Why Onyx Path’s virtual convention is a win for professional gaming

Onyx Path Publishing has announced that it will again use the professional game-finding platform StartPlaying to coordinate its upcoming Onyx Path Virtual Game Convention, scheduled for 5–8 June 2026. The move underpins a trend in how established tabletop publishers manage online events, moving away from fragmented Discord-only solutions toward a centralised, commercial infrastructure.

The partnership comes as StartPlaying, a San Francisco-based startup backed by over $6M in venture capital, appears to have reached a “virtuous cycle” of growth. By providing a stable marketplace where players can find reliable, professional Game Masters, the platform has secured the critical mass needed to attract industry giants like Onyx Path, who now use it to anchor their digital flagship events.

Onyx Path Publishing said in an official statement,

For those of you who are interested in running or playing our games during the convention, we are partnering with Startplaying.Games to provide a place for folks to set up listings for their games! You can charge for games or set your listings up for free, and if you need an online place to host your game, we have several dedicated voice and text channels on the Onyx Path Discord for people to play!”

This is not the first time Onyx Path has used StartPlaying. We wrote about it back in 2021. It’s clearly working for the publisher.

The Flywheel Effect

For years, “Looking For Group” sites have struggled with the “chicken and egg” problem: players won’t join a site without GMs, and GMs won’t list games without a player base. StartPlaying has broken this deadlock by leaning into the need for dependability. By allowing GMs to charge for their time, the platform ensures a level of reliability and quality that volunteer-run Discord servers often struggle to maintain.

With Onyx Path bringing its “Game Night” events and the 2026 convention to the platform, the “flywheel” is spinning faster. This tactical endorsement introduces thousands of Scion, Curseborne, and World of Darkness fans to the ecosystem, further cementing StartPlaying as the industry’s primary digital lobby.

A New Standard for Virtual Cons

The convention will serve as a high-profile showcase for the new Storypath Ultra core manual and the urban horror setting Curseborne. While Onyx Path will still provide dedicated voice and text channels on their own Discord server, the logistical heavy lifting, scheduling, payment processing, and seat reservations are being outsourced to the StartPlaying tech stack.

This shift represents a “coming of age” for the paid-GM model. While some community members remain wary of the transition from volunteer-led convention gaming to a service-based economy, the sheer efficiency of the StartPlaying model is proving difficult for publishers to ignore.

Quick Links

• Sign up to StartPlaying in advance