Editing Gen Con (section)

== History ==

=== Early years ===
[[File:Gen-Con Show Floor, 2010.JPG|thumb|left|Part of the exhibit hall space during Gen Con Indy 2010.]]

The [[International Federation of Wargaming]] (IFW) hosted a number of small regional conventions in the months following its foundation in 1967, including the first annual club convention in [[Malvern, Pennsylvania]], in August.{{sfn|Peterson|2012|p=10}} Some IFW gamers in the Chicago area could not make the journey to Malvern, so they had an informal gathering that same weekend at the [[Lake Geneva, Wisconsin]] home of [[Gary Gygax]].<ref name="gen-con-2007-program-book-timeline" />{{sfn|Laws|2007|p=3}} Later this gathering would come to be referred to as "Gen Con 0". In 1968, Gygax rented Lake Geneva's [[Horticultural Hall (Lake Geneva, Wisconsin)|Horticultural Hall]] to hold a follow-up IFW convention, the Lake Geneva Wargames Convention, later known as the Gen Con [[gaming convention]].{{sfn|Laws|2007|p=5}}<ref name="Wired" /> The IFW, which Gygax co-founded, put up $35 of the $50 Horticultural Hall fee to sponsor this first Gen Con.{{sfn|Peterson|2012|p=5}}{{sfn|Laws|2007|p=5}} Almost 100 people attended. At the second Gen Con in August 1969, Gygax met [[Robert J. Kuntz|Rob Kuntz]]{{sfn|Laws|2007|p=8}} and [[Dave Arneson]].<ref name="Wired" /><ref name="King &amp; Borland"/><ref name="believer" /> During these early conventions, the events centered around [[board game]]s and miniature wargames.{{sfn|Laws|2007|p=5}}

Gen Con's name is a derivation of "Geneva Convention", due to the convention's origins in Lake Geneva. It is also a play on words, as the "[[Geneva Conventions]]" are a set of important international [[treaty|treaties]] regarding war, the subject of many of the early games.{{sfn|Laws|2007|p=4}} Starting in 1971, Gen Con was cosponsored by the Lake Geneva Tactical Studies Association.<ref name="keeper-lore-history" />

=== TSR ===
Beginning in 1975, Gen Con was managed and hosted by [[TSR, Inc.]], original publisher of the ''[[Dungeons & Dragons]]'' [[role-playing game]].{{sfn|Peterson|2012|p=530}} During the following decade the event grew and was hosted at a variety of southern Wisconsin locations, including an [[American Legion]] Hall, [[Aurora University|George Williams College]], and the former Lake Geneva [[Playboy Club|Playboy Resort]]. In 1978 the convention moved to the [[University of Wisconsin–Parkside]] campus in [[Kenosha, Wisconsin|Kenosha]], where it remained through 1984.<ref name="Miller2002" />

A Gen Con West was held in California for only three years, 1976–1978.<ref name="Gen-Con-complete-timeline" /> From 1978 to 1984, Gen Con South was held in [[Jacksonville, Florida]],<ref name="Gen-Con-complete-timeline" /> and Gen Con East was held in 1981 and 1982, first in [[Cherry Hill, New Jersey]], and then in [[Chester, Pennsylvania]].<ref name="Gen-Con-complete-timeline" />

=== MECCA ===
In 1985, Gen Con moved to the [[UW–Milwaukee Panther Arena|Milwaukee Exposition & Convention Center & Arena]] (MECCA) in [[Milwaukee]],<ref name="Miller2002" /> due to a need for more space.<ref name="history" /> After the move, attendance steadily rose from 5,000 to a peak of 30,000 in 1995, making Gen Con the premier event in the role-playing game industry.<ref name="1985 attendance" /><ref name="Pyramid #17" /> In 1992, Gen Con broke every previous attendance record for game conventions in the United States, with more than 18,000 people.<ref name="history" />  Gen Con briefly joined with its primary competitor, the [[Origins Game Fair]],<ref name="history" /> and the two were run as a single convention in 1988. [[Wizards of the Coast]] debuted ''[[Magic: The Gathering]]'' at Gen Con in August 1993; the game proved extremely popular, selling out its supply of 2.5 million cards, which had been scheduled to last until the end of the year.<ref name="GIG" /> The ensuing collectible card game craze has been credited with generating the extra attendance that produced the 1995 record.<ref name="blackknight" />

