Gamescom will have more than 1,400 exhibitors, up 15% from a year ago

Gamescom 2024 will kick off next week in Cologne, Germany, with more than 1,400 exhibitors, a new record at 15% more than a year ago.

The exhibitors from 64 countries will present their products and innovations on 230,000 square meters. The number of country pavilions will also increase significantly to 48 from 37 countries – also a new record. This compares with 33 pavilions from 26 countries in 2023.

Gerald Böse, CEO of Koelnmesse (the giant expo place where the event is held), said in a statement,: “The world’s largest gaming event continues to grow. We are delighted to be able to announce these outstanding figures just one week before gamescom kicks off. Together with our partners and co-organizer game – The German Games Industry Association, we are also implementing great innovations that contribute to the diversity and attractiveness of Gamescom.”

Felix Falk, managing director of Game – The German Games Industry Association, said in a statement, “The omens could hardly be better just a few days before the start of gamescom 2024: Whether it’s the record number of exhibitors, the exciting gamescom Opening Night Live program or new formats like the social stage, it’s clear that the community can expect a games festival like no other this year. The anticipation for the world’s biggest gaming event is huge – both on site in Cologne and digitally around the world.

Dean at Devcom

The Devcom game developer event should draw a few thousand people to Cologne ahead of Gamescom, in a B2B event that will take place from August 18 to August 20. I will moderate a session at Devcom in the new Confex area of Koelnmesse on “Intellectual property and the limits of inspiration.”

In this panel, we talk about how much a game can be inspired by another IP (either visually or mechanically) before it becomes a (legal) issue.

Whereas “Palworld” is an obvious current example of such controversies, there are other historical examples which can also be referred to. We’ll discuss issues of intellectual property, its infringement, the use of AI, and the overlap between issues of law and ethics.

The speakers include Pieter Koornhof, COO of 24 Bit Games; Nav Sunner, CEO of Navatron; Michal Pekala, partner at Rymarz Zdort Maruta; and Andrea Dufaure, partner at A&O Shearman.

The session will be at 1:30 p.m. CET to 2:30 p.m. on Tuesday at Stage 14 at Devcom within Koelnmesse.

I’m also going to moderate a panel on game investments with speakers that include David Reitman of PwC, Shanti Bergel of Transcend Fund and Michael Metzger of Drake Star Partners. (We might be adding one more). It will take place at 11:30 a.m. CET to 12:30 p.m. on Stage 14 within the Devcom event.

Highlights on the social stage

From Thursday to Sunday, the new social stage in Hall 11.3 will offer an international program and an extra dose of festival feeling at gamescom. Visitors can look forward to live podcasts, karaoke, music acts and much more.

Highlights include the international live podcast “Friends per Second” with Ralph from SkillUp, Jake from Gameranx and Lucy from Gamespot/Giant Bomb, game soundtracks on the piano with the talented Benyamin Nuss and a live pen-and-paper adventure with Alex from the Dice Actors and friends. GamesBeat’s Mike Minotti, managing editor, will make his Gamescom debut as well.

The gamescom week traditionally starts with the big opening show gamescom Opening Night Live (ONL), hosted by Geoff Keighley on the evening of August 20 (11 a.m. Pacific time).

This year’s co-host is well-known e-sports presenter Eefje “Sjokz” Depoortere. The show is one of the biggest in the gaming industry worldwide and last year generated over 20 million views in the first few days alone.

A number of companies have already announced that they will be presenting news about their games this year. These include the following titles: 2K (Sid Meier’s Civilization VII), Activision (Call of Duty: Black Ops 6), Capcom (Monster Hunter Wilds), Don’t Nod (Lost Records: Bloom & Rage), Funcom (Dune: Awakening), NetEase (Marvel Rivals), and Plaion (Kingdom Come: Deliverance II).

Several other companies and titles will be announced prior to gamescom Opening Night Live. As always, there will be plenty of surprises at the show. On-site capacity has more than doubled this year. Tickets are still available at the gamescom online Ticket Shop.

The Gamescom invest circle will also take place on August 22. Investors will meet up-and-coming game studios. With the support of KölnBusiness and the Federal Ministry of Economics and Climate Protection, 45 studios were prepared for the pitch competition with intensive training sessions.

After the successful premiere of the gamescom LAN at the Koelnmesse fairgrounds in March of this year, the event will go into its second round in 2025 and will offer fans even more exciting elements for an unforgettable experience. Gamescom LAN 2025 will once again take place in Cologne from February 21 to 23 and will celebrate the diversity of gaming culture in all its facets together with the community. Advance ticket sales will begin next week during Gamescom.

German game industry dips 6%

Lastly, Game report that in the first half of 2024, after several years of strong growth, the German games market slipped into the red for the first time in a long period.

From the beginning of January to the end of June, games, games hardware and online gaming services generated sales revenue of around 4.3 billion euros in Germany – a drop of 6% compared to the same period last year.

The sources of this data are the market research firm Consumer Panel Services GfK and data.ai (a sensor tower company). The sharpest drop in revenue, at 18%, came in the area of games hardware. Revenue from computer and video games also fell, by 4%.

One reason for this was the considerably smaller number of top game releases in the first six months of 2024 compared to the unusually high number of top-rated blockbuster games published in the first half of last year. In contrast, online gaming services made a significant leap, with revenue from network, cloud and subscription services rising by 25 per cent over last year’s level, to 516 million euros.