ReedPop, the events company behind the annual Penny Arcade Expo gaming convention in Seattle, announced that this year’s PAX West will be an in-person event.
Tickets for PAX West 2021, still scheduled for Sept. 3-6 at the Washington State Convention Center, will go on sale at some point over the next two weeks. A full four-day pass will cost $230, with individual-day options costing $60.
“Based on our conversations with the Washington State Convention Center, City of Seattle, and the State of Washington, we’re confident about running a safe, in-person show this Labor Day Weekend,” said Ryan Hartman, vice president of Media, Content, and Events at Penny Arcade, in an official statement to GeekWire.
If PAX West 2021 goes ahead as scheduled, it’s currently planned to function at a lowered event capacity in order to ensure the safety of attendees.
Washington state is scheduled to reopen its economy and lift COVID-19 restrictions June 30.
“Vaccination rates in King County are some of the best in the country, with more than 70% of eligible residents fully vaccinated and the numbers continually increasing,” Hartman continued. “We’re finalizing our health and safety guidelines for the show, which will include reduced capacity, enhanced sanitation, and mask requirements, and will share them on the PAX West website in the coming days.”
“It’s been almost two years since the last PAX West, and it’s been surreal to imagine its triumphant return,” said Penny Arcade’s Jerry Holkins in a press release. “I can’t think of a better excuse to leave the house than PAX West.”
This year’s PAX West, barring further complications, will function as a major stress test for the events industry in 2021.
Most of the yearly events on the Washington state nerd calendar in 2021 have been postponed, canceled, or turned virtual due to health concerns, including the Sakura-Con anime convention, Emerald City Comic Con (now scheduled for December), and the Crypticon horror show (pushed to August from April).
That, in turn, has put many of the companies and vendors that depend on these yearly events on life support. ReedPop and Penny Arcade canceled six full shows over the course of the pandemic, and merged several shows into a single week-long “virtual PAX” in September.
In the meantime, ReedPop and Penny Arcade are currently planning events for PAX Online East 2021, a virtual event, to be held from July 15-18. Events for the show include a digital Omegathon, where four competitors go up against each other in a multi-round competition of secret games, and an open, amateur-friendly tournament for Riot’s team-based shooter Valorant.
Addendum, 6/23/2021: The PAX West website has updated with new health and safety guidelines for the convention. This includes an unspecified reduced capacity for the venue, temperature checks at the door, physical distancing mandates for exhibitors, and a face mask requirement for attendees. Notably, it does not currently include any kind of vaccination requirement.
