Gamescom, the world’s largest and main occasion for pc and video video games, will stay in Cologne, Germany and be additional expanded.
In 2024, Gamescom counted 1,462 exhibiting corporations from 64 international locations – a brand new file. The occasion attracted a complete of 335,000 individuals from 120 international locations. This yr’s occasion will happen from August 20 to August 2024.
The deal was introduced at the moment by Koelnmesse and Sport – The German Video games Business Affiliation. The brand new contract was signed within the presence of Henriette Reker, Mayor of Cologne, and Nathanael Liminski, Minister for Federal and European Affairs, Worldwide Affairs and Media of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia and Head of the State Chancellery.
“Cologne and Gamescom are the perfect match – a partnership that has proven to be a success story year after year,” mentioned Gerald Böse, CEO of Koelnmesse, in a press release “Together, we have made Gamescom the world’s largest and most relevant games event while continuously setting new records. The long-term contract extension is an expression of this successful cooperation.”
Böse added, “It gives us the opportunity to further expand Gamescom in Cologne together with the satellite events Gamescom Asia and Gamescom Latam as well as Devcom and Gamescom LAN – and to make it a festival for a wide variety of pop cultures around the world.”
This yr, I’ll average classes with Henk Rogers, Shu Yoshida and others on the B2B occasion at Gamescom Latam, from April 30 to Might 4. Gamescom Latam is paying my solution to Sao Paulo, Brazil.
Lars Janssen, chairman of the chief board of Sport, mentioned in a press release, “As a global beacon of games culture, Gamescom has been setting standards for many years. We want to continue this success story with Koelnmesse in Cologne. Gamescom will remain as dynamic, innovative and fast-growing as the games market. To this end, we have agreed, among other things, to further strengthen the diverse Gamescom formats worldwide and to invest in the brand and international reach. We are grateful to have such a good partner for the future in Koelnmesse.”
Ralf Wirsing, govt board member of Sport, mentioned in a press release, “Our thanks go to our partner Koelnmesse and also to the city of Cologne and the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, who have shown great commitment to Gamescom and will make an even greater contribution in the coming years to ensure that the heart of the games world beats in Cologne every August with Gamescom.”
Successful story since 2009
Since its premiere in Cologne in 2009, Gamescom has developed into the world’s largest occasion for pc and video video games. Final yr, it broke data once more, underlining its central function for the worldwide video games trade and its rising financial relevance for the placement.
In 2024, Gamescom round 32,000 commerce guests and it drew round 500 million viewers. Compared: on the first Gamescom in Cologne in 2009, there have been 450 exhibitors from 31 international locations and 228,000 guests, together with 17,000 commerce guests.
The constant additional improvement of content material and the rising digital attain are the driving components behind Gamescom’s continued progress. The quantity of people that adopted G2024 on-line additionally reached a brand new file final yr with over 500 million video views. As well as, the organizers have additional expanded Gamescom’s international presence with the satellite tv for pc occasions Gamescom Asia and Gamescom Latam
Necessary assist from NRW and Cologne
A decisive think about Gamescom’s success is the shut cooperation with the Metropolis of Cologne and the State of North Rhine-Westphalia. As a part of the contract extension, each events have pledged their assist and prolonged funding measures for the longer term. Cologne and North Rhine-Westphalia have already offered vital assist for Gamescom in earlier years – together with by means of measures to extend visibility within the metropolis and across the Gamescom metropolis pageant, which brings gaming tradition to city areas.
The town and state additionally make an vital contribution to the occasion itself, for instance by investing in codecs such because the Gamescom Congress, Europe’s main convention on the potential of video games, or the Gamescom Make investments Circle, a matchmaking occasion for traders and video games studios.
Mayor Henriette Reker mentioned in a press release, “Cologne is the home of Gamescom and will remain so. This is good news, because Gamescom is an important economic factor for our city and the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It strengthens the local economy through the hundreds of thousands of people who travel to Cologne from all over the world every year, creates jobs and consolidates Cologne’s role as one of Europe’s leading industry locations. But I am sure that Gamescom will also continue to benefit from Cologne as a creative media metropolis.”
“Gamescom is making a long-term commitment to Cologne. This is a special distinction for Cologne and North Rhine-Westphalia as a games location,” mentioned Nathanael Liminski, Minister for Federal and European Affairs, Worldwide Affairs and Media of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia and Head of the State Chancellery, who’s answerable for video games, in a press release. “The state is a strong partner behind Gamescom – an international flagship, economically, culturally and technologically.”
He added, “I would like to thank Koelnmesse and the games association for their comprehensive commitment here at the venue and for the good cooperation. The state government will continue to provide Gamescom with intensive support in the future to expand its special position as the world’s largest event for video games. Together, we are setting the tone for games as a driver of innovation and a cultural factor. We want to help shape the megatrend of gamification worldwide from Cologne and North Rhine-Westphalia.”
