ReedPOP has announced that it will be shutting down PAX South for the time being.
"While each of our other events has flourished, some of them drawing hundreds of thousands of attendees from around the world, PAX South hasn't expanded and to some extent has remained the same show that it was when we opened it in 2015," wrote the PAX team in a statement.
They continued, saying, "Faced with that reality, and compounded by the impact of COVID-19, we have made the difficulty decision to bring PAX South to an end for the foreseeable future."
We have made the difficult decision to bring PAX South to an end for the foreseeable future. See the full statement below: pic.twitter.com/hW8J6wBzxb
— PAX (@pax) October 29, 2021
Understandably, fans who were looking forward to PAX South's return in 2022 will be disappointed. However, the wording in the statement suggests that it could return sometime down the line if more favorable conditions happen.
The first ever PAX event started in 2004 in Bellevue, Washington and has expanded to five different cities since its inception. PAX South started in 2015 in San Antonio in an attempt to draw fans from Texas and surrounding states, but ultimately failed to take off.
In related news, PAX West returned this year as an in-person event. It was canceled last year and replaced by a nine-day digital-only event as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Initially, the event's return was criticized for not applying enough safety measures, but eventually pivoted to requiring proof of vaccination cards or negative COVID tests upon entry.
George Yang is a freelance writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @yinyangfooey