Last year in December, the organizers of the Penny Arcade Expo shared their plans for the different PAX conventions that were set to take place this year following the cancelation of many events last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The plan was to have PAX East take place in June, PAX West in September, and PAX Unplugged in December. Today, the organizers have announced a change in those plans as PAX East 2021 has been canceled. “In light of ongoing public health concerns, ReedPop and Penny Arcade will not hold PAX East this year. Given the United States’ progress towards addressing COVID-19 in recent months, we are cautiously optimistic PAX West and PAX Unplugged will proceed as planned with in-person festivities Sept. 3-6 and Dec. 10-12, respectively,” the PAX East ’21 Update reads. With PAX East canceled, the organizers have announced that PAX Online will be returning in July, an event that was introduced last year.

In light of ongoing public health concerns, ReedPop and Penny Arcade will not hold PAX East this year. Given the US’ progress towards addressing COVID-19 in recent months, we’re cautiously optimistic West & Unplugged will proceed in-person festivities Sept 3-6 and Dec 10-12.

— PAX (@pax) March 29, 2021

PAX Online last year was a combination of PAX West, PAX Australia, and EGX. The event held several panels as well as tournaments throughout. PAX Online was also free. Talking about the return of PAX Online, the organizers said “we hope to build on the success of last year’s record-breaking event and also engage with our community in new ways, such as the Indie Showcase that will take place between now and PAX Online.”

Since we can’t wait until September to reconnect with the wonderful PAX community, PAX Online will return July 15-18.

Read the full statement at https://t.co/ptaZiGTazE

— PAX (@pax) March 29, 2021

Reedpop and Penny Arcade will still be paying close attention to the situation with COVID-19 and will observe government guidelines and local laws, and defer to health officials and experts on what is deemed safe.

“While we hoped PAX East could safely take place, we remained realistic and did not sell any tickets or space to exhibitors to avoid significantly inconveniencing our friends and partners. As we have shown via our actions throughout the pandemic, our utmost concern is the safety of the PAX family — from attendees, exhibitors, and show staff to media and content creators — as well as the local communities that host our celebrations of all things gaming. We will only move forward with a live PAX once we are confident the show will be safe for everyone.”