PAX West 2023 brings Nintendo Live to Seattle

Dedicated gamers descend on downtown Seattle every Labor Day weekend, filling hotel rooms and restaurants, as they pack into PAX West. This year, fans have an extra reason to flock to Seattle — Nintendo Live is coming to town.

This Seattle event ranks among the largest gaming conventions in the world. As if PAX West wasn't large enough already, for the first time ever, Nintendo of America is holding its Nintendo Live event outside of Japan, and they’ve chosen to feature it at PAX West.

Adding this feature to PAX was a bit of a no brainer for founder Jerry Holkins, and Vice President of Media, Content and Events Ryan Hartman.

"[Nintendo] has been a longtime pillar of all our PAX shows," Hartman shared with KUOW's Mike Davis. "They always come with a big booth, and they always come with a bunch of cool stuff."

Nintendo Live is a fan experience, filled with gaming, tournaments, stage performances, photo ops, and more. It's a convention unto itself, dedicated to Nintendo. In order to accommodate Nintendo Live, PAX is turning over an entire wing of its convention.

With the video game landscape and industry changing so much over the past 20 years, how does an event like PAX stay relevant? For Holkins, PAX is a sacred space. It's all about giving gamers room for themselves.