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Last weekend, a fig of gaming fans traveled to Tampa, Florida to be the National Gaming Expo. The convention, successful its archetypal year, promised encounters with actors specified arsenic the casts of Grand Theft Auto V, Red Dead Redemption 2, and Mortal Kombat, arsenic good arsenic the erstwhile voices down Nintendo's Peach and Bowser, Donkey Kong composer Grant Kirkhope, and a batch more.
Instead, normal attendees were treated to bare halls, missing talent, a no-show photographer, and...camels?
The National Gaming Expo took spot from August 8 done 10 astatine the Florida State Fairgrounds successful Tampa. The authoritative website claims it expected astir 30,000 radical successful attendance, and promised endowment signings, photograph opportunities, vendors, and a cosplay contest. On societal media, accounts specified arsenic Celebrity Talent Booking and dependable actors similar Ned Luke (GTA V) and Rob Wiethoff (Red Dead Redemption) promoted their appearances astatine the convention. Wiethoff, who plays John Marston, whipped up a peculiar fervor with immoderate archetypal teasing of "exciting news" that got fans excited for immoderate benignant of franchise quality - but it turned retired helium was conscionable talking astir a reunion of the Red Dead Redemption 1 and 2 casts astatine the expo.
However, that reunion was...disorganized, to accidental the least. The full normal was disorganized. Despite the National Gaming Expo's lofty promises, fans paid $40 for a single-day ticket, $90 for the weekend, and showed up to a beauteous barren event, arsenic revealed successful assorted photos and videos connected societal media:
So this was my archetypal con and didn’t what to expect but this was decidedly not it. Don’t enactment Mike wittenberg, due to the fact that I was astatine the nationalist gaming expo and it was truthful awkward and unorganized 😬 pic.twitter.com/vgi2D7DWvD
— Plapapus 🫧 (@plapapus) August 11, 2025The National Gaming Expo was a disaster. The con level was empty, possibly 10 vendors. The lone sheet that adjacent happened was specified a mess, Ned Luke took the MCs occupation origin helium was doing specified a atrocious job. They screwed implicit the celebs. And present they’re deleting their societal media. @ngeshow pic.twitter.com/3KjP8tBzci
— Dan 🎸✝️ (@Husbeep) August 10, 2025Accounts connected societal media lament the dismal fig and assortment of vendors and booths, arsenic good arsenic a deficiency of security. One Reddit remark complained determination were wellness security and T-Mobile vendors and hardly immoderate to bash with gaming. "It was the equivalent of walking into a Best Buy searching for a game, seeing the shelves filled with broccoli, crockery soap, and assorted car parts. Then determination successful the backmost of the store there’s an unfastened container VCR for $600," said different commenter.
Inexplicably, 1 attraction that was present astatine the expo was...a petting zoo, featuring a camel and a fewer different workplace animals:
The National gaming expo has gotta beryllium the worst normal ever produced each they got is simply a camel and nary games pic.twitter.com/WhOExks6Ha
— funkonoki (@funkonoki) August 9, 2025The normal didn't conscionable look barren. Apparently, a batch of endowment that was expected to beryllium determination either didn't amusement up astatine all, oregon showed up precocious oregon sporadically successful a mode that made it challenging for fans to brushwood the actors they wanted to see. Several attendees who assertion they went to the amusement connected Friday said that the Red Dead Redemption formed wasn't determination astatine all, and were told determination was immoderate mistake made with their agency. Others did study that they got to conscionable the Red Dead Redemption unit later, but complained that paid photograph opportunities with them and different endowment were canceled owed to the 1 lensman allegedly hired by the normal not showing up.
As a result, attendees person been making their feelings known to the National Gaming Expo organizers successful immoderate mode they can. The convention's authoritative Instagram leafage has been deleted and its Facebook lawsuit leafage has been locked, but the Facebook comments connected the Florida State Fairgrounds' station for the lawsuit are filled with upset attendees. Many posters are issuing warnings astir the event's organizer: CEO of NGE Event Production Michael Wittenberg.
Wittenberg, who formerly ran the National Vape Expo earlier it was unopen down during the COVID-19 pandemic, started the National Gaming Expo this twelvemonth conscionable months aft returning from a year-and-a-half-long stint successful a Dominican Republic prison. He was arrested determination successful 2023 for planetary narcotics trafficking during a networking lawsuit astatine a resort, aft signing to judge a "700-pound pallet filled with promotional items, but Dominican officials sniffed retired pills, gummies, and cartridges containing THC, the progressive constituent successful marijuana," according to CBS News. Wittenberg says the items successful it were each federally ineligible successful the United States. "Did I cognize for definite that worldly was successful the pallet? No. But one thought it was a possibility. Was I anserine oregon ignorant? Yeah. I wasn't guilty. There is simply a difference," Wittenberg said astatine the time. "I've done large conventions with these products for 10 years successful large normal centers crossed the country."
The warnings shared by convention-goers, however, are little astir the THC and much astir Wittenberg's past with conventions. According to commenters, Wittenberg has tally threadbare, scammy events before, with immoderate radical adjacent popping successful to allege he's failed to wage workers successful the past. While it's hard to find a utile grounds online of his past events, these claims are somewhat supported by astatine slightest 1 reappraisal of the National Vape Expo inactive floating astir the internet. "During the play I had to travel up with ways of passing the clip specified arsenic counting the fig of steps betwixt stands and taking regular java breaks," reads the reappraisal from a unit newsman astatine Vapouround from 2017. "Never successful my beingness person I made a ample level achromatic latte past truthful long. Normally I americium an espresso benignant of feline but the 5 seconds they instrumentality to portion would not conscionable chopped it erstwhile I americium moving down the timepiece astatine specified a vaping non-event arsenic this."
A fistful of progressive parties person already publically commented connected the concern astatine National Gaming Expo. In a connection to IGN, GTA 5's Michael De Santa histrion Ned Luke said simply, "It was a scam, the feline who ran it was a con artist. He enactment the con successful comic-con."
Venture Authentics, which had advertised "send-ins" astatine the expo (letting radical nonstop successful collectibles to beryllium autographed by talent) has apologized and said it volition contented refunds to customers, owed to "James Burnes, Michael Antonakos, Grant Kirkhope, and others" not attending. In a Facebook comment, the institution clarified: "this 1 is not the guests fault, it’s 100% connected the convention. I’d alternatively not elaborate publicly, but bash not blasted the guests. They look to beryllium conscionable arsenic shocked."
Roger Clark, the dependable of Arthur Morgan, likewise acknowledged his absence:
It is with my deepest apologies that I accidental I wasn’t capable to be the past time of National Gaming Expo contiguous arsenic was announced. My lack was owed to circumstances extracurricular of my control. Crazy crap man. Sorry.
— Roger Clark (@rclark98) August 10, 2025A fig of individuals connected societal media who accidental they attended the normal are present trying to get refunds. Some are reporting occurrence disputing the paper charges for the tickets oregon getting refunds done Eventbrite, portion others accidental they are unsure however to get a refund astatine each connected photograph opportunities that ne'er happened.
IGN has reached retired to Celebrity Talent Booking (which seems to person coordinated galore of the actors), Michael Wittenberg, the National Gaming Expo, the Florida State Fairgrounds, Kenny James, Michael Antonakos, Grant Kirkhope, James Burnes, Take-Two and Rockstar (for bully measure), and the agencies representing Roger Clark, Rob Wiethoff, and Samantha Kelly for comment.
Rebekah Valentine is simply a elder newsman for IGN. You tin find her posting connected BlueSky @duckvalentine.bsky.social. Got a communicative tip? Send it to [email protected].
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