PAX Aus 2026: Badge Prices, Hours and the MA15+ Rule

There is a demo on the PAX Aus 2026 show floor that a 14-year-old cannot play, whichever parent is standing behind them. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4's multiplayer is coming to Melbourne rated MA15+, and PAX's own safety page states the Victorian rule plainly: MA15+ content can only be played by people aged 15 and over, and parental consent or a parent at your elbow does not change that. You have to prove your age to pick up the controller.

It is a state law rather than a PAX policy. It is also one of several places where PAX Aus runs differently from the PAX West we broke down in August: no child badge, no badge transfers, and the same price for the short day.

Here is what PAX Aus 2026 costs, which badges are already gone, when each part of it is open, what is on for card and board game players, and where PAX's own pages disagree with each other, nine days out.

The dates, the hours, and the 6 p.m. split

PAX Aus 2026 runs Friday, October 9 to Sunday, October 11 at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre (MCEC), 1 Convention Centre Place, South Wharf. Victoria moves to daylight saving time on Sunday, October 4, so every show time below is AEDT, UTC+11. Hours, straight off PAX's homepage:

Eleven of the show's 35 open hours, about 31 per cent, happen after the Expo Hall has shut, all of them on Friday and Saturday evenings. That is panels, concerts, freeplay and tabletop. Sunday has no evening at all: it closes at 6 p.m., the same minute as the Expo Hall.

You reach the Expo Hall through the Queue Hall, per PAX's own Expo Hall page, and the Info Desk PAX's homepage points you to for reporting harassment is near the Clarendon Street entrance.

The queueing hall at PAX Aus 2014, between waves. The hoops were beach-ball targets for the people in line, per the photographer's caption on a companion shot. Photo: Schezar via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0.

What a badge costs

There are four badges in the official shop and no child tier, and two of them are gone. When we read the shop on September 30, the 3-Day and Saturday badges were both marked SOLD OUT; Friday and Sunday were still on sale. Prices below are the ones the shop listed that day, with the early-bird prices PAX opened sales at on March 24 for comparison.

Three single days would have cost A$246, so the 3-Day badge saved A$56, about 23 per cent, for anyone who bought it in time. With the 3-Day and Saturday both sold out, a buyer now can get Friday, Sunday or both, and the pair costs A$164. PAX's FAQ says that once badges sell out, they are gone for good.

Sunday is the expensive day per hour. It costs the same A$82 as Friday and Saturday and is open 8 hours instead of 13.5. The Expo Hall time is identical on all three days, eight hours each, so a Sunday badge buys the same show floor and none of the evening. PAX West 2026 went the other way: its registration page, as archived on August 21, priced the short closing Monday at US$59.85 against US$81.90 for Friday. PAX Aus does not discount its short day.

The rules around the badge, from the shop listing and PAX's FAQ:

• Non-refundable and non-transferable. The shop says PAX Aus badges cannot be reproduced, resold or upgraded. That is stricter than PAX West's FAQ, which lets badge holders trade, gift or sell a badge on to friends or family.
• Six per badge type per transaction. PAX's FAQ calls it an anti-scalping limit.
• Payment by Visa, Mastercard, JCB, American Express, Apple Pay or Google Pay, per the FAQ.
• Omegathon opt-in comes with the 3-Day badge. PAX's FAQ says 3-Day holders opt in during the badge purchase, and Omeganauts are picked before the show.

Every badge bought now is collected in Melbourne

The badge mail-out deadline was Monday, August 24 at 11:59 p.m. AEST. Anything bought after that, and every international purchase, is collected at MCEC. Pickup hours from PAX's FAQ:

Thursday is the day to do it: a ten-hour window that ends at 8 p.m., the evening before doors. It is the same trade we made the case for at Gen Con, where picking up a day early turns Friday morning into show time instead of queue time. Pre-ordered merch is also collected at the badge pickup desk on Thursday, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., and at Merch Lite on the main concourse from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. on the three show days.

If you bought before the deadline and your badge has not arrived by early October, PAX tells you to contact its support team, and failing that to come to the pickup desk on show day.

The MA15+ rule, and who needs a badge

The age rules come from PAX's safety page, and the headline one is Victorian law.

