Some of the MMO developers who have decided to skip the big E3 convention, do  plan to attend the August Penny Arcade Expo (PAX) in Washington.

PAX is happy to pick up the slack created by downsized E3, said Robert Khoo, PAX’s president of operations and business development. Created by the authors of web comic Penny Arcade, PAX is a 3-day gaming event held in Washington each year. It started in four years ago with 3,500 people. This year, it’s expecting 50,000 attendees, many who are MMO players.

“It’s really crazy. We’ve got Blizzard, NCsoft, EA Mythic. Turbine’s coming. Everyone is showing up,” Khoo said. “This is the home for that type of content. They see a lot of value in the sense that at these shows not only do they get to be in their community but all the media shows up too. A lot of killing two birds with one stone.”

Another plus: it’s cheaper for exhibitors. Khoo estimates that companies pay one-third the cost of what E3 charges.

“There are no double-decker booths allowed because we don’t want, in short, to get into this pissing contest where company X is doing a 2-layer booth with HD projectors projecting like Cirque du Soleil. Those things aren’t allowed at PAX. Not only is it probably not going to work but it’s kind of a waste of money. These people, these fans are incredibly happy to be here, which is different from E3. The media was incredibly jaded to be there (at E3),” he said.

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