PAX West and PAX AUS Cancelled, Replaced by PAX Online

The organizers behind PAX West and PAX AUS have announced that both events have been cancelled in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. Instead, gamers will get an online replacement in PAX Online, “a steady 24/7 stream of content, events, discussions, and gameplay” that will run from September 12-20. It will be completely free to watch, and those who were planning to buy merch for either cancelled event will still be able to do so through the Penny Arcade Store. PAX West items are available for pre-order now, while PAX AUS merchandise will be added on June 23.

When the severity of COVID-19 became apparent in mid-March, a significant number of enthusiast shows began to cancel their in-person events for the year. E3 2020 was officially cancelled on March 11, and in response, many publishers in the games industry opted to hold online streams to show off their games. More recently, Blizzard scrapped BlizzCon 2020 and is considering an online event in early 2021, and EVO announced that its yearly fighting game tournament will be held in an online-only format.

The relatively late cancellation of the PAX events comes nearly two months after the events’ organizers tweeted that they were still planning to hold PAX West on Labor Day weekend in Seattle, WA. The announcement was met with its fair share of criticism, with some feeling that continuing with the event could pose a public health risk.