Industry News

Ticket holders turned away from packed GamerCon

Furious video gaming fans are waiting to find out if they will be refunded for tickets they were not able to use when they were turned away from a packed GamerCon convention in Dublin over the weekend.

Organiser Ferdi Roberts said GamerCon would be in touch with ticketholders individually by the end of this week after thousands were affected by problems gaining access to the games event.

There were chaotic scenes outside the Convention Centre in Dublin on Saturday after thousands of people showed up to the event only to find the venue was full, according to the Irish Times newspaper.

While many were turned away, others said they had given up and gone home after queuing for hours.

GamerCon organisers said there were “challenges” as 21,600 people attended over the two days. According to the Irish Times, it said those who did not use their tickets were offered a refund, though they did not clarify exactly how many tickets were sold for the event. The Dublin GamerCon was intended to be the kick-off for a series of GamerCons, starting with London.

“Having debriefed from Saturday, a number of important changes were instituted based on the day’s experience with the result that there were minimal delays in queues outside on Sunday, with most attendees experiencing between 30 and 45 minutes queuing into the venue, which we feel is to be expected with an event of this scale,” Roberts said in a statement.

The event has come under fire for selling ticket numbers that depended on a flow of people through the event.
Roberts said queues within the building, as fans attempted to meet VIP YouTube stars, were not under GamerCon’s direct control.

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