PAX Aus has always been the big boy in the Australian convention scene, ever since it graced the Melbourne Showgrounds for the first time back in 2013. The King of Conventions.
With major publishers pulling out over 2022/2023 and Dreamhack blowing everyone away in 2024, it was as though the community felt that the convention had lost that crown.
We couldn’t have been more wrong.
PAX Aus made an announcement at 10am today and, well, they’ve come out swinging. The first piece of good news: big publishers are coming back to PAX Aus!
From Cult of the Lamb weddings in a life-sized replica of the Lamb Temple to gamified Dodgeball on an LED court (yes, really), there’ll be so many displays, activities and shows that it’ll be difficult to experience everything.
Whilst that post is frankly hype af, we’re going to do our best to step you through all of the announcements - there is a lot.
A lot.
First, we’ll provide a TL:DR list of publishers and brands exhibiting at PAX Aus before we jump into the rest of it.
Publisher & game brands (click to go to each section):
Ubisoft PC Game Pass
This isn’t even taking the indies into account, which we’ll do in another article.
More on those weddings: Devolver and Massive Monster will be hosting the first-ever PAX weddings. As I said before, these crazy people are recreating a faithful, life-sized replica of the Lamb temple featured in the wildly successful Cult of the Lamb, and holding legitimate weddings in it. On Sunday October 13 at 11am and 3pm, four nerds will tie the knot and exit the convention as newlyweds.
We live in crazy times.
Massive Monster drew the two couples in their (super cute) COTL style
We also interviewed James Pearmain, Art Director for Massive Monster at PAX way back in 2022:
Red Bull Gameball Royale is being held over the weekend featuring teams of creators lead by captains Lachlan, Iamfallfromgrace, Muselk and Loserfruit. While dodgeball is probably already chaotic enough, add an impressive LED court to play on which will deliver gamified mechanics and the prestige of being Australia’s first Red Bull Gameball Royale Champions and there’s bound to be some hilarious, intense and awesome moments.
Image courtesy Red Bull
Now, one of the names we read in the announcement that really caught our attention was Steam. The media release from PAX is incredibly vague as to what they’re getting up to. Whilst we almost expect playable hardware like the OLED Steamdeck on display, we also know that Steam doesn’t do things in halves. There’s no real information about what’s going on, but Steam being Steam, we expect greatness.
Image courtesy Steam
A literal Elder Scrolls Online Tavern at the PAX Pub is what Bethesda Softworks ANZ is bringing to the event (I feel like this is going to be great), alongside a Fallout 76 Skyline Valley C.A.M.Psite Handheld Lounge.
An Assassin’s Creed Shadows demo will be playable at the Ubisoft booth, with Charles Benoit, Game Director for AC:S presenting Bringing Assassin's Creed Shadows to Life with Ubisoft Quebec.
The PAX Arena is going to be the place to be for eSports fans on Friday night. From 6pm-10pm in the queue hall, Ubisoft will be showcasing Rainbow 6 Siege featuring top of the line gear from Razer, ZOWIE and Centre Com.
Sul Sul! Ever wanted to have your Tarot cards read by Death himself? Well, okay, not actually Death, but Grim! From The Sims! He’s just as scary! Right?
Maybe now is a good time to atone for your Sims Sins? We know about the ladder incident at the pool. Don’t pretend it didn’t happen.
The Sims is at PAX Aus in celebration of their newest expansion, Life and Death, coming soon. Grim is excited, so he’ll be there on all three days posing, reaping lost souls and (kind of off-brand, not gonna lie) taking part in giveaways.
It knows what you did.
The launch of Diablo IV: Vessel of Hatred is being celebrated at the Blizzard Entertainment stand, with bespoke artwork by JazzaStudios and a life-sized glaive weapon ripped straight from the game. A Vessel of Hatred kit introducing the new Spiritborn class and its Spirit Guardians is up for grabs for two lucky winners every day of PAX Aus.
If you’re a fan of games by PlaySide Studios, you must make your way to their booth over the weekend. Featuring multiple playable titles including KILL KNIGHT, Thrive: Heavy Lies The Crown, Age of Darkness: Final Stand and an unannounced Dumb Ways to Die title (yes, the world doesn’t even know of this game’s existence yet) and an interactive experience for the upcoming MOUSE: PI for Hire by Fumi Games.
On that topic, they’re also hosting a global exclusive First Look: Developer Playthrough panel. Mateusz Michalak, Game Director, and Producer Maciej Krzemien will host a live playthrough of the game (did I mention this is a global exclusive? I did? Oh well, world exclusives are cool enough to mention again).
SEGA is back! Sonic X Shadow Generations, Metaphor: ReFantazio and Two Point Museum will be featured at their booth alongside a dedicated streaming area where notable content creators will stream SEGA titles LIVE from the convention.
Movie Sonic will be there too. We’re going to get a high-five from him.
We're coming for you.
(This one’s for owldamone) FINAL FANTASY™ XIV Online are actively challenging FF veterans and newbies alike to battle Valigarmanda or beat an early primal battle and snap a photo at their booth and pick up (deep breath) LOOT.
There’s also a panel with Story Designer Natsuko Ishikawa and Quest Designer Saki Takayanagi. Don’t miss it!
Valigarmanda - image courtesy TheGamer
Bandai Namco are bringing Dragon Ball Z: Sparking! ZERO for you to play, and Square Enix is hosting a Life is Strange: Double Exposure photo activation with an opportunity to win (deep breath) LOOOOOT over all three days!
As always, PAX Aus has a huge amount of hardware brands demonstrating their state of the art gear and peripherals. You can often find some convention exclusive deals on some truly amazing technology, so definitely go and check out:
AFTERSHOCK PC
ASUS - Republic of Gamers
Bluemouth Interactive
Cooler Master
Govee by Clever Gear
Intel
Keychron
LG Electronics Australia
MSI Gaming
Samsung
Secretlab
Don’t forget that 2024 will see the largest tabletop gaming area in PAX Aus history, featuring the Disney Lorcana TCG hosting ‘learn to play’ sessions, a photo op in the Great Illuminary and more, with Disney Lorcana artist Matt Chapman available for signings!
All of this without mentioning the Indie Developers, who are the lifeblood of the modern games industry (seriously, go check out the PAX Rising area over the weekend), the sheer amount of awesome cosplayers (most Australian cosplayers save their biggest/most intricate/most impressive cosplays for PAX with some only wearing them once, so make sure you check socials to find out who’s bringing their A-game) and the frankly absurd amount of content creators big and small who will attend over the weekend.
Taking place on October 11-13, this convention is the southern hemisphere’s largest celebration of gaming, having proved itself over the last decade. There’s a reason the sign in the causeway at MCEC reads as, and we at mOB also can’t wait to welcome you: Home.
If you'd like to check out our past coverage of PAX Aus, a good place to start is with last year's cosplay showcase:
Love, mOB
So goood, can't wait to see what Steam is bringing to PAX!
I have too many Sims sins to confess 😭
We will get a high 5 from Sonic! Mark me!
So exciting to see what's happening! Thanks for a full-depth breakdown!
Hyyyyyyype!