• MA15+ content can only be played by people 15 and over, regardless of parental consent or supervision. You need to prove you are 15 to play it.
• R18+ content is behind closed doors and restricted to people 18 and over, again with proof of age.
• Proof of age and photo ID are required to get into PAX. Anyone 15 or over needs both.
• Anyone 14 and under must be with a parent or guardian aged 18 or over who has their own badge and stays with them the whole time.
• Children 6 and under get in free with a paying adult, per the FAQ and the shop.

Put that together for a family. A seven-year-old costs the same A$82 a day as an adult, because the shop sells no child badge. PAX West's registration page lists a Kids 4-Day badge for 7-to-12-year-olds; PAX Aus has no equivalent. And a 13- or 14-year-old with a full badge is still locked out of the MA15+ demos. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 is the game PAX's own exhibitor release flags: its multiplayer is on the floor, labelled MA 15+, ahead of the game's October 23 launch.

What is on the show floor

PAX's September 17 exhibitor announcement is the fullest picture so far, and it says more is still to come. The named items:

• SEGA has four playable games: Total War: WARHAMMER 40,000 across three gameplay scenarios, Alien: Isolation 2, Stranger Than Heaven and Persona 4 Revival.
• Activision brings Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 multiplayer, MA15+.
• Square Enix brings FINAL FANTASY XIV Online with playable Nintendo Switch 2 gameplay, and a showcase for FINAL FANTASY VII REVELATION, which PAX's release dates to April 8, 2027.
• Indies: more than 90 games across the Aus Indie Showcase, PAX Rising and New Zealand's Centre of Digital Excellence (CODE). PAX Rising alone is home to more than 80 independent tabletop and video games, per its own page.
• Hardware: ASUS Republic of Gamers sponsors the PC Tournaments and Freeplay area; Mwave has a sandpit and a remote-controlled excavator you dig for prizes with; Aftershock PC runs a six-stall stamp book with two custom PCs in the draw; PowerA has its Meridian Flight Controller for Xbox and PC, ahead of a planned 2027 release.
• Esports: the Ubisoft Community and Esports Stage hosts the Rainbow Six Siege APL Oceania Stage Finals, four teams playing for a $40,000 prize pool and a place at the Osaka Major. Red Bull runs an EA SPORTS FC 27 "Beat the Streak" wildcard on Saturday and Sunday, with two places in total and the winners flown to the National Final in Sydney on December 5.
• eBay Live makes its PAX Aus debut, with a Collectors Club House in the Expo Hall and live shows through the weekend.

One thing that is not there: PAX's exhibitor page says PAX Aus does not have an Artist Alley area.

The tabletop side runs until 11 p.m.

PAX bills the eBay Tabletop Hall as its largest tabletop area yet, and the published schedule shows how much of the show that is. Of the 779 listings on the official schedule when we counted it on September 30, 316 sit in tabletop locations, about 41 per cent of the whole show:

And unlike the Expo Hall, it does not stop at six. Tabletop After Dark runs 7 to 11 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, Magic's Learn to Play runs until 11 p.m. on Saturday, a Hellbreak learn-to-play session runs 6 to 11 p.m. on Friday, and Saturday night has a Robo Rally tournament to 11 p.m. and Netrunner to 10 p.m. PAX's FAQ also singles tabletop out as pram-friendly, because the lighting is brighter and a large portion of the room is sitting at tables; the Expo Hall is the one area prams are kept out of.

The tournament grid is dense. The TableTop Tourney area runs qualifier-then-final brackets through each day for 7 Wonders, Azul, King of Tokyo, Splendor, Dominion, Harmonies, Catan and Ticket to Ride, plus a Heat: Pedal to the Metal Championship across all three days. PAX's FAQ says tournament sign-up is on site, first come, first served, at the area where the tournament runs.

Collaboratory is the unreleased-games corner: 32 in-development games on 17 tables, supported by Tabletop Game Designers Australia, where you playtest with the designers. The tabletop half of the Aus Indie Showcase has six winners: Thrive (Avant-Card Games), Aqueducks (Corkscrew Games), Deathbed (Devil Juice), Drago's Dreamland (Emily Dallwitz), Caught in the Rain (The Ravensridge Emporium) and Wireburn.

Board gaming at PAX Aus 2015. The 2026 show gives tabletop its own sponsored hall, and about 41 per cent of the schedule. Photo: Charlotte from Australia via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0.

