PAX South

PAX South
Photo: paxsite.com
PAX (formerly known as Penny Arcade Expo) is a series of gaming conventions held in the United States and Australia. PAX events are among the most famous and anticipated events in the video game industry. They include PAX West (previously PAX Prime), PAX East, PAX Dev, PAX Australia, and PAX South. PAX South is the youngest PAX event. It is held in San Antonio, Texas.

The PAX festival was created by Mike Krahulik and Jerry Holkins, the authors of the Penny Arcade webcomic focusing on video games and video game culture. The inaugural PAX event was held in 2004 in Bellevue, Washington. PAX events are co-organized by ReedPOP, the world’s largest producer of pop culture events. Its shows include New York Comic Con, Star Wars Celebration, Chicago Comic & Entertainment Expo, BookCon, and others.

PAX South was first announced at PAX East 2014 in Boston. The inaugural edition of PAX South was held on January 23–25, 2015 at the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center in Downtown San Antonio. It broke attendance records for an inaugural PAX show, beating out the first PAX East and the first PAX Australia. Of course, the success of other PAX events had much to do with it.

The program of PAX South is similar to that of other PAX events. The festival features over 100 exhibitors showcasing the latest in the video game industry, an opening keynote speech delivered by an industry leader, panels and workshops, live music performances, a LAN party, video game and tabletop game tournaments, video game freeplay areas, and more.

Just like other PAX festivals, PAX South hosts the Omegathon, a festival long gaming tournament which is considered one of PAX’s main highlights. The contestants are randomly selected from preregistered attendees. During the three days of the festival, they compete in various kinds of games for a grand prize. The final round of the Omegahton takes place right on the main stage during the closing ceremony.

PAX South

Photo by Kiko Villasenor, south.paxsite.com



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