PAX West 2025: The Death of Gaming Conventions Has Been Greatly Exaggerated (by myself...)
I may have panicked a little to early
Several months ago, I put out an article titled PAX East 2025: Has the Physical Connection Between Fans and Content Been Severed? In it, I explained that while I had a lot of fun at PAX East, it didn’t seem to reflect the current state of the gaming industry. Games of all sizes felt missing, and almost no sector of the industry felt properly represented. Well, I can happily say that PAX West felt like it remedies most, if not all, of my concerns.
The Big Dogs Are Back
This was a convention that I feel like I could proudly recommend to anyone even slightly interested in games. For the first time in what seems like years, there was a huge slate of upcoming AAA titles, such as Resident Evil, Onimusha, Borderlands 4, Hollow Knight: Silksong, and even Bubsy 4D—all playable on the floor. Now granted, most of these demos had constantly capped lines on the busier days, but even if you didn’t get to play them, their sheer presence and the grandeur of their booths brought back a long-lost energy to the weekend.
Fostering Indies
Not only that, but there were a lot—and I mean a lot—of exciting new indie developers showing off their games for the first time here at PAX. As someone who regularly makes an effort to stay up to date on the most exciting indie projects, I was genuinely surprised by the number of fantastic games I stumbled upon. Games like Blocks for Babies, Terrible Lizards, and No Stone Unturned stole the show and proved that PAX was still a viable and worthwhile event for indies to make a splash.
This may seem like an obvious observation that doesn’t need stating. Still, over the past few years, I’ve attended event after event where I've seen the same booths with the same games, and over time, it felt like the small PAX Rising section was the last bastion of exciting demos. I realize this could be attributed to a million factors: economic conditions, games taking longer than expected to release, publishers wanting to push their portfolios, etc. Whatever the reasons may be, it seems—for now at least—that the tides have turned.
Start Planning Your Trip
I’ll always keep it real with you guys, and the truth is, I was not entirely comfortable recommending PAX after my experience at East. It was fun—but not a one-size-fits-all kind of fun. It felt like it was fun for a specific type of gamer who was looking for a very particular category of game. After coming back energized, grateful, and happy, I feel confident enough to strongly recommend PAX to anyone on the fence about attending. You’ll discover and play a treasure trove of games both big and small, and you’ll also likely meet at least one friendly face during your time in line or at panels. Also, I’m partial to Seattle. Partly because I live here, and partly because I think the timing lines up perfectly with the fall marketing cycle, so you have a greater selection of new games to try out. That being said, I have a feeling Boston will be a great time next year as well.
PAX is back.