PAX Aus 2025 Delivers an Epic Weekend of Gaming, Community, AustraliaFirsts, and a Newly Crowned Cosplay Champion
- Kapow!
- 6 days ago
- 3 min read
The lights dimmed and the crowds dispersed, but the buzz is still echoing after PAX Aus 2025.

This year’s event delivered one of the boldest, most immersive editions yet with fan favourites
and new launches entertaining the crowds. Over three unforgettable days at the Melbourne
Convention & Exhibition Centre, gaming fans, creators and industry heavyweights converged in
celebration of everything that makes the gaming community so great.
This year’s event featured:
● Blockbuster Firsts & Hands-On Demos: Gaming giants including Nintendo and Xbox
showcased new releases, hardware and exclusive demos. Attendees got an early taste of
Pokémon Legends: Z-A (Switch 2 Edition), explored Lumiose City, got hands on with
the new ROG Xbox Ally and ROG Xbox Ally X, tested Metroid Prime 4: Beyond with new
Joy-Con 2 mouse controls as well as playing the new Kirby Air Riders game.
● Other exhibitors came to the show with innovations and creative activations such as
MSI with their new RTX 5070 Ti Project Zero GPU and Aftershock’s partnership with
@broxh_ who is carving an exclusive wooden panel for one of their PCs.
● Esports, Tournaments & Competitive Energy: From school and university leagues to
major showmatch battles, PAX upheld its competitive spirit. The Australian Esports
League Nationals brought high stakes battles and fans cheered through live commentary,
and the PAX Arena hosted the electrifying finals of the Rainbow Six Siege APL Major
Qualifier.
● Tabletop in partnership with eBay: Beyond the digital realm, tabletop gaming remained
strong with fans thrilled to see Warhammer as part of the largest ever Tabletop area,
with more hands on demos and freeplay than ever before. Other highlights were a first
look at League of Legends Rift Bound TCG which was extremely popular and of course
there were many learn to play sessions across the weekend including Magic the
Gathering and Disney Lorcana. Miniature painting enthusiasts could also get their fix
with two mini paint and take spaces - one run by Warhammer.
● The expo’s PAX Rising and Indie Showcase spotlighted homegrown and international
independent creators, bringing fresh voices and novel mechanics to the table, with
people commenting on how incredible the quality was of these ‘new to the scene’ Indies.
And CODE from NZ continued to demonstrate real Kiwi creativity with games like the
terrifying tentacled boss in Middle Management.
● Memorable Activations & Fan Moments: From Bethesda’s immersive Fallout diner, to
The Sims’ camp-style interactive setup, to Devolver & Massive Monster’s reveal of Cult
of the Lamb: Woolhaven chapel, the show floor was alive with layered experiences,
merch drops and fan photo ops.
● Thought Leadership & Community Dialogue: Dozens of panels and keynotes delved into
industry trends, inclusion, accessibility and creative processes including panels from the
Gearbox team around their legendary game, Borderlands and the Playstation panel,
celebrating 25 years of PS2. Meanwhile, community-driven events, cosplay contests and
speedruns added character beyond the exhibits.
● The panel schedule not only brought thought-provoking debates, but also side-splitting
laughs with the likes of the Pokémon Family Feud - Creator Edition and the D&D But
Donations Make it Spicier session, where fans put their stomachs on the line for a good
cause.
● Incredible gaming talent including Magic: The Gathering’s Gavin Verhey who kicked off
PAX 2025 with his fantastic storytime where he spoke about 15 lessons he had learnt
from 15 years of designing cards with Wizards of the Coast. Gavin then went on to run
a 64 person Pauper event and a super fun Australian version of the Command Zone.
Joining Gavin were Baldur’s Gate’s, Amelia Tyler, Ify Nwadiwe, who is definitely as funny
IRL and Obsidian’s Josh Sawyer, to name a few.
● PAX Aus showcased the most incredible cosplay the country has ever seen including
The Crown Championships of Cosplay which saw Giorgia Costumes cosplaying as
Rococo Bunny take out the title, sealing their ticket to the world championships to be
held in the UK next year.
● And the Together Lounge created a welcoming space for everyone and anyone to hang
out, find like-minded people and play some games.
So as the sun sets over the MCEC, laptops and backpacks are packed up and costumes put
away, there is always some sadness that the event is over for another year, but this year’s PAX
Aus certainly gave us a LOT of memories.
See you next year!
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