Will SXSW Gaming be the next big branch of the South By brand? Pete Fenlon, CEO of Mayfair Games certainly thinks so.

As of now, the gaming branch is still a free, open to the public event that is featured the first weekend of SXSWi. Fenlon thinks gaming will go the way of Edu or Comedy and become a separate track in the near future.

The Gaming Expo certainly had enough interest on Sunday afternoon to be self sustaining. Even as the three-day event was winding to a close, the Palmer Event Center was packed with people. There were video games to play and vendors to visit on every inch of floor space.

Over on the Comixology Geek stage, a cosplay contest was in full swing. There were several hundred attendees waiting patiently in line, all dressed as their favorite video game characters.

In the center of the Expo was a large area open filled with tables. People were playing board and card games at every table. This was a common theme at the Gaming Expo, hands-on was everything. At the Mayfair Games booth, creators of the wildly popular board game Settlers of Catan, gamers were feverishly grabbing up resources as they tried to dominate their competitors.

Fenlon was excited about the gamers playing Catan and other games.

On the second floor, a massive room of computers sat packed with people. The Intel LAN Party allowed for gamers to sit down and play some of the newest games on the market. Kei Kobayashi, product marketing manager of Intel, was running the event.

“Intel LAN-fest is actually its own … nonprofit organization,” Kobayashi said. “It’s someplace for people to play games. The latest games, we have Steam games, Blizzard games, League of Legends.”

Intel was also showing off their newest computer as well. The 730 Series computer doesn’t officially hit the market for another week, but Gaming Expo attendees had a chance to check out the new hardware before the public.

The Gaming Expo may be on its way to becoming the new arm of the SXSW family.