Gen Con 2025 delivered another banner year for North America’s premier tabletop gaming convention, drawing nearly 72,000 attendees to Indianapolis despite industry-wide challenges that threatened to derail the event.
The convention achieved record-breaking attendance and exhibitor participation, with more than 575 companies showcasing their games and services – a significant jump from approximately 540 exhibitors in 2024.
Gen Con 2025 Breaks Attendance Record Despite Tariff Chaos
The four-day gathering generated an estimated $82 million in economic impact for Indianapolis, establishing it as a major driver for the local economy.
However, beneath the celebratory numbers lies a more complex story of an industry grappling with unprecedented challenges. Trump’s US tariffs played a part in making board games unaffordable for publishers throughout 2025, with many struggling to bring products to market in time for the convention.
Cephalofair COO Price Johnson, a vocal advocate against tariff impacts on the gaming industry, painted a stark picture of publisher struggles. “As a publisher I can’t tell you how tired, beat down, and exhausted we all are just GETTING here with SOMETHING,” Johnson wrote on Reddit (via Board Game Wire) following the event, citing “delays, cancellations, staffing losses, lost profit margins” affecting numerous companies.
The financial toll proved severe for many exhibitors. Johnson revealed his company alone faced tariff costs “north of $100k this last month, down the drain, no benefit gained.” He emphasized that “US Tariffs are a tax on US Business and Consumers. Period.”
Publishers Still Struggle Despite Record Attendance
Several notable companies couldn’t overcome these barriers. The Op, publisher of popular games like Flip 7 and Hues and Cues, cancelled its booth when tariffs began soaring earlier this year. Flat River Group significantly reduced its North American distribution operations, while international concerns led some overseas companies to avoid the event entirely.
Portal Games suffered one of the most visible casualties, unable to deliver its new release Age of Galaxy due to shipping delays. On the publisher’s YouTube channel, founder Ignacy Trzewiczek called the situation “grim, terrible, pretty devastating news” and “a clusterf***,” noting the company had never experienced such problems in over a decade of convention participation.
Despite these challenges, sales performance varied across exhibitors. While record attendance didn’t automatically translate to record sales for everyone, several larger publishers reported their best Gen Con yet, with mid-size companies describing sales as “robust,” “solid,” and “better than expected.”
Looking ahead, Gen Con president David Hoppe remains optimistic about future growth, telling the Indianapolis Business Journal, “Could we get 80,000 folks here someday? I would love to see that happen.”
The convention is contracted to remain in Indianapolis through 2030, with next year’s event scheduled for July 30 to August 2, 2026.