The card games, publisher by publisher

PAX's August 4 tabletop announcement names who is bringing what. If you follow the games this site covers, this is the list:

PAX's tabletop page adds the My Little Pony Card Game to its highlights. Three more details come from outside that release:

Magic's schedule is published. The Magic play events run a Reality Fracture Sealed event from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on all three days, a week after the set's October 2 release, then a different Sealed each afternoon from 2 to 5 p.m.: Marvel Super Heroes on Friday, Secrets of Strixhaven on Saturday and Lorwyn Eclipsed on Sunday. Friday night has a Pauper Bash, 6 to 11 p.m., and Saturday a Chaos Pick Two Draft, 6 to 9 p.m. The live Echoverse Commander Showdown with Australian and international Magic creators is in the Superloop Main Theatre on Saturday, 5 to 8 p.m. If you are walking into the Sealed events cold, our Reality Fracture set guide covers the mechanics.

The NARUTO CARD GAME needs advance registration. Bandai's own PAX Aus page says Tutorial Sessions are booked through BANDAI TCG+, first come, first served, from 11:00 a.m. AEST on Sunday, September 20. One session per person. Participants who have registered the "NARUTO TCG UPDATES CHANNEL" on TCG+ and complete a survey afterwards get the CP-001 Chakra Card and a logo sticker, and every participant goes into a daily raffle for the chance to buy the official playmat. Bandai says its booth runs until about 9 p.m. on Friday and Saturday and until the 6 p.m. close on Sunday. Our Naruto vertical tracks the game's road to its 2027 launch.

Cyberpunk TCG's stand is still TBD. WeirdCo's conventions page lists PAX Australia with Learn to Play demos and the Rebecca: Having a Moment promo card for demoers, but its "where to find us" line reads TBD. Our breakdown of Cyberpunk TCG's non-booster cards tracks the other routes to that promo.

The headline sessions, in your time zone

Every session below is in the Superloop Main Theatre, per the official schedule. The US and UK columns are converted from AEDT; six of the seven land on the previous calendar day on the US West Coast.

Four things to know about that grid.

Storytime and the Penny Arcade Q&A are one seat. PAX clears its theatres after panels, and the one exception its FAQ names is between Storytime and the Penny Arcade Q&A; it calls any others rare. The schedule runs them back to back in the same theatre, noon to 2:30 p.m., so one queue buys two and a half hours. Longdale's Storytime arrives a month after what Blizzard announced at BlizzCon, and PAX's announcement quotes her saying she will talk about how Blizzard is thinking about the future of Warcraft.

The Witcher 3 gets a Main Theatre hour. Jakub Rokosz and Barbara Szeląg are the listed guests for the Songs of the Past session. If the Remastered upgrade is your real question, we covered who gets it free.

The closing ceremony overruns the show. It is scheduled 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. on Sunday; the published show hours end at 6:00 p.m.

The Cosplay Central Crown winner goes to London. One winner and one runner-up are named, and the winner represents Australia at the Global Final at MCM London Comic Con in 2027. The judges are Cinderys, Soylent Cosplay and Spicythaidesign, with The Gem Cosplay hosting.

On streaming, PAX's FAQ says it livestreams its largest theatres on the Twitch channels /pax, /pax2 and /pax3, and PAX Arena on /paxaustraliaofficial. It does not say which theatre goes to which channel.

The Main Theatre queue sign at PAX Aus 2014. Panels are first come, first served and can be capped when the theatre is full. Photo: Schezar via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0.

Getting there, and the venue rules

Take the tram. MCEC's visitor page puts routes 96, 109 and 12 at stop 124A Casino/MCEC/Clarendon Street, right outside the Clarendon Street entrance. Routes 70, 75 and the City Circle stop at Spencer St/Flinders St, about a five-minute walk away. Southern Cross Station is about ten minutes on foot, and the SkyBus from the airport runs to it. Driving means Wilson Parking under the Exhibition Centre or one of the nearby car parks MCEC lists.

The Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre's long glass frontage at dusk during PAX Aus 2014. Photo: Schezar via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0.

Bring a card, not cash. PAX and MCEC both describe the venue as cashless.

Expo Hall bans. Strollers, stilts, remote-controlled vehicles, and rollerskates, rollerblades and other recreational wheeled transport are not allowed in the Expo Hall, and you cannot stop in an aisle for a cosplay photo. Rolling bags and suitcases are not on the list. Pram parking is free, 9:30 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. daily.

