Here’s Why Mesa Game Convention ZapCon Has Pressed the Pause Button Until 2024

Bleeps and bloops won’t be filling the Mesa Convention Center this month thanks to the fact that ZapCon, the local classic arcade game and pinball convention, won’t be happening in 2023.

That’s because organizers of the event, which typically takes place in late April or early May, pressed the pause button on the event this year due to changes behind the scenes.

Why? ZapCon’s Rachel Bess told Phoenix New Times via Facebook chat that the event’s original longtime organizers, who helped launch the event back in 2013 and include herself, Wes Cleveland, and Zach Johnson, have left Arizona in recent years or have been busy pursuing other opportunities. (Bess, for instance, owns the recently expanded Electric Bat Arcade in Tempe.)

She adds that the change in organizers has been in the works for a few years but there have been a few glitches in the process due to the pandemic and other factors.

She adds that the change in organizers has been in the works for a few years but there have been a few glitches in the process due to the pandemic and other factors.

“The folks that were originally supposed to [take over ZapCon] had big life changes during COVID so they couldn’t quite commit to the same level of working on the [event],” Bess says. “I’m slammed with Electric Bat stuff, Wes is busy with his job and wants to do other things.”
Bess, Cleveland, and other organizers were eventually able to find a new group of organizers to run ZapCon, including local arcade game collectors and restorers Derek Large and Brien King.

“We've got a good group of guys that we're training up to take over so Zapcon can continue in our absence,” Cleveland says.

Bess says that issues with the changeover process caused ZapCon to miss out on securing a date for 2023 at the Mesa Convention Center.

“The new folks stepped up but all of the dates at the convention center were full for this year (we usually reserve 18 months in advance) so 2024 was the soonest available,” she says.

King tells New Times that ZapCon will remain largely unchanged. They’ve already scheduled their 2024 dates for the event, which will take place on March 9 and 10 at the Mesa Convention Center.

“We are currently deciding on the theme for next year. After that, we'll be creating the graphics, updating the website, and start promoting the show,” King says. “We love arcade games and we love Zapcon and we don't want to see it go away.”