UK Games Expo, with 16,500 unique attendees, just passed Origins (15,480 in 2016) for third place, behind Essen Spiel (174,000 turnstile in 2016) and Gen Con (60,819 in 2016), depending on what figure you use to measure it. The gap from Essen and Gen Con to those below it is pretty huge, while UKGE and Origins are pretty similar in scope. UKGE has been growing enormously every year - The last time I was there (before this year) it is was all in the Hilton Metropole in Birmingham. This time, it's spread to the N.E.C. It's starting to feel a bit like Gen Con - certainly like the Gen Cons of a few years ago.
This year's attendance figure was announced on stage by Tony Hyams of UKGE. Turnstile attendance was 31,000 (turnstile is just how many people went in - if you go into the trade hall a dozen times over the weekend, you get counted a dozen times, which means that a longer convention can have a lower unique attendance but a higher turnstile figure; unfortunately, Essen only releases the turnstile figure, so it's hard to find out its unique attendance). The Expo's figures in 2007 were just 1,200 attendees.
UKGE has quickly outgrown the Hilton, which was struggling to handle the capacity. Gen Con is in the centre of Indianapolis with tons of hotels, bars, and restaurants within walking distance. UKGE is away from the centre of Birmingham, so it's a taxi ride or the Hilton hotel bar (which is still the slowest and most frustrating bar in the world), and my hotel was several miles away.
It's great to see the UK gaming industry thriving so much, with the liked of Modiphius and Cubicle 7 leading the charge of the roleplaying game companies, and a vast assortment of boardgame and tabletop wargame manufacturers. It was also great to see Paizo over from the US with a strong trade floor presence. They were very approachable as always, even in the face of my inane ramblings (see EN World's coverage of the Starfinder demo) as well as my photos from my own experience of the game.
I think it's safe to say at this point that UKGE is one of the "must-do" events, especially if you're in the UK. If it keeps growing, it's going to become a major international event. I was there was a punter this year (in previous years I've gone to report for EN World, and next year we might have a booth for the 2000AD stuff, but nothing's set in stone yet) - actually, that was my first time ever at a gaming convention where I wasn't working in some capacity. No interviews, no ENnies, no booth of any kind, etc., so it was something of a new experience for me.
It'll be interesting to see what the new Pax Unplugged does in Philadelphia in November this year. It's also worth noting Italy's Lucca Comics & Games, which has around 271K turnstile, although it has an advantage in that comic conventions tend to be bigger than gaming ones. Penny Arcade's PAX shows (East and West) respectively drew 80,000 and 70,000 turnstile in 2017 and 2015. Something like San Diego Comic-Con reports unique attendance of 167,000 as of 2015, which rather dwarfs any tabletop gaming conventions!
| Convention | Unique Attendees | Turnstile | Exhibitors |
| Gen Con | 60,819 | 201,852 | 500+ |
| Essen Spiel | unknown | 174,000 | 900+ |
| UK Games Expo | 16,500 | 31,000 | 325 |
| Origins Game Fair | 15,480 | 52,561 | 200 |
This year's attendance figure was announced on stage by Tony Hyams of UKGE. Turnstile attendance was 31,000 (turnstile is just how many people went in - if you go into the trade hall a dozen times over the weekend, you get counted a dozen times, which means that a longer convention can have a lower unique attendance but a higher turnstile figure; unfortunately, Essen only releases the turnstile figure, so it's hard to find out its unique attendance). The Expo's figures in 2007 were just 1,200 attendees.
UKGE has quickly outgrown the Hilton, which was struggling to handle the capacity. Gen Con is in the centre of Indianapolis with tons of hotels, bars, and restaurants within walking distance. UKGE is away from the centre of Birmingham, so it's a taxi ride or the Hilton hotel bar (which is still the slowest and most frustrating bar in the world), and my hotel was several miles away.
It's great to see the UK gaming industry thriving so much, with the liked of Modiphius and Cubicle 7 leading the charge of the roleplaying game companies, and a vast assortment of boardgame and tabletop wargame manufacturers. It was also great to see Paizo over from the US with a strong trade floor presence. They were very approachable as always, even in the face of my inane ramblings (see EN World's coverage of the Starfinder demo) as well as my photos from my own experience of the game.
I think it's safe to say at this point that UKGE is one of the "must-do" events, especially if you're in the UK. If it keeps growing, it's going to become a major international event. I was there was a punter this year (in previous years I've gone to report for EN World, and next year we might have a booth for the 2000AD stuff, but nothing's set in stone yet) - actually, that was my first time ever at a gaming convention where I wasn't working in some capacity. No interviews, no ENnies, no booth of any kind, etc., so it was something of a new experience for me.
It'll be interesting to see what the new Pax Unplugged does in Philadelphia in November this year. It's also worth noting Italy's Lucca Comics & Games, which has around 271K turnstile, although it has an advantage in that comic conventions tend to be bigger than gaming ones. Penny Arcade's PAX shows (East and West) respectively drew 80,000 and 70,000 turnstile in 2017 and 2015. Something like San Diego Comic-Con reports unique attendance of 167,000 as of 2015, which rather dwarfs any tabletop gaming conventions!
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