![PAX Australia Is Back [Update]](https://www.kotaku.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/43725926_2198522407094762_3723330822762135552_n.jpg?quality=75&w=640&h=360&crop=1)
Reed Pop, the organisers behind the international Penny Arcade Expo conventions, has confirmed that PAX Australia will return this year after a COVID-19 induced hiatus.
The company announced the news through the official PAX Australia Twitter account Wednesday morning, saying that the show will “be back in 2021 as a live event, just as you remember it!”
There will, however, be concessions to reflect the changed environment. Organisers states that “tickets will initially be limited”, although they didn’t specify precisely what that meant in terms of numbers. The official Melbourne Convention & Exhibition Centre (MCEC) site says events are currently capped at “25 per cent of the venue’s seating capacity to a maximum of 250 people seated”. That would be a significant drop in previous years, with PAX Australia hosting 80,000 visitors in 2019.
“Free standing events are currently not permitted, but event capacity will increase over time subject to public health advice,” the MCEC page says.
Update 10:55am: The PAX Australia team has told Kotaku Australia that badges “will be limited on the safe capacity limits of the venue as determined by the MCEC”.
Update #2, 11/03: Shortly after the publication of this story, MCEC published a press release announcing that events would be capped at “a maximum of 75 per cent capacity” with a total of 10,000 attendees per day:
From 20 March, capacity will increase to 10,000 patrons per event space per day, at a maximum of 75 per cent capacity. For events over 5,000 patrons, time-based sessions apply, with a time-gap between sessions. This means exhibitions can operate two daily sessions at a maximum of 5,000 per session subject to latest density limits (currently 1 person per 2 square metres).
How exactly this would work in the context of PAX Australia isn’t known just yet. Hopefully those limits are able to be increased further later this year, but we’ll see how it goes.
PAX Australia is currently scheduled for October 8-10. The organisers added that any ticket purchases affected by COVID-19 restrictions or border closures will be refunded.
Enough with the teasing, we are very excited to announce that PAX Australia will be back in 2021 as a live event, just as you remember it!
8 Oct – 10 Oct 2021
Melbourne Convention & Exhibition CentreHang with us + 1000’s more on the #PAXAus discord now: https://t.co/S4BQIcFa47 pic.twitter.com/Ev1DnIzFaX
— PAX Australia (@PAXAus) March 9, 2021
Ticket sales have not been opened at this stage. More details on that will be announced through the official PAX Australia website.
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