While PAX West 2017 has recently ended, this event was a departure from previous Penny Arcade events. Unlike like the previous PAX West (formerly known as PAX Prime) this time the event ran from August 31, 2017, to September 4, 2017. That’s four days! They went ahead and added an extra day so that attendees could experience more of the event. It was definitely the right call, in my opinion, since three days wasn’t nearly enough time. Between all the attractions and the crowds, people simply ran out of time.
This, however, led me to wonder if they were going to be changing the format on their other events. Mainly PAX East, since I head out to Boston, MA, every year. Having an extra day would be fantastic for since I typically can’t try out everything as I help cover the event for The Outerhaven. I took to Twitter and Reddit to see if there had been any official announcement, and I didn’t see any threads about it. I spoke with another member here, who stated he had been approached about rumors of PAX East being extended. But he had no solid proof of this.
Frustrated with my search, I ended up catching the last PAX West stream and noticed that people were also inquiring about PAX East. I chimed in that it would be nice to see an extra day added and someone replied back to me. Not only did they have the proof, but they pointed out the tweet that confirmed this.
Sure enough, the heads of Penny Arcade, Gabe, and Tycho, had made an official announcement.
Did you catch the announcement from Gabe and Tycho at #PAXWest? Starting next year, #PAXEast will become four days (April 5-8th in 2018)!!
— PAX (@pax) September 1, 2017
Not only is PAX East 2017 a 4-day event, but we also know the days when it will take place. This is pretty big news as PAX event dates announcements are usually held back until the last minute. Now that we know those dates, we can start getting our plans together, such as flights, hotels and even time off from work. An extra day is a time to get more stuff done, to play more games and to meet more interesting people. Lastly, keep in mind that PAX East 2017 saw over 80,000 attendees during the course of three days.
Looks like it’s time for me to get my bank account and my feet ready. And if you plan on attending PAX East 2018, you should too. That said, we still don’t know when the tickets will go on sale or the pricing of them. Last years event, the tickets were priced at $52.50, per day. Pricing has jumped up every year, so it’s not unexpected to see another price hike this time around.
Penny Arcade’s next upcoming event will be PAX Unplugged, a newly announced event that will focus on table-top and card games. This will still be a 3-day event, at least for now. It is scheduled for November 17-19 and will be held at the Philadelphia Convention Center, in Philadelphia.
