the test and compete with fans from around the world, they’ve got a tournament for you.
PC Area
Bring in your personal computer to have available throughout PAX, or play on our computers already loaded with an array of the best LAN games we can find.
PAX Rising Showcase
Not all developers are in a position to show off their latest and greatest to PAX attendees. Enter the PAX Rising Showcase, giving even the smallest indies a chance to stand next to the AAA’s and show off their games at PAX.
Community Meetups
Find folks that share your love of a fandom, meet fellow cosplayers, and make new friends at the show with all the meetups taking place over the weekend!
Handheld Lounge
The PAX Handheld Lounges are excellent places to take a break, relax your tired feet, and lounge around. Oh, and you can also play handheld games there.
OMEGATHON
They’ve selected champions from the badge holders to compete against each other for your amusement, but beware, the road to the Final Round of the Omegathon is paved with tears and broken dreams. It is a spectacle to see, come watch and enjoy with everyone!
Pin Trading
Pinny Arcade is an ecosystem of pins you can collect or trade with attendees, Enforcers, and staff members throughout PAX. Get started with your collection a variety of ways— including at the Official PAX Merch Booth.
Tabletop Gaming
From board games to card games, they’ve got you covered. Find hundreds of tables and a bag of holding worth of lending library titles you can check out and play for yourself throughout the weekend!
PAX Together
PAX Together is a program which celebrates diversity and underrepresented groups both at PAX and in the gaming community at-large. PAX believes that games should be for everyone and made by anyone. Whether you're here to meet old friends or find new favorites, they aim to have something for everybody.
PAX XP
Each PAX has a series of features for those who have activated their badges including the Arcadia scavenger hunt, instant win prize towers, photo stations, and more.
AFK Room
The AFK Room is a place to regain your calm and take a break from the hustle of the show. Brought to you by their partners at TakeThis.org
Child’s Play Charity
Founded in 2003, Child’s Play provides games and technology to over 180 children’s hospitals worldwide. Be a gamer who gives back by supporting the official charity of PAX.
Storytime Keynote
The first panel at each PAX has hosted some of the most notable names in gaming!
Still Need More Information About What PAX Is?
In 2004, the folks at Penny Arcade decided they wanted a show exclusively to celebrate gaming and the culture around gaming. Comics, anime, and other hardcore nerd hobbies were all cool, but those activities already had their own shows…where could gamers call home? With that in mind, PAX was born, and when exactly 1337 people pre-registered for the very first event, they knew they were on to something magical.
From their humble beginnings, PAX has doubled in size each year until it hit venue capacities. At that point, they partnered with Reed Exhibitions and started bringing PAX to other cities around the world including Boston, San Antonio, Philadelphia, and Melbourne, Australia.
Over the years, PAX has evolved with the times: embracing the cutting edge of technology with VR Freeplay, reaching out across the full spectrum of gamers via our Diversity Lounge, and building up immense game libraries for every genre and platform. Despite this, they’ve stayed true to our roots and a pretty surprising amount of what makes PAX what it is today existed way back in 2004. Freeplay, Tournaments, Enforcers, Expo Hall, Concerts, Panels, and the Omegathon…it was all there. It was just on a smaller scale 19 years ago.
Want to Meet the 8-Bit Dojo?
Spazee McGee and myself will be attending the event all four days. Feel free to join our discord and reach out for potential times to link up if its for business, photo collaborations or a quick chit chat. We are looking forward to meeting our East Coast friends who can’t make it out West as often as we would all like so this will be a great opportunity to see and vibe with wonderful people and community members alike. All of this while being at the wonderful Penny Arcade Expo in Boston, MA. Cannot wait to see you all there!
