PAX attendance rises by 2k, 60,750 people geek out

by Ben Gilbert { Sep 12th 2009 at 3:00PM }

After the recent announcement by the folks at Penny Arcade that PAX 2009 sold out the Washington State Convention and Trade Center, today they officially released attendance numbers for this year's Penny Arcade Expo. Speaking with Big Download, PA's Robert Khoo said 60,750 people packed into the convention center -- though he had earlier predicted "roughly 75,000" -- and that the show's organizers are looking into expansion plans for next year to accommodate more showgoers.

We'd say with the unveiling of PAX East, some people may very well have stayed home in anticipation of a shorter travel distance early next year over this year's Washington-based soiree. This might help explain the relatively small attendance growth from 2008's 58,500 people to this 2009's numbers. However, Khoo said he's surprised how many people plan on attending both PAX East and next year's PAX, umm, West. We'll see you a year from now, Khoo -- with facts!

Tags: big-download, pax, pax-2008, pax-2009, pax-east, penny-arcade, penny-arcade-expo, robert-khoo

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

XHAOZ @ Sep 12th 2009 3:12PM

very good!

jynxycat @ Sep 12th 2009 3:26PM

PAX Midwest, pls :\

GohanGVO @ Sep 12th 2009 4:36PM

A billion times this. You would think that being in the middle of the country (Chicago!) would be beneficial. Instead, all we have is a bankrupt legend (Midway), a Disney-owned subsidiary (Wideload) and those "Fracture" guys (Day 1 Studios).

Uncontrol @ Sep 12th 2009 3:28PM

I wonder what the number would have been like if it hadn't sold out?

HippoHero @ Sep 12th 2009 4:19PM

Larger.

Zuka_Ninja @ Sep 12th 2009 3:34PM

There was just the right amount of people and space this year. Please Khoo try to keep future PAX's similar to PAX09.

CH3BURASHKA @ Sep 12th 2009 3:34PM

That's actually a slightly disappointing number. I heard talk around the convention of there being close to 75K people, even though I didn't really believe it. Still, 60 thousand people saw some awesome games. That's good enough for me.

venk @ Sep 12th 2009 3:48PM

It will drop next year after all of the Swine flu related deaths. Look for job postings popping up at all of your favorite video game blogs in the next few months. ;)

Can Stephen Totilo die again?

Riley @ Sep 12th 2009 8:27PM

Maybe no one has told you this, but swine flu is not really any more deadly than regular flu

Mr Khan @ Sep 12th 2009 8:42PM

Totilo's a zombie? News to me.

dantebk @ Sep 13th 2009 11:29AM

I think he was joking, downvoters.

I'm upvoting to compensate...

J-Link @ Sep 12th 2009 3:57PM

I hope to one day make my pilgrimage to PAX but alas It will probably take a few years before I can go.

Haon @ Sep 12th 2009 4:00PM

Would have been 60,750 +1 if I got my shit together and moved earlier (liv on an island in the Atlantic)

Andre @ Sep 12th 2009 4:20PM

I'm confused...they announced tickets sold out, presumably they would know how many that would be. Yet they expected 75,000? How the hell does that work?

Panic Blitz @ Sep 12th 2009 6:03PM

I was wondering that too. Then there's also weirdness with people sharing passes. I spent part of the weekend at Bumbershoot across town, and while I was there I let my roommate use my PAX pass. So that's an extra person technically.

Akuma FTW @ Sep 12th 2009 6:50PM

It's PAX Prime, not "PAX West" Mr. Ben.

And IMO they need to get a deli# system instead of waiting in line four hours for one game. I'm not against growth but most of the time it was hard to walk around.

Vexorg @ Sep 12th 2009 10:24PM

They did a great job on PAX this year. Based on observations I would have guessed the 75,000 was a bit on the high side, but the crowd seemed well managed this year, with little trouble getting around the convention center, no unreasonably long waits (then again, I didn't bother with ODST or L4D2) and I somehow even managed to dodge the Swine Flu. I've been to every one of these so far (one of the perks of living near Seattle) and this was by far the best executed and organized one yet.

toad @ Sep 12th 2009 11:43PM

Agreed, last year was pretty terrible with most panels and showings filling up super fast. This year had more space and things were separated out much more nicely. This year was by far the best ever

Mo @ Sep 12th 2009 11:54PM

"We'd say with the unveiling of PAX East, some people may very well have stayed home in anticipation of a shorter travel distance early next year over this year's Washington-based soiree. This might help explain the relatively small attendance growth from 2008's 58,500 people to this 2009's numbers"

or....the fact that tickets were sold out....

Klepto @ Sep 13th 2009 11:48AM

I thought they were limited because of the convention center. Thats why they put another 2k tickets up for sale? Or was that just some sort of spin? I don't really see how it's disappointing if you blow out all your tickets.

AsherR [Planeteer | Power of The Hoff] @ Sep 13th 2009 12:28PM

Who wants to go to PAX East with me? :P

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