Fans, creators, and crawlers unite for sold-out appearances, packed gameplay events, and an unforgettable weekend for Dungeon Crawler Carl

San Diego, CA – August 12, 2026 – Dungeon Crawler Carl fans descended upon Gen Con 2026 as Renegade Game Studios transformed the convention into a celebration of the hit LitRPG book series. With creator appearances, packed gameplay events, a sold-out 2,000-person fan meetup at Victory Field, a sold-out 1,000-seat TTRPG live play, and multiple sold-out panels featuring author Matt Dinniman and narrator Jeff Hays, Dungeon Crawler Carl became a standout experience at this year’s convention.

A Dungeon Full of Events

In addition to first-access demos of Dungeon Crawler Carl: Unstoppable and around-the-clock game sessions for the Dungeon Crawler Carl Roleplaying Game throughout the convention, the excitement continued with special events and appearances featuring Matt Dinniman and Jeff Hays, including:

• Creator appearances and signings: Matt Dinniman and Jeff Hays met with fans throughout the weekend for meet-and-greet and signing opportunities.

• Behind-the-scenes panels: Fans got an inside look at the creation of Dungeon Crawler Carl through Q&A sessions and the Crawler Creation Chaos panel featuring Matt Dinniman, Jeff Hays, and RPG designer Matt Hyra. 

• 1,000 Seat Live Play: A celebrity cast of crawlers, including Matt Dinniman & Jeff Hays themselves, battled through the dungeon during the Dungeon Crawler Carl TTRPG: Live Dungeon Descent Main Stage event. 

• Future reveals: Renegade hosted a Dungeon Crawler Carl partner panel – bringing in guests from Playmates, Vault Comics, Multimorphic, and Foam Brain – to share what’s ahead for Dungeon Crawler Carl from each team in the world of hobby.

• B-B-B-BOSS BATTLE Multi-Table Events: These special Dungeon Crawler Carl TTRPG evening events had multiple tables of Crawlers all working together against a series of challenges, including a City Boss. Jeff Hays himself hung out during the event to voice Dungeon AI announcements. 

• The weekend culminated with a sold-out Dungeon Crawler Carl fan meetup at Victory Field, where over 2,000 fans gathered to celebrate the series alongside fellow crawlers and the creators behind the franchise.

Crawl Con at Gen Con

Beyond the array of sold-out events, Renegade Game Studios also had other exciting Dungeon Crawler Carl celebrations throughout the convention on the show floor and beyond.

• Life-size Statue of Carl, Donut, & Samantha: Thousands of fans swarmed Renegade’s booth throughout the show for a chance to get toe-to-toe (literally) with a life-sized statue of Carl throwing Samantha in his xistera, with the one and only Princess Donut atop his shoulder. 

• Renegade’s Crawl Con Room: Renegade Game Studios transformed an entire room directly across from the exhibit hall into Crawl Con, featuring wall-to-wall original artwork designed to emulate in-world advertisements from Dungeon Crawler Carl. The space hosted gameplay and events, including daily VIP games with Matt Dinniman and Jeff Hays, plus a first look at the recently announced official Dungeon Crawler Carl pinball machine from Multimorphic.

• NEW ACHIEVEMENT Badge Ribbon Hunt: There were 11 different badge ribbon designs fans could collect during Gen Con, each rewarded for experiencing different aspects of Renegade’s Dungeon Crawler Carl presence at Gen Con 2026.

Some fans, such as this admirable Crawler, collected all eleven ribbons! Impressive.

“Gen Con was an incredible celebration of the Dungeon Crawler Carl community,” said Scott Gaeta, President of Renegade Game Studios. “From packed game tables and panels to thousands of fans gathering together at Victory Field, seeing the community embrace this world was truly special. The passion of the crawlers made this an unforgettable convention.”

Renegade extended a thank you to Crawlers for making Gen Con 2026 such a memorable event. They have been sharing recap content on their socials as they edit and release footage captured during the convention.

More Renegade Experiences at Gen Con

Beyond Dungeon Crawler Carl, Renegade celebrated another major community milestone as the Heroscape World Championship returned to Gen Con. After a weekend of intense battles, Al Bot was crowned the 2026 Heroscape World Champion and earned the honor of having their name transformed into a future Heroscape character.

Attendees also visited Booth #1619 to discover new releases, exclusive products, and demos across Renegade’s diverse tabletop lineup. Renegade hosted additional events throughout the convention, including classic board game experiences, EXODUS introductory adventures, Sit and Paint sessions, and more.

For more information about Renegade Game Studios and upcoming releases, visit www.renegadegames.com.

ABOUT RENEGADE GAME STUDIOS

Renegade Game Studios is an award-winning publisher of tabletop games, founded in 2014 by industry veteran Scott Gaeta. Renegade is home to a diverse portfolio of board games, roleplaying games, miniatures games, and accessories. Its catalog includes acclaimed titles and brands such as the Dungeon Crawler Carl, Heroscape, Axis & Allies, Vampire: The Masquerade, Transformers, G.I. JOE, Power Rangers, My Little Pony, Robo Rally, and Unstoppable.

Find out more at www.renegadegames.com or by signing up for our newsletter here: http://www.renegadegamestudios.com/newsletter-sign-up/.

ABOUT MATT DINNIMAN

Matt Dinniman is an artist, musician, and the New York Times bestselling author of the Dungeon Crawler Carl book series. He doesn't really hate cocker spaniels.

The Dungeon Crawler Carl licensing program is represented by Maximum Orbit. For Dungeon Crawler Carl licensing inquiries, contact:  https://www.maximumorbit.com/contact