Anime NYC can’t seem to catch a break. Tickets for the annual anime con hosted by LeftField media went on sale yesterday, but would-be con goers aren’t happy with the organizer’s controversial solution to prevent the problems that plagued last year’s event.
Event organizers announced ahead of sales several major overhauls to how the con would be organized this year, most notably capping the three-day badges to just 4,500 attendees. That’s a quarter of the number for sale last year. The change ostensibly lets the con accommodate more attendees each day via single day passes (which, as many have noted, are more expensive this year than last).
The move followed complications at the fourth in-person event last November, where attendees were faced with enormous lines outside the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in New York City, a growing pain of becoming a major con. Many of last year’s problems were caused by the spike in attendance, eclipsing 50,000 individual attendees over its three days — a logistics challenge compounded by actually effective COVID-19 precautions.
The 4,500 three day passes sold out within the first hour of going on sale, and many spent that hour stuck in queues.
The whole process reminded more than a few attendees of last years in-person line fiasco. “[Anime NYC] tried to prevent LineCon in person, only to have LineCon online,” one person observed on Twitter.
Those seeking three day passess do still intend on going, but are now faced with premium prices. While weekend badges sold for $95.00, badges for individual days are being sold for $65.00 each.
There are 14,600 single day badges for sale for each day of the con, and there’s no indication from organizers on how many of those have sold already.
Anime NYC will be held Friday, Nov. 18 to Sunday, Nov 20.