Really hoping that their cap has nothing to do with building code. If ICC is stuffed to the gills, they'd have to do one-in-one out at the entrances and the convention would be a hellish experience.

Not commenting on numbers before the convention might just be a Gen Con policy, but it would also mean that no irate people can do real math ahead of time to see that Gen Con COULD have capped the number 5 higher to accommodate them.

Have plenty of badge stock.

Have sell out numbers for all badges. 4-day limits were reached first.

We are still selling individual day badges while they last...

Mike Boozer
Customer Service & Event Team Manager
Gen Con LLC

Is there a wait list or anything for cancellations?

I'm thinking there are several reasons for this cap...
Attendee satisfaction being number 1
Building/fire codes
logistics of staffing the event
Allowing single day attendees to get into the con without having to but a 4 day badge
I would actually be shocked if there wasn't an attendance cap. Gen Con is dealing with bigger numbers of attendees than ever, I'm sure they're only going to take on as many add they can feasibly handle. 
 

Mike Boozer
Customer Service & Event Team Manager
Gen Con LLC

Two things:

1. It really just makes good sense for them to not say what they capped the badge sales at, as WHATEVER number they gave would not only result in angry pushback "OH YOU CAN ONLY ACCOMMODATE THAT MANY???" but also would be the number that stuck in people's minds; say 75,000 is indeed the number.  Suddenly everyone would remember that Gen-Con had 75,000 attendees.  When, in fact, something tells me the single-day badge people have to add another 10-20% attendance to the four-day total.  So to make sure they get the accurate population measurement out, they will wait until they know what actually happened to report it.

2. Dude.  Any amount of money is worth attending Gen-Con.  Buy four single-day badges.  I will buy you a coffee and give you a high-five if you make it ;)

I am waiting for the follow up announcement- what is Gen Con now going to do to curb the population? 

There are obviously going to be too many people at Gen Con this year. Hotels turned into a mess. getting through the exhibit hall will be a mess. Trying to get a bite to eat will be a pain. I remember when Gen Con outgrew Milwaukee- it was NOT fun. You know you have a problem when "parking" is listed as an event.

Badge caps mean we are facing another problem- people who are actually coming for gaming are going to start being crowded out by people who aren't. This should never happen, true gamers should ALWAYS come first. We should never get into a situation like SDCC where people who are actually going to see comic book writers and artists will have a heck of a time going because of all of the people who aren't.

This isn't a 50th anniversary thing. It was too crowded already last year, and just projecting the growth rates over the past few years shows that the problem was going to get worse regardless of any anniversary.

So what is the plan guys?

Just go and have fun.  If the Con is too crowded for your tastes there are plenty of other good Con's to go to in the future.  

People get too negative and stressed about all the details.

I personally love the fact that its going to be absolutely bonkers this year. I can't imagine being around TOO MANY people that are into the same things I am into.

-No matter what happens, YOU'LL BE AT GENCON 50!
-Lines will always be a thing in life. Slow down, breath and be patient.
-You MIGHT not get the game you wanted, or... you will! That will ALWAYS be the case at GenCon. Don't give up so soon just because 4D Badges sold out. It's more about the demand for what you're wanting.
-If anyone touches my Nightmare Edition Malifaux crews, there will be an incident.

Enjoy!

One can be prevented from enter the building or parts of the building if the fire marshall deems it necessarily. This was done at Comic Con in San Diego and resulted in people missing the beginning of events along with entering the exhibit hall.

So now I guess we either convince the fire marshall to up the numbers a bit since all 75K or 80K of us are NOT all in the convention center, or else expand the space? I'm honestly still not sure why badges would be capped since there really really really really is PLENTY of room and we are all spread out over blocks and blocks. 
 
I mean for heaven's sake, they ddn't cap all those motocycles. And at the time it was gen con people AND all the motorcycles!!

The more I think about it, the less it makes any kind of sense. If it's solely a dealer hall opening crush, make the dealer hall opening an event you need a free ticket to.

The selling out of badges shows that Gen Con is closely watching the attendance numbers which is a very good thing. If they continue to sell badges past the building capacity, areas of the convention could be closed by the fire marshal which would negatively impact everyone. We all want to have a fun experience and it is no fun to be locked out of a convention, trust me I have experienced this.
I commend the Gen Con staff for taking these steps to insure a fun and safe experience for attendees.

Tom Vasel (Dice Tower) said on the Board Game Breakfast episode on 7/11 that he thinks the cap is 65k.  I'm not sure if he's guessing or if he knows something.

If that were the case, I think these badge sell out warnings would have gone out last year as well.   I'm guessing it's added 50th bloat.   My best guess is that it's a 75k hard cap, but final attendance will be JUST below that.  ...and I mean JUST barely below full sell out.  We'll see.

Wow.  Saw the recent email send out saying Sat badges sold out (or nearly sold out)..

Holy cow.  This may uncomfortably crowded.....  I'm glad I pre-ordered mine.  I initially considered just waiting until the convention and seeing if I felt like going.