Today Penny Arcade has announced PAX South, their third convention in North America, which will take place in San Antonio sometime in early 2015. Citing the success of PAX Prime and East and the high demand for a southern location of the perpetually sold out fan event, the decision is said to have been a matter of "when, not if". Combined with the latest iteration of the convention (PAX Australia, which is held in Melbourne) this news brings the total number of PAX conventions to four.
It will be interesting to see how the existence of another PAX will affect the indie gaming scene. In the past PAX has been greatly strengthened by its focus on indie game development. However this dynamic may weaken in light of the of mounting pressure developers face to attend every conventions, especially given the added expectation of having something new to announce with each appearance. It may also force some developers to priortize certain conventions over others, making the overall indie presence (which greatly benefits from strength in numbers) at each event only smaller. Then again, the community may benefit greatly from an expanded audience that includes more fans from the south.
PAX South will be held January 23-25, 2015 in San Antonio, TX. PAX East 2014 is currently ongoing in Boston, MA. PAX Prime 2014 dates have not yet been announced.
