More digital, more diverse, more international: gamescom 2019 reaches more people around the world than ever before

• Millions of people around the world follow gamescom 2019
• 373,000 visitors on-site in Cologne
• gamescom opening show: Opening Night Live becomes the highlight of gamescom 2019
• Enormous support among attending political representatives for long-term, reliable federal funding for games
• gamescom 2020 takes place from 25 to 29 August in Cologne

The many exciting innovations at gamescom 2019 made the world’s largest event for computer and video games even more digital, diverse and international than ever before, and they were all a complete success, according to game – the German Games Industry Association, one of the organisers of gamescom. The international show ‘gamescom: Opening Night Live’, which took place for the first time, reached more than half a million real-time viewers, and millions of people around the world watched it in the days that followed. Countless international gamers used the new online portal ‘gamescom now’ and viewed the videos from the new ‘IGN@gamescom now’ studio. Esports tournaments were held throughout the entire week in the new ‘gamescom event arena’, and the ‘gamescom indie village’ provided a much more extensive platform for indie developers this year. In total, 373,000 on-site visitors attended this year’s gamescom. The number of exhibitors (1,153, +10 per cent) and the size of the exhibition space (218,000 m2, +8 per cent) both increased this year. The percentage of international exhibitors remained at the same high level as in the previous year (approximately 70 per cent). The theme of gamescom 2019 was ‘Together we are games’, and the major trends included cloud gaming and indie games.

‘gamescom 2019 is more digital, diverse and international than ever before, and as such, it is a rousing success. With our new show “gamescom: Opening Night Live”, the new online platform “gamescom now” and the video streams from the “IGN@gamescom now” studio, we gave millions of gamers around the world the chance to experience the innovations and events at gamescom. We also expanded the range of on-site attractions this year with the “gamescom event arena” and the “gamescom indie village”. All the exciting changes we’ve made this year have laid the groundwork for the years to come,’ says Felix Falk, Managing Director of game. ‘gamescom 2019 also sent an important political message. The many high-ranking political representatives who attended this year’s event made it clear that there is strong support for long-term, reliable federal funding for games across party lines. Now, we expect that they will follow up on their words with concrete actions in the weeks to come.’

More high-ranking political representatives attended gamescom this year than ever before. Attendees of the official opening ceremony on Tuesday included German Federal Minister of Transport and Digital Infrastructure Andreas Scheuer, German Minister of State for Digitalisation Dorothee Bär, Deputy Minister-President of North Rhine-Westphalia Dr Joachim Stamp and Mayor of Cologne Henriette Reker. Participants in the discussion ‘Debatt(l)e Royale’ that was part of the gamescom congress included German politicians Paul Ziemiak (CDU), Lars Klingbeil (SPD), Linda Teuteberg (FDP), Jörg Schindler (Die Linke) and Michael Kellner (Bündnis 90/Die Grünen); they discussed government funding for games, the recognition of esports and the expansion of broadband in Germany. Additionally, the Minister-President of Rhineland-Palatinate Malu Dreyer and the Minister-President of Lower Saxony Stephan Weil attended this year’s gamescom. German Federal Minister for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth Dr Franziska Giffey also paid a visit.

Next year, gamescom will take place from Tuesday, 25 August, to Saturday, 29 August, in Cologne.

Source:  German Games Industry Association