Gen Con 2024 drew a record-breaking, sold-out crowd of over 71,000 attendees and more than 540 exhibiting companies.
In celebration of the 50th anniversary of globally popular fantasy roleplaying game Dungeons & Dragons, the convention featured a slate of retrospective events, special guests, a pop-up D&D Museum, and an exclusive early chance to purchase the hotly anticipated new edition of the game’s Player's Handbook.
INDIANAPOLIS (August 6, 2024) — Gen Con, the largest and longest-running tabletop gaming convention in North America, saw more than 71,000 gamers flock to downtown Indianapolis, setting an all-time attendance record for the annual event. Held each year since 1968, Gen Con gathers fans of board games, card games, roleplaying games, cosplay, and pop culture to play, shop, celebrate, and connect over a shared passion for gaming.
This year's convention, which ran August 1-4 in the Indiana Convention Center, Lucas Oil Stadium, and several downtown hotels, held historic significance in commemorating the 50th anniversary of tabletop roleplaying game Dungeons & Dragons. The original edition of D&D made its Gen Con debut in 1974 in Lake Geneva, WI.
“Gen Con 2024 was a rousing success and we are once again humbled by the passion of our attendees and the hospitality of Indianapolis,” said David Hoppe, Gen Con’s president. “We were proud to join with our attendees on the historic occasion of the 50th anniversary of Dungeons & Dragons to celebrate how much D&D and Gen Con have each grown in scale and cultural influence over the past five decades.”
During the four days of the convention, attendees browsed and shopped an exhibit hall featuring more than 540 games publishers and vendors and participated in nearly 24,000 events and activities including a wide range of gaming sessions and tournaments, artist and author appearances, film screenings, musical performances, and the annual Gen Con Costume Contest.
Gen Con celebrated the 50th anniversary of Dungeons & Dragons with a slate of special programming that offered a look back at D&D's history through retrospective panels with special guests and a pop-up D&D Museum displaying artifacts of the game’s history including previous editions of the game’s rules.
Wizards of the Coast, the publisher of D&D, conducted several events and activations, including live gaming events, a special tournament, and a preview of the game's future with the release of the hotly anticipated 2024 Player's Handbook — selling copies of the new book before its official release. The U.S. Postal Service revealed new D&D stamps and sold them to excited attendees over the course of the convention.
"It was so cool being in the audience when Dungeon Master Aabria Iyengar revealed Brennan Lee Mulligan and Anjali Bhimani were both playing secret dragons in the live game,” said Jess Lanzillo, VP of D&D Franchise and Product at Wizards of the Coast. “Gen Con 2024 has been an amazing celebration of 50 years of Dungeons & Dragons and a testament to the countless imaginations that have been inspired by this game.”
Founded in 1968 by Dungeons & Dragons co-creator Gary Gygax in Lake Geneva, WI, Gen Con has been held in Indianapolis annually since 2003. The event gathers tens of thousands of gamers and fans from every U.S. state and around the world to play and purchase tabletop games (board games, card games, roleplaying games, and more) as well as celebrating many associated interests and activities connected to fantasy, sci-fi, and other gaming-related pop-culture genres.
The annual Gen Con Costume Contest and Parade is another show highlight, with top cosplayers competing for juried awards and fans of all ages showing up to the convention in cosplay throughout the weekend.
Gen Con partners with charities each year to raise funds and spotlight the remarkable work of the selected nonprofit organizations. This year, attendees helped raise more than $31,000 for the Rose Gauntlet Foundation and Tangram. Gen Con has raised over $455,000 for charity since relocating to Indianapolis in 2003.
Gen Con will return to Indianapolis July 31 -- August 3, 2025 and will remain in Indy through 2030. Badges for next year’s convention will go on sale in early 2025 on the convention’s website (gencon.com).
Gen Con is North America's largest and longest-running annual event devoted to tabletop gaming culture. The convention, which began in 1968 in Lake Geneva, WI, takes place each summer in Indianapolis, IN. During the convention, attendees shop and demo games from hundreds of exhibiting companies and choose from thousands of ticketed events representing a wide array of board games, card games, roleplaying games, seminars, entertainment events, and more.
Gen Con Logos and Brand Kit: gencon.com/press/brand-resources
Photographs of Gen Con Indy 2024: bit.ly/gencon2024media
Media Contact for Gen Con: Stacia Kirby, (206) 478-5841, [email protected]