On the Saturday of PAX Aus 2025, 11 October, the entirety of the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre had to be evacuated. The plenary hall alone hosts capacity for more than 5,000 people – and that’s not to mention the various upper halls, relaxation rooms, panel spaces, or the enormous wing around the main floor, all of which were absolutely packed with gaming fans during this year’s show.
Despite a sense of trepidation and anxiety around the whole thing, it all went very smoothly (and full credit to the enforcer team for evacuating everyone calmly and quickly) – and in the end, it proved exactly how strong the PAX Aus community is, and how gaming and pop culture can bring everyone together.
In the time following the evacuation, nobody was really sure what had happened, and whether or not there was cause for alarm. But waiting on the steps and boardwalk around the MCEC, something very fun happened: everyone attending started to make their own fun.
Four different cosplayers in Spider-Man outfits climbed a nearby structure, in character, then started to dance to hoots and hollers. In the alley around The Boatbuilders Yard, various cosplayers showed off their latest builds, and spoke with starry-eyed passersby.
Strangers were chatting for reassurance. Everyone looked out for each other. Taking stock of the entire evacuated party, something else was clear: that PAX Aus 2025 was absolutely massive, and that gaming still has the power to glue people together, even in harder times.
Over the last few years, gaming fans have no doubt become increasingly aware that their hobby is under threat. A string of circumstances, from financial downturn, to corporate mergers and acquisitions, the slow retreat of publishers and funding bodies, and management too-willing to initiate layoffs, has created a sense of doom and gloom around gaming. Beloved studios are closing down. The discourse is dominated by a few, big franchises, and many others are failing to hit key financial goals.
But still, gaming – and the love for gaming – persists. It’s a hobby that remains agnostic to the future of video games, in the corporate world. Gaming is not owned by any one entity. It’s a hobby that is shared – and in that sharing, people form community around it.
PAX Aus 2025 was a wonderful event to see that community in its tangible form, and to see the threads that join gaming fans together.
PAX Aus 2025: Event roundup
Realising shared connections at PAX Aus 2025
On a more personal level, I’ve been attending PAX Aus for the last eight years, barring COVID exceptions. While much of that time has been spent reporting in a professional capacity, I always make time for the elements I love, and to indulge my own sense of fandom, and love for all things gaming.
This year, I was delighted by a great many things. I found The Sims 4 Adventure Awaits represented wonderfully in a camping-themed booth filled with various activities. I managed to get to this booth in the show’s media hour, and indulged in some archery (an instant bullseye, and retirement), and some brief gameplay.
This booth was one of the more impressive, with a very cool concept executed well – and throughout PAX Aus 2025, I always found it packed, as I passed. At the archery booth, everyone cheered each other on, and there were plenty of other folks just wandering, and admiring the installation.
Funnily enough, I spotted a cosplayer here portraying the Soup Faerie from Neopets, and when I asked about her costume with plenty of nostalgia in mind, I was handed a packet of soup for the road, as well as a delighted grin. It was just part of the magic of the show, where a costume, or a demo, or a shared love for a game or two, can make instant friends.
Beyond this Sims booth, and its many wonderful encounters, the Cult of the Lamb booth was even more impressive, with a giant space set up to celebrate the game’s new Woolhaven expansion, set to launch in early 2026. Eagle-eyed fans might have spotted that the chapel from last year’s wedding ceremonies was reworked to feature as the centrepiece of this booth, which allowed for a real sense of magnificence. That the game is Australian-made is even better. It certainly deserved its key spot on the PAX Aus 2025 show floor.
Even hovering near a booth like this was enough to attract like-minded folks, joined by that sense of wonder and passion. In the Pokémon Legends: Z-A line, I learned a great deal about the favourite Pokémon of the people around me. I learned about Warhammer, wandering near the paint-and-take stations. I learned plenty more chatting to folks about the various creations they’d brought to the show – cosplayers with incredible, sparkly outfits, or towering pieces of armour, and tabletop players who’d brought entire Wild West dioramas for an extended play.
The common thread in all of these interactions was joy, willing to be shared.
Celebrating games in all their forms
These elements were concentrated in the indie gaming section of PAX Aus 2025, in PAX Rising and around its outer fringes. It was actually difficult to get any time to play the games being shown off, because there were so many people milling around, excited to get hands-on with as many games as possible.
This year, the curated titles were wonderfully eclectic. It was fantastic to see more representation from NSW-made games, with Screen NSW organising a dedicated segment this year. Your Holy & Virtuous Heretic proved to be very popular, with its neat gothic styling and Persona inspirations drawing a consistent crowd. Brave Cart, a puzzle game about returning trolleys, also inspired an audience, alongside other eye-catching titles such as Cow Chess, Bits & Bops, and the bizarre, brilliant Tingus Goose.
Frankly, it was incredible to see such crowds in this area, all enjoying Australian-made games, because PAX Rising this year was right across the line from a giant Nintendo booth packed with new and released games, including Pokémon Legends: Z-A, Kirby Air Riders, and Mario Kart World. While this booth was phenomenally popular, PAX Rising matched it.
In the case of many of the titles on show, this would have been one of their first or most public exhibitions – an exposure that is incredibly important for early marketing and excitement. And in the smiles and openness that each player shared, I’m sure PAX Aus 2025 was a valuable experience. As someone popping in for a variety of demos, it certainly was for me.
A clear standout of my time was Design and Conjure, a New Zealand-made game inspired by Unpacking, where you are a witch attempting to clean out and organise her cosy room, in 3D style. This game has a beautiful, cosy art style, a very cool theme, and relaxing gameplay that instantly transported me from the show floor to a colourful bedroom.
Tingus Goose was also a fantastic, quirky time. This game is difficult to describe, but essentially it’s a surreal idle game where you’re building up a structure known as a goose tree, adding various limbs and parts to this tree, all of which net you money and prestige. But then there are also weird babies in this game, and body horror, and all sorts of other strangeness that makes you want to turn your head. In short, it’s very weird, and it rules.
Over on the tabletop side, while I didn’t get hands-on, I did also get a chance to observe Ravensburger’s Oh My Pigeons! party board game, which sees players flicking pigeons at their friends – and I was incredibly charmed.
Whether in tabletop or digital form, there was so many of these quirky little games to discover at PAX Aus 2025, with so many different kinds of play represented. You could easily lose hours wandering amongst it all, and seeing what delights were on offer.
A good reminder for tougher times
What was most clear in this mix of experiences, and as demonstrated so well by the brief and well-handled evacuation on Saturday, was that gaming remains a powerful force, untouched by the whims of corporate entities. In tough times, it remains more popular than ever.
The passion has not subsided as quickly as business interests, and while economic downturn may impact consumer wallets, love remains.
And in that love, people find new friends and connections. They form community, and then expand that community. There was a comfort at PAX Aus 2025 that extended out from the heart of the show, to everyone attending. You felt like you could talk to anyone, about anything, and have your passions reflected and indulged. Even with a social awkwardness or anxiety, it felt comfortable to talk to your neighbour, to compliment a cosplay, to ask about a particular game, or a particular exhibit.
As we all get further apart, and the weight of the world begins to seem heavier – it’s been a tough year for everyone – hobbies like gaming help to keep everyone connected. In 2025, this remains more important than ever, and PAX Aus 2025 proved that definitively.
