Open to the public for the first time since 2023, UC San Diego’s Triton Gaming hosted its annual Triton Gaming Expo, celebrating 10 years of on-campus competitive gaming and industry connections. With a record-breaking attendance of more than 2,000 visitors, TGX spanned from May 30 to June 1 at Price Center. It featured an array of student artists, tournaments, friendly gaming, and panels with professionals. TGX showcased networking opportunities for its attendees, along with special appearances from popular voice actors and streamers such as LilyPichu, tuonto, and Amber Lee Connors.
Triton Gaming’s decision to reopen registration to the public in part contributed to this year’s high turnout. Non-UCSD attendees could purchase a two-day pass for $12, while UCSD students, alumni, and faculty received free admission. Prior to 2023, this was standard policy for TGX, helping establish the event as a major gathering for gamers across California.
According to the president of TGX, the Associated Students administration cracked down on Triton Gaming in 2023, prohibiting public access to the event on the basis that all student organization funding should go solely to students. This decision impacted Triton Gaming’s partnerships with industry sponsors, as TGX was no longer a local event and made it difficult to convince companies to fund it, ultimately raising the cost to host the event.
In an effort to solve this problem, Triton Gaming worked with the current A.S. administration to build a case against the previous referendum. Under this year’s new agreement between Triton Gaming and A.S., $5 from every ticket purchased goes back to A.S., which then partially funds future student programming and campus initiatives. The remainder of the money covers facility costs for hosting the event at Price Center. Any money left at the end of this process is reinvested back into Triton Gaming’s ongoing projects.
“At the end of the day, our students are the most important thing we do, and we try to do that in all the work we do,” said fourth-year Chris Kreins, the president of Triton Gaming, in an interview with The UCSD Guardian. “We also want to make sure that this event is sustainable, and it’s not easy to do that. So, we have to make sure we are having that impact, and we’re opening our doors to the general public in order to make this event further succeed in the future.”
In addition to hosting the event, Triton Gaming continued efforts to support the broader San Diego community. This year, the organization raised over $1,000 for children with cancer at Rady Children’s Health and featured a booth for the cause on the second day of the expo, reflecting the club’s commitment to giving back to the community.
TGX is also entirely student run. The process of planning the expo began Fall Quarter, involving a team of around 80 students who worked constantly behind the scenes to bring the event to life. Leading up to the expo, members reached out to sponsors, recruited talent, created activities, promoted TGX on social media, and more.
Kreins credits the club’s organization and success to its extensive 10 years of experience and its passionate members.
“It’s just a lot of people that really like gaming, and they might not be practicing the act of loving gaming in that moment, but the work that they do is in the space,” he said. “Not everyone’s going to go on to work in the gaming industry, but they can practice photography here, they can practice broadcasting here, they can practice their creative work here. And we try to offer that for a lot of folks, and we always want to grow more.”
TGX offered a variety of experiences for fans and newcomers alike, from freeplay games to student artist alleys to alumni and professional meet-and-greets. The Price Center college rooms featured “Mario Kart” and fighting games while the ballrooms hosted clubs and setups for friendly gameplay with “Roblox,” “Minecraft,” “Splatoon,” “League of Legends,” “Dance Dance Revolution,” and more. There were also cosplay cafes, a Red Bull room, and contests judging cosplays and talents.
“The mindset of our organization is that gaming is for everybody,” Kleins said. “We work along with accessibility, and we work along with interest, and we don’t really do esports. That’s what our wonderful sister program, UCSD esports over at Recreation, does. We do general, and so what that means is, like, when we build events like these, we want to think about what can attract everybody.”
TGX also hosted a multitude of tournaments — including the final match of the Neptune Series 2026, which was a Valorant tournament stream where schools across Southern California competed in a bracket-style gaming tournament. Additionally, FlyQuest, Riot Games, and other gaming companies were present to offer students career advice and networking opportunities with industry staff.
The artist alley in Price Center Ballroom West was a key feature at this event, showcasing student shops and creations. The space allowed attendees to support local businesses and create meaningful connections over shared interests and hobbies.
“I think it’s good exposure to people, coming by, being able to talk to people,” Latte, a small business owner of plush line Bupuri, said in an interview with The Guardian. “It’s very meaningful that I could have face-to-face connections.”
Adjacent to the artist alley was a two-day voice actor panel series featuring popular voice actors from a multitude of fandoms, including “Jujutsu Kaisen,” “Genshin Impact,” and “CookieRun: Kingdom.” Following the panels, fans had the opportunity to speak to these experienced professionals during meet-and-greet sessions.
English voice actor Connors, known for roles such as Pieck Finger in “Attack on Titans” and Toy Chica from “Five Nights at Freddy’s,” highlighted the significance of in-person connections in an increasingly digital world.
“As technology has evolved to what it is now, it’s so important to have face-to-face human interaction with everybody,” Lee said at TGX. “Go to these events, make some friends, bring your friends, support real human artists, you know? I think that’s just what’s really important about human connection.”
Each day featured a headlining guest speaker. Streamer and cosplayer tuonto spoke about his journey as a creator the first day. Prominent streamer and voice actor LilyPichu appeared at the voice actor panel on the second day.
In an interview with The Guardian, both streamers emphasized the importance of fan interaction and gratitude for support at student expos.
“This is my first student expo,” tuonto said. “The campus is beautiful. I think it’s really cool that it’s student led, too. It’s a good sign that people are still going to uphold these things.”
For LilyPichu, the event served as an opportunity to connect with her audience.
“I’m very grateful,” LilyPichu said. “Thank you [fans] for appreciating what I do and liking what I do. [I’ve been] doing this for 15 years now. Everyone tells me they’ve been watching me since middle school, so that’s incredible. It’s an incredible journey.”
The expo focused on the importance of community and uniting people across many backgrounds to enjoy the festivities, culture, and appreciation for the art of gaming.
“TGX is what you make of it,” Thanh Nguyen, a fourth-year and Triton Gaming creative officer, said in an interview with The Guardian. “It can be for you a conference, just a place to hang out, a place to get inspired by artists, but ultimately for us, we want you to have that flame of passion for gaming that you used to have ignited again. And being an adult doesn’t have to be boring and tiring, and you can still have your passion.