Unofficial Minecraft convention canceled at last minute, organizers accused of fraud

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The MineOrama Minecraft convention was very suddenly canceled yesterday, less than a week before it was scheduled to take place. Unfortunate as it is, these things happen from time to time; unforeseen circumstances and all that. But the event raised "just shy" of $600,000 before the cancellation and organizers say refunds won't be offered until "replanning" is complete, and that has not gone over well with ticket buyers.

Despite its insistence that MineOrama is not a scam, a great many people responded with their belief that it is in fact exactly that, a position reinforced by the fact that the announcement of the cancellation was not accompanied by an offer of refunds. "MineOrama was postponed because financing fell through. We tried everything to recover, but had to postpone," it tweeted. "Once we replan we will be able to give specific instructions for refunds."

The financing actually fell apart three weeks ago, according to further tweets, but efforts to redesign and presumably scale back the event still left it with a shortfall of around $175,000. Organizers said they will cooperate with authorities and are "sincerely attempting to make this right," but a message posted at mineorama.com also neglects to say anything about when, how or even if refunds will be offered. Instead, it states only that it expects the event will be completely sold out when a new launch date is announced, and that all current tickets will remain valid.

MineOrama organizers claimed that only ten percent of ticket sales went to event staff, while the rest was used to cover "legitimate business expenses." BebopVox of YOGSCAST, however, pointed out in a video released yesterday that organizer Lou Gasco now claims to have sold less than half the number of tickets he said had already been sold in a Forbes article from five months ago, and that according to Ginnel Davis of Pier 94, "Lou never paid payments on the venue since they drew up the contract, so the venue was given away."

Andy Chalk
Andy Chalk
US News Lead

Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill. Lots of Henry Cavill.