PAX East

In 2004 Bellevue, Washington hosted the first PAX (Penny Arcade Expo) event dedicated to gamer culture. The inaugural convention was a success and attracted 4,000 attendees. Attendance grew steadily with each edition and at some point PAX outgrew its venue and moved to Seattle. Inspired by the success of their event, the organizers decided to launch a sister convention on the East Coast. That’s how PAX East was born.

PAX East was first announced in August 2008. The inaugural PAX East event took place from March 26–28, 2010 in Boston, Massachusetts. The venue of choice was the John B. Hynes Veterans Memorial Convention Center. The logistics of the expo was handled by Reed Exhibitions. The keynote speaker was actor, blogger and writer Wil Wheaton known for his portrayal of Wesley Crusher on the television series Star Trek: The Next Generation.

The first PAX East attracted more than 52,000 attendees over the full weekend – quite an impressive number for a debut event. Of course, the high attendance rate was largely due to the fact that the original PAX convention (renamed PAX Prime in 2010 and then PAX West in 2016) had already been quite popular among the gamer community.

Just like the rest of PAX events, PAX East is a celebration of gamer culture dedicated to all kinds of games, from board games to console and PC games. Its programming includes an enormous game industry expo hall showcasing all genres, platforms and styles of games, a handheld lounge, the Console Freeplay area, an assortment of panels, the PC area, the Tabletop area, live performances, and more.

The highlight of PAX East is Omegathon. It is a festival long gaming tournament involving 20 randomly selected contestants who participate in six elimination rounds. The final round takes place on the main stage of the festival as a part of the closing ceremony.

In 2021, the event was held virtually due to the coronavirus pandemic.