Fans have called for mass refunds following the National Gaming Expo in Tampa, Florida last weekend, citing misleading advertising, a disastrous experience, and a lack of gaming content at the event.
Babe, wake up, new Dashcon just dropped.
Last weekend, the National Gaming Expo took place in Tampa, Florida. It was the first year of the new convention, and it had garnered enough clout to attract famous voice actors from Grand Theft Auto V, Red Dead Redemption 2, Mortal Kombat, and the former voices of Nintendo‘s Peach and Bowser.
However, upon arrival, fans were met with empty halls, no video games, and, for whatever reason, a petting zoo featuring a camel of all things.
Fans have been quick to share criticisms of the event online, expressing their disappointment while lobbing accusations towards the organisers that the entire expo was a scam.
Talent who were signed to appear at the event have taken to social media to apologise for the confusion. Ned Luke, who played Michael De Santa in Grand Theft Auto V shared in a statement to IGN, “It was a scam, the guy who ran the event was a con artist. He put the con in comic-con”.
As a result, many on social media have been comparing the weekend to last year’s Willy Wonka experience or 2014’s Dashcon.
Here’s what happened over the weekend.
What happened at National Gaming Expo 2025?
The National Gaming Expo took place from August 8 to August 10 at the Florida State Fairgrounds in Tampa. In a very brief description, the website claims it expected to host 30,000 individuals over the weekend. It would also offer talent signings, photo opportunities, vendors, and a cosplay competition.
What immediately struck my eye was how all this information was frontloaded on the conventions landing page. There was no ‘info’ page tab or an ‘FAQ’. There wasn’t even a tab for safety and accessibility guides for the venue.
Much like the website, the event was equally disorganised and barren. Fans had paid $40 USD ($61.26 AUD) for a single-day ticket or $90 USD ($137.84) for the weekend, only to show up at a large empty warehouse.
Now, it’s easy in retrospect to look at the information on hand and see the outcome from a mile away. However, it’s not all that simple. Despite some warning signs on site, the convention was getting some credibility from the talent it had signed on.
Accounts such as Celebrity Talent Booking, as well as voice actors Ned Luke (GTA V) and Rob Wiethoff (Red Dead Redemption), were promoting their appearances ahead of the event on social media. Wiethoff even went the extra mile and teased that the event would be a massive reunion between the casts of both Red Dead Redemption games.
However, many of the talent signed onto the event either didn’t appear or showed up late. Because the event was so disorganised, some talent would show up sporadically throughout the day, meaning fans had no idea when they were appearing.
Attendees took to social media to share that the Red Dead Redemption cast didn’t appear at the convention at all, and were told there was a mistake with their agency. Others shared that talent was present; however, paid photo opportunities didn’t materialise as the hired photographer failed to appear on the day.
Vendors were also just as sparse.
On the National Gaming Expo website, information about vendors and sponsors only shows how much it costs to be a vendor or sponsor at the show. No information is given about who would be attending the convention.
A user in the Mortal Kombat subreddit revealed that there weren’t any gaming vendors at all. Instead, vendors would include health insurance and telecom company T-Mobile.
To cap off the bizarre nature of the event, the gaming convention featured a petting zoo with farm animals, including a camel.
Needless to say, convention goers were furious and are making sure their voices are heard online.
The backlash following the event
As you can imagine, following such a tragic event, several have taken to social media to voice their anger over attending.
The convention’s official Instagram page has since been deleted, and the Facebook event page has been locked. However, the Facebook comments on the Florida State Fairgrounds’ post for the event are still up, along with countless comments criticising the event. A common theme among the comments places the blame towards the event’s organiser and CEO, Michael Wittenberg.
Allegedly, Wittenberg has a long, controversial history with conventions. Many comments allege that he often hosts bare-minimum events and has a history of failing to pay workers in the past.
IGN noted that while it’s difficult to confirm this history, they were able to discover a 2017 review of the National Vape Expo. The review notes similar issues found in this year’s National Gaming Expo. He references that there’s nearly nothing to do at the event, the place is almost barren, and that talent promised to show up and deliver talks were no-shows.
Wittenberg formerly ran the National Vape Expo, which was shut down during the COVID-19 pandemic.
In 2023, the CEO would be arrested for international narcotics trafficking during a networking event at a resort. He was sentenced to a year-and-a-half stint in a Dominican Republic prison.
Months after finishing his sentence, Wittenberg suddenly started the National Gaming Expo.
Roger Clark, the voice of Arthur Morgan, shared a statement on social media acknowledging his absence.
Celebrity Talent Booking, who seem to have coordinated many of the talent’s appearances at the event, has yet to make a statement.
Attendees have shared on social media that they are now pursuing refunds from the convention. Others have expressed confusion over how to claim a refund for photo opportunities that never materialised.
Does this fall into the same level as the Willy Wonka experience? I’d argue not really, but the absurdity of the camel does put it above most chaotic convention stories, at least.
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