Game Over: Gen Con SoCal Cancelled
Gen Con LLC, the folks who (shockingly) put on Gen Con Indy and a number of other gamer gatherings, just announced the end of one of their shows. Gen Con SoCal—having taken place in Anaheim California since 2003—is off the list.
“Putting an end to our Gen Con So Cal show was in no way an easy decision to make,” said Peter D. Adkison, CEO of Gen Con. “But at the end of the day, it became apparent to us that the show was not likely to grow and expand without immense effort and expense. With our other shows doing so well, it made sense to focus our energy and talent on making those the best shows they can be.”You can read the full press release on the now kind of depressing Gen Con SoCal website. Farewell Gen Con SoCal, we hardly knew ye.
Lectric Lich
Posted to Tabletop Gaming on 26 January 2007
· Comments (2)
Yet another sign that gaming is dying a death in favour of other hobbies.
Seen it in the UK. UK GenCon went from 5000+ gamers to just a few hundred over three or four years.
Awww, I don't know about all that. It just seems like a bad area for the convention and not enough industry hullabaloo. All the big stuff happens at GenCon Indy (and traditionally has for pushing 40 years), conveniently located right in the middle of the country. If the hardest of the hardcore gamers have to choose which con to spend their vacation dollars on, it's probably pretty clear where they're going.
There's also always dire portents of the great "death of gaming." But honestly, I don't see it ever happening. I don’t think video games are going to be the end of tabletop games any more so than TV was the death of books. It might have been (and surely was) said that tabletop roleplaying was dying in the late '90s, but then third edition D&D and the OGL hit and dozens of game companies sprung up over night—heck, WotC even had its own stores for a while.
It's just that there's ups and downs. Enjoy the ride.