Gamescom

Gamescom is a trade fair for video games held annually at the Koelnmesse in Cologne, Germany. Gamescom is the world's largest gaming event, with 370,000 visitors and 1,037 exhibitors from 56 countries attending the event in 2018. The event is used by many video game developers to exhibit upcoming games and game-related hardware. The "gamescom - Opening Night Live" (ONL) show takes place every year on the evening before the opening. The show presents the latest trailers and announcements from the international games industry and is hosted by Geoff Keighley. Alongside the public areas, there is also a closed area for professional visitors, such as publishers, journalists and developers. Shortly before Gamescom, the associated conference Devcom takes place at the same area and is specifically for the game development sector.

Gamescom is a trade fair for video games held annually at the Koelnmesse in Cologne, Germany. Gamescom is the world's largest gaming event, with 370,000 visitors and 1,037 exhibitors from 56 countries attending the event in 2018. The event is used by many video game developers to exhibit upcoming games and game-related hardware. The "gamescom - Opening Night Live" (ONL) show takes place every year on the evening before the opening. The show presents the latest trailers and announcements from the international games industry and is hosted by Geoff Keighley. Alongside the public areas, there is also a closed area for professional visitors, such as publishers, journalists and developers. Shortly before Gamescom, the associated conference Devcom takes place at the same area and is specifically for the game development sector. ==History== The Federal Association of Interactive Entertainment Software had previously hosted the Games Convention in Leipzig from 2002 to 2008, which was briefly the largest games trade show in the world. However, Leipzig was becoming unsuitable for such a large event owing to limited transport links and hotel accommodation. The BIU and Koelnmesse announced a new event circuit in 2008, to be held in Cologne beginning in 2009. The Leipzig Trade Fair opposed the move and intended to continue Games Convention without the BIU, which led to a five-month "standoff" between the two groups. As Leipzig did not allow the Cologne event to be called "Games Convention", the BIU instead adopted "GamesCom". The two events were due to take part on the same weekend, and were each competing to be seen as the "authoritative" German trade fair for the industry. In the end, after a deal between Gamescom and GDC, Leipzig announced that Games Convention would be cancelled, and replaced by an online only event that focused on mobile and casual gaming. Gamescom was first held in August 2009, and was extremely successful, while Games Convention Online was discontinued after 2010. The BIU continued to support and administer the event until 2018, when it merged with the industry body GAME. Their successor organisation the game – The German Games Industry Association has continued in the same role. Geoff Keighley began hosting Opening Night Live from 2019, a streamed event at the beginning of the show. Opening Night Live has served as a platform for many trailer launches and game announcements. Since the COVID-19 pandemic, which caused the discontinuation of E3, Gamescom has been the largest event of its kind. Gamescom Latam, first held in Brazil in 2024, is also the largest event in the Americas. ==Areas== The following exhibition areas are located on the site: ==Events== ===2009 === in 2009]] Gamescom 2009 was held 19–23 August. 245,000 people attended that year's visit. ===2010 === Gamescom 2010 was held 18–22 August. 254,000 people attended that year's visit. ===2011 === Gamescom 2011 was held 17–21 August. 275,000 people attended that year's visit. ===2012 === Gamescom 2012 was held 15–19 August. 275,000 people attended that year's visit. ===2013 === Gamescom 2013 was held 21–25 August. 340,000 people attended that year's visit. ===2014 === Gamescom 2014 was held 13–17 August. 335,000 people attended that year's visit. ===2015 === Gamescom 2015 was held 5–9 August. 345,000 people attended that year's visit. ===2016 === Gamescom 2016 was held 17–21 August. 345,000 people attended that year's visit. ===2017 === Gamescom 2017 was held 22–26 August. 355,000 people attended that year's visit. ===2018 === Gamescom 2018 was held 21–25 August. 370,000 people attended that year's visit. ===2019 === in 2019]] Gamescom 2019 was held 20–24 August. Geoff Keighley has announced that he will help launch a dedicated video game announcement show prior to Gamescom, called "Gamescom: Opening Night Live". Inspired by the response to The Game Awards presentation that includes several new game announcements, Keighley wanted to do the same for Gamescom. The event was streamed on 19 August at 8:00pm (CEST). ===2020 === Gamescom 2020 was scheduled to be held from 25 to 29 August in Cologne. However, Germany announced that following lifting of lockdowns in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, all public events through August 2020 were banned. Gamescom organizers announced they would move some portions of the planned show online. Organizers confirmed plans for the online Opening Night Live to start on 27 August, with each following day through 30 August featuring a schedule of online developer interviews and events and a wrap-up show. ===2021¹ === Gamescom 2021 was held 25–27 August 2021. The event was preceded by Opening Night Live with Geoff Keighley on 25 August. Gamescom 2021 was a hybrid exhibition experience with online and live events. ===2022 === in 2022]] Gamescom 2022 was held 24–28 August 2022. The event was both in-person and online. 265,000 people attended that year's visit. ===2023 === Gamescom 2023 was held 23–27 August 2023. 320,000 people attended that year's visit. The opening night received media attention after one attendee rushed on the stage and interrupting presenter of the show Geoff Keighley, saying that "Bill Clinton wants to play GTA VI". The incident occurred 8 months after a similar incident at The Game Awards 2022, in which Keighley also hosted. The same attendee also interrupted several live shows in Germany, asking about the game. ===2024 === Gamescom 2024 was held 21–25 August 2024. The event attracted more than 335,000 visitors and 1,400 exhibitors on that year. ===2025 === Gamescom 2025 was held 20–24 August 2025. The event attracted more than 357,000 visitors and 1,500 exhibitors that year. ===2026 === Gamescom 2026 was held 26–30 August under the slogan "Games whet the appetite for the future". It was expected to attract over 350,000 visitors and set a new exhibitor record. German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier became the first German president to visit Gamescom, while EU Vice-President Henna Virkkunen attended to discuss the EU's games strategy. Germany's games market generated €9.4 billion in 2025, making it Europe's largest and the world's fifth-largest. In the first half of 2026, revenue fell 3% to €4.2 billion, partly due to declining hardware sales and rising component costs. During the last days of the event, laptops belonging to indie developers were stolen. ==Offshoots== An offshoot of the trade fair has been established for the Asian region in 2021 under the name Gamescom Asia and takes place in Singapore. In 2025 Gamescom Asia joins forces with Thailand Game Show and takes place in Bangkok. In 2023, Koelnmesse closed an agreement with BIG Festival and Omelete Company for a new offshoot under the name Gamescom Latam, which takes place in Brazil. ==External links== Official website

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