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The end is nigh — as the final day of PAX West 2025 begins and these words are published, the penultimate round of this year’s Omegathon is beginning… and only four contestants are left standing from the original 20 after no less than four rounds of Minecraft that would have tested even the most hardened player.

We shared the plan the backstory for the PAX West 2025 Omegathon at the start of the show, and after tests of agility — there was a parkour round. A parkour round of Minecraft. Just think about that for a second — as well as build skill, scavenger hunting prowess, and more, the only Omeganauts left in the competition are:

• TisAMystery (Jonathan, Nevada)
• joshthor (Josh, Spokane WA)
• Naylord (Geoffrey, Vancouver BC, Canada)
• Prof. Pine (Patrick, Shoreline WA)

Mentioning the survivors makes me want to share something from the show itself — there’s a banner at the entrance of the Summit building of the Seattle Convention Center where the Omeganauts are displayed in their entirety. (I shared it in Friday’s post.) As the rounds have been taking place and contestants have been knocked out of the tournament, they’ve been graffitied out of the poster in a suitably Minecraft manner:

While we’re sharing, this is also a good time to shout out Child’s Play Charity, the organization set up by PAX founders Mike Krahulik and Jerry Holkins that donates games and tech to pediatric hospitals. Each round of Omegathon raises money for Child’s Play Charity via a QR code onscreen during play — this QR code, in fact:

Funds raised help provide video games and technology for kids in more than 190 hospitals around the world, with over $67 million raised by the organization to date. It also helps Omegathon host and Child’s Play executive director Travis Eriksen embarrass himself for the world to see; if PAX West 2025’s Omegathon crowd raises more than PAX East 2025, Eriksen will wear a fetching-and-not-at-all-ill-fitting crop top for the Omegathon final, due to be live-streamed via the PAX steam later today. If you used the QR code above, that would add to the total, I’m just saying... (Find out more about Child's Play Charity right here.)

The Omegathon final will be live on the PAX West 2025 livestream 5:30pm Pacific today. PAX West 2025 continues through September 1.

The gaming industry has come a long way since Pong blew all our minds in the 70s. We've got everything you need to know about the next big thing in games. Of course, Grand Theft Auto VI is going to be the big game of 2026, but there are plenty of other games coming out between now and then. Here is our starter guide for every gamer:

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