Props go through Prop Check. Every costume weapon is inspected and peace-bonded once for the whole show. No metal blades, no live or decommissioned airsoft, no replica firearms made of metal or solid resin, plastic or rubber, and firearm props need an orange tip. A costume must not exceed 2.5 metres in any dimension. PAX points cosplayers to the Victoria Police policy on imitation firearms.

Smart glasses count as streaming devices under PAX's live-streaming policy. Do not film minors, and do not film in bathrooms, change rooms or the AFK Room.

Accessibility. The medical badge has to be applied for by form before the show, then collected from the information booth on Thursday, October 8 or on a show day; it sits on top of a normal badge, not in place of one. Medical badge holders get a medical queue in the Queue Hall, and attendees with sensory requirements can enter through Door 4 once the show has opened. A carer with a companion card gets in free with a person holding a full-priced badge. Hearing-loop receivers for the theatres are at the MCEC concierge desk and go back each day. The AFK Room is the low-sensory space, and PAX's charity partner Beyond Blue will be in it with The Inclusion Project.

Where the official pages disagree

Being straight about the contradictions on PAX Aus's own site, read on September 30.

• The FAQ quotes the early-bird prices. It says single-day badges are A$77 and the early-bird 3-Day is A$185. The shop charges A$82 and A$190.
• Who pays for small children. The FAQ and the shop say children 6 and under get in free with an adult. The age section of the safety page says a parent or guardian must buy a badge for anyone 14 and under. Plan on the shop's rule, and bring the child's proof of age.
• Which charity your cloakroom coin goes to. The FAQ says Child's Play; the safety page says Black Dog Institute.
• Whether this is the Crown's first year. PAX's April announcement calls 2026 the Cosplay Central Crown Championship's fifth year at PAX Aus; the Features page says the Australian leg is at PAX Aus for the first time.
• When Merch Main closes. The FAQ puts Merch Main on the expo floor and open until 8 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, two hours after the Expo Hall's published 6 p.m. close. The schedule's own Merch Main closing reminders count down to 7 p.m. on both nights instead.
• "Friday morning." The FAQ places the Storytime seat exception on Friday morning; this year's schedule starts Storytime at noon.

What is not published yet

• Booth numbers. The exhibitor list is a live widget on PAX's Expo Hall page, and none of the announcements gives a stand for the card game publishers. Bandai's Naruto page says only "Booth", and WeirdCo's says TBD.
• The Rainbow Six Siege APL Oceania Stage Finals time. The Ubisoft stage has five listings on the schedule, none of them the finals.
• The Red Bull wildcard time. PAX's release says Saturday and Sunday. The schedule has EA Sports FC 27 1v1 tournaments on Friday and Saturday, 1:30 to 3 p.m., but neither is labelled as the Red Bull wildcard.
• The Welcome to Country time. The safety page says a Welcome to Country ceremony with First Nations Elders opens the event on Friday morning; the schedule does not list it.
• Whether Friday and Sunday sell out too. Both were still on sale on September 30, when the 3-Day and Saturday badges were already marked sold out. PAX's FAQ says once badges sell out, they are gone for good.

Quick Action Checklist

• The 3-Day and Saturday badges are sold out. Friday and Sunday were still A$82 each on the official shop on September 30, A$164 for both. Buy from PAX's own shop only: badges are non-transferable and cannot be resold.
• Sunday is full price for a short day. A$82 for eight hours, the same price as a 13.5-hour Friday or Saturday.
• Pick your badge up on Thursday, October 8, between 10 a.m. and 8 p.m. Everything bought after August 24, and every international order, is collected on site.
• Bring photo ID, and your kids' proof of age. Under 15s cannot play MA15+ demos, including Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 multiplayer, even with a parent.
• Budget a full A$82 for any child aged 7 or older. There is no child badge.
• Book a Naruto tutorial on BANDAI TCG+ now if you want one. Registration opened September 20 and is first come, first served.
• Stay for the evening on Friday or Saturday if you play tabletop. The Expo Hall shuts at 6 p.m.; tabletop runs until 11 p.m.
• Queue once for Storytime and the Penny Arcade Q&A. Same theatre, back to back, and PAX does not clear the room between them.
• Take tram 96, 109 or 12 to the Clarendon Street entrance, and leave the cash at home.
• Planning a convention run rather than one show? SPIEL Essen 2026 opens less than two weeks after PAX Aus closes, and MagicCon Atlanta, the final MagicCon of 2026, follows in November. More in the Gaming Events archive and across the Mythras blog.