Gen Con

Gen Con is one of the largest and most prominent annual gaming conventions in North America. It features traditional pen-and-paper, board, and card-style games, including role-playing games, miniatures wargames, board games, live action role-playing games, collectible card games, non-collectible card games, and strategy games. Gen Con also features computer games. Attendees engage in a variety of tournament and interactive game sessions.

Gen Con 2011 brought in 36,733 attendees, which makes the convention similar in size to Dragon Con and FanExpo's Game Expo, larger than Origins (14,000+), and smaller than E3 (40,000+).

Gen Con began in 1968 as a wargames convention held by Gary Gygax, who later co-created Dungeons & Dragons, the game that initiated the roleplaying game phenomenon. First held in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, the convention's main site traveled to various locations in Wisconsin from 1972 to 1984, until settling in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in 1985. Other Gen Con conventions were held sporadically in various locations around the United States. Beginning in 1990, Gen Con conventions were also held in several European locations, as well as in Australia (as Gen Con Oz) from 2008–2010.

Gen Con became the property of TSR, Inc., the gaming company co-founded by Gygax, in 1976. In 1997 TSR (and Gen Con) were acquired by Wizards of the Coast, which was subsequently acquired by Hasbro. Hasbro sold Gen Con to the founder and former CEO of Wizards of the Coast, Peter Adkison, in 2002. In a move that had been planned prior to Adkison's purchase, the convention relocated to its current home in Indianapolis, Indiana, one year later.

Gen Con spent a short time under Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, due to a lawsuit brought against them by Lucasfilm on February 15, 2008. The organization emerged from bankruptcy protection a year later, while still holding its regularly scheduled events.

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