Tag convention

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Pax Unplugged: This year’s best panels for current and aspiring board game industry professionals

The last big board game convention of the year kicks off on Friday as Pax Unplugged returns to the Philadelphia Convention Center. BoardGameWire rounds up some of the most interesting-looking sessions for tabletop game industry professionals from across the three days, ranging from how to grow your own evergreen title to getting your start as a tabletop gaming artist.

Mike Didymus-True
17 November 2025

Feature

Spiel Essen eyes record 220,000 attendance as world’s biggest board game fair expands into seventh huge hall

The record could finally fall this year after Spiel made the decision to expand into a seventh vast hall at the Messe Essen exhibition centre, boosting the show floor to 77,500 sq m - up 13% year-on-year, and almost 30% compared to 2023.

News

Spiel Essen 2025: This year’s best panels for board game professionals

This year Spiel is bringing its annual series of panel discussions and talks to the main show floor via a new 1,000 sq m stage in Hall 4, featuring everything from professional discussions about crowdfunding and fulfillment to a bagpipe-playing workshop and cosplay craft showcase.

Mike Didymus-True
14 October 2025

Feature

Former airline captain hoping to create the Gen Con of Dubai with launch of the Middle East’s first dedicated board game convention

A former airline pilot who has spent the last decade building a board game distribution business and chain of retailers in the Middle East is hoping to create the region's equivalent of Gen Con with the launch of a Dubai-based convention this November.

Mike Didymus-True
19 September 2025
1 Comment

News

Africa’s longest-running board game convention hoping to double attendance this year after ongoing Kickstarter passes goal

Africa’s longest-running board games convention, AB Con in Nigeria, has set its sights on more than doubling attendance at this year's event after pulling past its funding target for its latest Kickstarter campaign.

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Spiel Essen sells out for first time as 204,000 attendees set post-Covid record

The world's biggest board game fair, Spiel Essen, has posted a new post-Covid attendance record amid completely selling out of tickets for the four-day event for the first time in its 41-year history.

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Spiel Essen set for another record-breaking year as upsized show sells out for exhibitor space

Spiel Essen, the world’s biggest board game fair, is set for another record-breaking year after a surge of interest saw it completely sell out its floor space for exhibitors - despite a big expansion in available capacity this year.

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Spiel Essen, the world’s biggest board game fair, scraps using AI art to promote event after backlash last year, ongoing legal uncertainty

Spiel Essen, the world's biggest board game fair, has stopped using AI generated images to market the event, citing criticism from industry professionals and consumers about last year's campaign and ongoing uncertainties about the legality of the technology.

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Record-breaking UK Games Expo preps for even bigger future after being outbid for its main hall next year

The UK’s largest hobby gaming convention is planning a big expansion in 2025, after a surging attendance saw more than 39,000 people descend on this year's record-breaking event.

Feature

Gen Con-style events, an extra hall: UK Games Expo mulls expansion options as it preps for its biggest, most international event yet

UK Games Expo director Richard Denning has been organising the show since its foundation in 2007, when 900 gamers converged on a Birmingham conference centre. After a record 32,000 attendance last year, the event is now considering its future expansion - with Denning citing Gen Con's vast swathe of live entertainment as a key inspiration.

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