If you’re ever had the pleasure of going to Gamescom, the gaming expo that takes place in Cologne each August, you’ll already know that it’s a very large occasion.
If you’re a UK-based gamer who’s by no means travelled to Germany for this epic in-person showcase, you in all probability can’t even comprehend the size of the venue.
Koelnmesse is just like the Excel Centre in London, in case you multiplied the Excel Centre by 5 instances the size, after which stitched all of these big halls along with large corridors, completely heaving with attendees.
To anybody that’s been to Gamescom previously, it’s exhausting to know the concept this 12 months’s iteration is even greater than those we’ve seen earlier than. But, nicely, it is.
Speaking to Felix Falk, one of many key organisers of Gamescom, we realized that this 12 months, for the primary time, all the present floor space has been totally bought out to exhibitors.
Falk advised us: “It’s the first time we sold out the exhibition space. But to be honest, we are really happy to see new records being broken every year now for for a couple of years, which is amazing, because Gamescom is growing, becoming more diverse with great content and also more international, for years now.
“And so, before Gamescom 2026 has even started, we already know that we will have a new record when it comes to the number of exhibitors – it is more than 1,600, which is an all-time high.
“And also, in other areas like the Indie Area, we do have plus 16 per cent exhibitors. This shows there’s a lot of content, and a lot of new partners at Gamescom.
“Just to mention one one more thing, we have 47 country pavilions, so that’s again a plus, of more than 17 per cent, and this is something I find really great, because there are new countries like Morocco or Namibia or Cyprus, who are at Gamescom with a big country pavilion, which also enables small companies to come to Gamescom, which is, I think, a great development.”
So, extra present floor space than ever earlier than has been bought to exhibitors. Does that imply that attendees in-person shall be barely extra cramped compared to earlier years?
Falk says in no unsure phrases: “No, we don’t make any compromises in the quality of stay for our visitors.
“We had this situation in 2019, when we had far more than 350,000 people on site. That this had a negative effect on the quality of stay for people.
“So, that’s why since then we give less tickets into the market than we could do, because it’s not important for us if 10,000 people more or less come to Gamescom on site.”
It’s extra necessary that the individuals who do attend have a good time, mainly.
Falk added: “This unique atmosphere on site, with all the people on site, is crucial to also show the power and the beauty of Gamescom and the excitement of fans. But it doesn’t really matter if it’s 10,000 more or less.
“So, what we did this year, when you ask what impact does the sold-out exhibition space have, this just means that less areas than in the past have been produced by us as Gamescom, but more space is used by exhibitors, and they do their activations.
“So, for example, the ways and routes in between the booths, the space, nothing changes. Also, the rest areas, or food, or everything that makes the stay nice, nothing changes. This is really important to us.”
And to what does Falk attribute the continued progress of Gamescom? Is it so simple as pure phrase of mouth from earlier attendees and exhibitors, or is there extra to it?
In Falk’s phrases: “It is the growing importance of Gamescom as a global brand, also, as you can see with successful editions with Gamescom Asia and Gamescom Latam.
“But it wouldn’t be right to take credit as Gamescom only, because Gamescom is just the stage for the contents of our partners and of the industry. So, without all the exhibitors, all the announcements of studios, all the great work of everyone who’s participating at Gamescom, Gamescom would be nothing.
“So, it’s a joint effort that makes Gamescom the biggest festival in the world, and therefore also the growth, from regions like Asia, from South America, from the US in the past years, has played a big part in this success story of Gamescom.”
The rising significance of Gamescom, and the rising stature of gaming extra typically, is additionally highlighted by a few of the high-profile people and organisations that come to the occasion.
For instance, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, the federal president of Germany, will attend Gamescom for the primary time this 12 months to open Gamescom Congress (the a part of the occasion that focuses on gaming’s potential in broader society and politics).
“It’s very exciting,” Falk says, “and this simply exhibits that Gamescom is an necessary platform to point out the significance of video games and the video games business for broader financial system, tradition, innovation.
“So, we have now an enormous quantity of guests, from politicians, but additionally representatives from financial, science establishments, and this simply exhibits that increasingly individuals perceive the facility and the optimistic power of gaming and wish to use this potential.
Falk reels off a listing of spectacular attendees, together with the World Health Organisation, the UN World Food Program, the United Nations, Europol, and the European Space Agency, who apparently say that “the most effective and most expert individuals they discover, as abilities for his or her work, are players, and that is why they’re at Gamescom”.
For most of us, though, Gamescom is all about trying upcoming games, meeting like-minded people, and just awing at the sheer scale of talent being showcased.
It begins with Opening Night Live on Tuesday 25 August at 7pm BST, which you can watch it live on YouTube. Gamescom will then run through until Sunday 30 August for in-person attendees.
Stay tuned in the coming weeks for all of our coverage!
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