COLOGNE, Germany — The video game convention gamescom, organized by Koelnmesse GmbH and game – The German Games Industry Association, was held Aug. 21-25 at Koelnmesse and broke multiple records this year.
Growth and Diversification
The show grew in attendance by almost 5% year-over-year, which is approximately an increase of 15,000, and reported a record-breaking exhibitor-count with an expanded international reach — it featured 15 more pavilions from 11 more nations when compared to 2023.
gamescom also had its largest online reach to date in 2024 with its show program receiving more than 310 million video views by the evening of Aug. 24.
“gamescom is the world’s largest games event and that’s what draws in more and more domestic as well as international exhibitors year after year,” Tim Endres, Director of gamescom at Koelnmesse, said. “We are very happy and grateful to see gamescom continuously grow on multiple fronts. For us, it’s a clear sign that the international community recognizes and values all that we offer.”
Endres shared that gamescom focused more on reaching the U.S. market this year and encouraged attendees to co-stream the show, which was another growth factor.
“The thousands of people who did co-stream the show significantly took part in increasing our international reach,” Endres said.
The gamescom congress, held alongside the event, focused on “Games and Artificial Intelligence” and “Games and Democracy” and was more diverse, international and larger than ever before and included 70 program items, 150 experts and more than 900 guests. According to gamescom, these record-breaking numbers were facilitated by Koelnmesse’s new Confex building, where the conference was held.
Tech Enhancements
gamescom expanded the use cases for its gamescom biz Community app this year, with more than 40,000 professionals using the technology.
For the first time, the entire gamescom conference program was included in the app, which offered in-depth information about the various sessions and provided networking opportunities with the speakers and participants.
Also, digital trading cards were added to gamescom epix, a role-playing game that drives interaction with gamescom’s and its partners’ content.
“gamescom epix allows fans to explore the gamescom universe before, during and after the event. They can solve quests, earn experience points, climb up the leaderboards and win a variety of rewards. Through this gamification approach, they come in contact with lots of gamescom and partner content,” Endres explained.
gamescom 2025 is scheduled for Aug. 20-24 at Koelnmesse.
“As always, we expect to deliver the best possible event to all our stakeholders. We expect to stay the world’s largest games event,” Endres added.
Learn more about gamescom here.
