PAX Aus Expands Tabletop Hall by 7% Amid Surging TCG Market Demand

About 70% of last year's exhibitors are returning for 2026, and event director Lauren Luciani confirmed the expansion for the October 9–11 run. For an illustrator watching the TCG space, that floor shift is a market signal worth taking seriously.

Where the briefs are clustering

The publisher names doing the heavy lifting tell the real story. Magic: The Gathering's new Reality Fracture set, Disney Lorcana, Riftbound: League of Legends TCG, Star Wars: Unlimited, One Piece Card Game, Dragon Ball Super Card Game, Flesh and Blood and Cyberpunk TCG were all called out in PAX Aus's recent announcement as anchors of this year's show. On the board game side, the only non-TCG titles mentioned were Asmodee releases — The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers Trick-Taking Game, Citadels Duel, Schadenfreude and party games from the Exploding Kittens studio.

That's a noticeable imbalance. Last year's floor featured Asmodee with a large booth, distributors Let's Play Games and Asmodee-owned VR Distribution (now rebranded Asmodee in Australia since last September), and a first-time appearance from Games Workshop — but dedicated board game publisher booths were thin. The rest of the tabletop section ran mostly retailers and a handful of media stands.

A quick update worth noting: TTRPG veteran Chaosium has also announced it will attend, running free game sessions and showing off its co-op title Horror on the Orient Express.

What this means for your portfolio right now

Luciani told BoardGameWire the TCG category continues to experience significant growth globally, and PAX Aus is committed to reflecting those community interests. Translated into studio language: card art buyers want work that holds up at two inches. Your readability test isn't optional — it's the gate.

You already know this if you've ever shrunk an oil painting down to card scale. Subtle glazing disappears. Atmospheric perspective flattens. What survives is silhouette and pop. Squint at every piece in your portfolio until the shape tells the story before any colour reads. If a painting only works at full screen, it won't survive the brief — and it certainly won't survive a scout's three-second walk-by.

Practical moves before October

PAX Rising will host more than 80 independent creators alongside the main exhibitor hall, with an Indie Showcase competition highlighting Australia's design scene. Last year's tabletop category winners — Conquest For The Capital, Coffee Up!, Cartograph – Atlas Edition, Panda Party, Spacewreck Salvage and Potion Society — landed their visibility there.

Two things to do this month if you want to take the signal seriously:

• Audit your portfolio for card-scale readability before you submit anything new. Three pieces that read at thumbnail size will out-pitch thirty pieces that don't.
• If you're attending, map the TCG publisher booths in advance and bring a print sleeve of your strongest card-ready work. Studio scouts walk those floors, even when they're not officially scouting.

The seven percent isn't just good news for exhibitors. It's a market temperature check for anyone who paints the kind of work that ends up on cardboard.