Gen Con

thumb|right|300px|Video of Gen Con 2025 from the 300 level of Lucas Oil Stadium

Gen Con is the largest tabletop game convention in North America by both attendance and number of events. It features traditional pen-and-paper, board, and card games, including role-playing games, miniatures wargames, live action role-playing games, collectible card games, and strategy games. Gen Con also features computer games. Attendees engage in a variety of tournament and interactive game sessions. In 2019, Gen Con had nearly 70,000 unique attendees.

Established in 1968 as the Lake Geneva Wargames Convention by Gary Gygax, who later co-created Dungeons & Dragons, Gen Con was first held in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin. The convention was moved to various locations in Wisconsin from 1972 to 1984 before becoming fixed in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in 1985, where it remained until moving to Indianapolis, Indiana, in 2003. Other Gen Con conventions have been held sporadically in various locations around the United States, as well as internationally.

In 1976, Gen Con became the property of TSR, Inc., the gaming company co-founded by Gary Gygax. TSR (and Gen Con) were then acquired by Wizards of the Coast in 1997, which was subsequently acquired by Hasbro. Hasbro then sold Gen Con to the former CEO of Wizards of the Coast, Peter Adkison, in 2002. Gen Con spent a short time under Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, due to a lawsuit brought against them by Lucasfilm in 2008. it instead ran an online version. While the in-person convention returned the following year, an online version was run concurrently until Gen Con ceased operations of Gen Con Online after the 2023 show.

Events

thumb|The Gen Con Indy 2003 exhibit hall

thumb|[[Cardhalla at Gen Con 2005]]

The convention features a large exhibit hall filled with game publishers, artists, and related businesses, wherein most attendees spend at least $100. The donation was made in honor of Gary Gygax, who died in 2008, and was a frequent donor to CCF. and the response by gamers led both the CCF and Gen Con to issue official statements explaining what had happened. As a result of the misunderstanding, Gen Con chose to support a different charity.

On March 23, 2015, Adrian Swartout sent a letter to Indiana Governor Mike Pence, asking the governor to reconsider his intent to sign SB 101, the so-called "Religious Freedom" bill that already passed both state legislatures. The bill would allow businesses in the state to deny service to anyone on religious grounds, with opponents of the bill stating that it would allow businesses to unfairly single out and discriminate against the LGBT community and other groups. Swartout pointed out in the letter that "Gen Con proudly welcomes a diverse attendee base, made up of different ethnicities, cultures, beliefs, sexual orientations, gender identities, abilities, and socio-economic backgrounds" from over 40 countries and all 50 states, and that welcoming such a "wide-ranging diversity has been a key element to the success and growth of our convention", as well as injecting "over $50 million dollars" annually to the local economy. Swartout stated that signing such a bill "will have a direct negative impact on the state economy and factor into [Gen Con's] decision-making on hosting the convention in the state of Indiana in future years," after the Indiana Convention Center had already completed a major expansion in 2011 to accommodate increased attendance to Gen Con. Pence signed SB 101 into effect on March 26, 2015.

In August 2022 when Indiana passed a near total ban on abortions, Gen Con tweeted a statement in support of abortion rights, and Gen Con president David Hoppe made the following statement: "Passage of Senate Bill 1 will have an impact on our stakeholders and attendees and will make it more difficult for us to remain committed to Indiana for our long-term home. We are committed here through 2026. We do have to think about what that means beyond that and, of course, we would have to look at what that means for the period up until that time."

Timeline

Attendance at Gen Con conventions, based on the numbers given below:

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1967–2002: Gen Con

{| class="wikitable"

! Event

! Date

! Location

! Approximate attendance

! Notes

| "Gen Con 0"

| August 1967

| Gary Gygax's Home Lake Geneva, Wisconsin

| 12

| Gen Con I

| August 24, 1968

| Horticultural Hall Lake Geneva, Wisconsin

| 96

| First official year of Gen Con

| Gen Con II

| August 23–24, 1969

| Horticultural Hall Lake Geneva, Wisconsin

| 187

| First two-day Gen Con

| Gen Con III

| August 22–23, 1970

| Horticultural Hall/Guild Hall Lake Geneva, Wisconsin

| 250

| Gen Con IV

| August 21–22, 1971

| American Legion Memorial Hall Lake Geneva, Wisconsin

| 300

| Gen Con V

| August 19–20, 1972

| George Williams College Williams Bay, Wisconsin

| 200

|Gen Con's 5th year

| Gen Con VI

| August 18–19, 1973

| Horticultural Hall/Guild Hall/Legion Hall Lake Geneva, Wisconsin

| 300

| Tactical Studies Rules (a partnership and predecessor of TSR, Inc.) founded later that year.

| Gen Con Indy 2014

| August 14–17, 2014

|Gen Con Indy 2016

|August 4–7, 2016

|Gen Con 2017

|August 17–20, 2017

|Indianapolis, Indiana

|60,000+

|Gen Con 2019

|August 1–4, 2019

|Indianapolis, Indiana

|~70,000

|Gen Con 2020

|July 30 to August 2, 2020

|In-person convention cancelled due to safety concerns over COVID-19, was held virtually instead

|Gen Con 2021

|September 16–19, 2021

|Indianapolis, Indiana

|35,000+

|Gen Con 2022

|August 4–7, 2022

|Indianapolis, Indiana

|50,000+

|Gen Con 2023

|August 3–6, 2023

|Indianapolis, Indiana

|70,000+

|20th year in Indianapolis, 55th anniversary

|Gen Con 2024

|August 1–4, 2024

|Indianapolis, Indiana

|71,000+

|50th anniversary of Dungeons & Dragons

|Gen Con 2025

|July 31-August 3, 2025

|Indianapolis, Indiana

|~72,000

Auxiliary Gen Cons

1976–1978: Gen Con West

{| class="wikitable"

! Event

! Date

! Location

! Approximate attendance

! Notes

| Gen Con West

| September 4–6, 1976

| McCabe Hall, San Jose, California

| Gen Con West 77

| September 3–5, 1977

| Villa Hotel, San Mateo, California

| Gen Con West 78

| September 2–4, 1978

| Villa Hotel, San Mateo, California

1978–1984: Gen Con South

{| class="wikitable"

! Event

! Date

! Location

! Approximate attendance

! Notes

| Gen Con South

| February 9–11, 1978

| Robert Meyer Hotel, Jacksonville, Florida

| Gen Con South

| February 17–19, 1979

| JAX Hilton, Jacksonville FL

| Gen Con South

| February 15–17, 1980

| Ramada Inn, Jacksonville Beach, Florida

| Gen Con South

| February 6–9, 1981

| Ramada Inn, Jacksonville Beach, Florida

| Gen Con South

| February 5–7, 1982

| Jacksonville Beach Convention Center, Jacksonville Beach FL

| Gen Con South

| March 11–13, 1983

| Thunderbird Resort, Jacksonville FL

| Gen Con South

| March 16–18, 1984

| Thunderbird Resort, Jacksonville FL

1981–1982: Gen Con East

{| class="wikitable"

! Event

! Date

! Location

! Approximate attendance

! Notes

| Gen Con East I

| July 23–26, 1981

| Cherry Hill Inn, Cherry Hill, New Jersey

| Gen Con East II

| June 17–20, 1982

| Widener College, Chester, Pennsylvania

1990–2008: European Gen Con

{| class="wikitable"

! Event

! Date

! Location

! Approximate attendance

! Notes

| European Gen Con

| November 30 – December 2, 1990