=== Wizards of the Coast ===
Wizards of the Coast purchased TSR in 1997, which was in turn purchased by [[Hasbro]] in 1999. Gen Con moved to the Midwest Express Center (now the [[Wisconsin Center]]) in 1998. In November 1999 Wizards announced that Gen Con would leave Milwaukee after the 2002 convention.<ref name="Miller2002" /> [[Peter Adkison]], founder of Wizards of the Coast, purchased Gen Con from Hasbro in May 2002,<ref name="gamespy1" /> forming Gen Con LLC to run the convention.  The first show under Adkison's leadership took place that August in Milwaukee.<ref name="GenConLLC" />

=== Indianapolis ===
The convention moved to [[Indianapolis]] in 2003. Peter Adkison attributed the move to the lack of hotel space, the convention center layout, and frequently broken escalators in Milwaukee's convention center.<ref name="gamespy1" /><ref name="GamingReport 2002" />

[[File:Gen Con - 20030724 - Giant Settlers of Catan Game.jpg|thumb|A game of ''[[The Settlers of Catan]]'' being played at Gen Con Indy 2003]]
In Indianapolis, the convention, now called Gen Con Indy, continued to draw between 20,000 and 30,000 visitors each year, at the [[Indiana Convention Center]].<ref name="gcindy-attend-2003" /><ref name="gcindy-attend-2005" />  Wizards of the Coast helped celebrate the 30th anniversary of the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' game at Gen Con Indy 2004.<ref name="Wizards 2004" /> In 2005 Gen Con Indy generated the most direct visitor spending of any annual convention in Indianapolis.<ref name="Smith 2005" />

Adkison also restarted the convention in California, this time named Gen Con SoCal.  Smaller than its mid-western counterpart, it drew approximately 6,300 attendees in 2005,<ref name="gcsocal-attend-2005" /> making it the third-largest consumer hobby game convention in North America. It was held in the [[Anaheim Convention Center]].

In spite of Adkison saying that he did not want Gen Con to become a "mini-E3" in 2003,<ref name="gamespy1" /> when [[Electronic Entertainment Expo|E3]] downsized in mid-2006, Gen Con LLC announced it would provide more show space for video game businesses.<ref name="e3" /> Gen Con described their intention to "pick up where E3 [left] off".<ref name="Press Release 2006" />

Also in 2006, Gen Con LLC ran the official ''[[Star Wars]]'' convention, called [[Star Wars Celebration|''Star Wars'' Celebration]], which was held in the banner years of the franchise.

The [[Indiana Convention Center]] completed a major expansion in 2011, in large part, to accommodate increased attendance to Gen Con, at a cost of over $275 million.<ref name="polygon" />

=== International ===
Gen Con was held in Europe in the 1990s, with the first annual European Gen Con held in Camber Sands, Sussex, England, in 1990, and Gen Con Barcelona in Spain in 1994. The European convention was held in England for 8 years, eventually migrating from Camber Sands in the mid-1990s to Loughborough, where the final UK-based European event was held in 1997; the same weekend on which Princess Diana died.  There was no European Gen Con in 1998, but it reappeared in Belgium in 1999 for a single year, before again reappearing in Paris for three years between 2006 and 2008.  Benelux Gen Con was held in the Netherlands in 1998 and re-occurred there in 2000. Gen Con Barcelona occurred five years, in 1994–1996, 1999, and 2004. Gen Con UK was held between 1998 and 2005.<ref name="Gen-Con-complete-timeline" /> A Gen Con was held in [[Brisbane]], Australia, in July 2008 and again in September 2009. A third Gen Con Australia was scheduled for 2010, but was cancelled.<ref name="Announcement 2010" />

=== Online ===
When the COVID-19 lockdown prompted Gen Con to cancel the in-person convention in 2020,<ref>{{Cite news |title="Gen Con Announces Cancellation of 2020 Convention, Plans for Online Event" |language=en |url=https://www.gencon.com/press/gen-con-2020-cancellation}}</ref> it instead ran an online version.<ref>{{Cite news |title="Gen Con Online Draws Over 40,000 for Digital-Only Tabletop Convention" |language=en |url=https://www.gencon.com/press/gen-con-online-post-show}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.blackgate.com/2020/07/25/gen-con-2020-online/|title=Gen Con 2020 Online – Black Gate|date=July 25, 2020}}</ref> 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.{{cn|date=July 2024}}