Otakon

Otakon (/ˈoʊtəkɒn/OH-tə-kon) is a fan convention in the United States focusing on East Asian popular culture (primarily anime, manga, music, and cinema) and its fandom. The name is a portmanteau derived from convention and the Japanese word otaku. Otakon is traditionally held on a Friday, Saturday, and Sunday in late summer at the Baltimore Convention Center in Baltimore, Maryland's Inner Harbor district. Otakon is one of the longest-running Anime conventions in the United States, and the second largest, averaging over 22,000 paid attendees since 2005. Even so, the convention has expanded since then, with attendance above 26,000 in both 2008 and 2009 attendance surpassing 29,000 in 2010 and attendance officially surpassing the 30,000 mark in 2012.

More recently, Otakon has expanded into the realm of video gaming. At Otakon 2012 Otakon officially announced a partnership with indy game development studio, Studio Nasu, to develop an official video game, Crisis Heart Brawlers: Clash at Otakon! to be released to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Otakon being in existence which is Otakon 2013. The game will be fully funded through the crowdfunding site Kickstarter. The Kickstarter site launched on Thursday, August 23, 2012 with a set goal of $20,000. The game will initially be for Windows and Mac OS X with console and mobile versions coming later if enough funding comes through. The game was successfully funded on Saturday, September 22, 2012 with 531 backers and a total amount of $33,642 which means the game is now currently under development by Studio Nasu with a projected release date of Otakon 2013, August 9-11, 2013 for the general public and earlier in 2013 for Kickstarter backers.