Know Direction to Host PaizoCon Online 2026 After Paizo Removal

PaizoCon Online disappeared from Paizo’s 2026 calendar in February, but Know Direction is stepping in to bring the virtual convention back for May 23 and May 24. The revived event will give Pathfinder and Starfinder fans who cannot travel to the in-person shows a way back into the yearly gathering through panels, creator talks, and the community chat that has long made PaizoCon matter.

Paizo said on February 18 that it had removed PaizoCon Online from its 2026 schedule because of “a variety of factors,” while stressing that the move was not a permanent cancellation. The company said it was still planning to bring PaizoCon back in some form in future years and pointed fans toward its other 2026 appearances at Origins Game Fair, UK Games Expo, Gen Con, PAX Unplugged, and PaizoCon South Pacific. Even with those stops on the calendar, the online loss would have left a real hole for players and GMs who rely on PaizoCon for direct access to the people behind Pathfinder and Starfinder.

Know Direction says its version of PaizoCon Online 2026 will preserve the parts of the event that matter most to homebound attendees. The program will feature nine seminars streamed live on the official Paizo Twitch channel, with recordings later released as podcasts and videos. The Paizo Events Discord server will again serve as the social hub, keeping the convention’s live conversation in one place while the panels are running.

That matters because the online side of PaizoCon has become more than a fallback. PaizoCon Online first moved online in 2020, when Paizo scheduled it for May 26-31 and said Know Direction would host Twitch coverage of seminars and actual-play games alongside Paizo social media producer Payton Smith. In 2024 and 2025, Paizo continued using the same model, with Twitch panels, Discord networking, staff AMAs, prizes, sales, and organized play blocks. The format became a dependable way to keep the community engaged even when travel was not possible.

The timing also works because Bridging The Gap 2026 was already set for May 22-25, with virtual tabletop, play-by-discord, and play-by-post play across Pathfinder 1st Edition, Pathfinder 2nd Edition, Starfinder, and Starfinder 2. Paizo’s Organized Play team said most of those games would run on the convention Discord server or the Paizo forums, and that the event would include multi-table specials, a charity component, scenarios run by authors, and Venture-Officers available around the clock. By sorting out the overlap, the two events now give the community both halves of the experience: official seminars and organized play.

Know Direction says its connection to PaizoCon goes back to 2010, when it began releasing seminar audio and adopted the line, “We Con When You Can’t.” The network later added video recordings and hosted in-person streams at PaizoCon 2019, making this year’s return feel less like a replacement and more like a restoration of the online convention Pathfinder fans have come to expect.