There was a lot going on in Cologne at the weekend!
We are back from gamescom and are still processing the impressions and evaluating the results of the many talks and appointments. We had a good time, both professionally and privately, because we got the opportunity to meet many old and also completely new contacts and to exchange ideas on a wide variety of topics.
Yesterday evening, the organisers of gamescom 2023 closed the gates in Cologne and can look back on an extremely successful event. With around 320,000 visitors on site and an impressive digital reach, this year’s edition of the world’s leading trade fair for digital games culture increased significantly compared to the previous year.
While the 2019 record of 373,000 visitors was not reached, the fair still managed to regain its physical presence after the digital-only Corona editions in 2020 and 2021. The fair’s livestream offerings recorded a remarkable 180 million views, 20 million of which were for the two-hour “Gamescom: Opening Night Live” alone – not least because many streamers and creators shared the event 1:1 live on their channels with their community.
The developer conference devcom, which ended shortly before the start of gamescom, also had a record turnout and is already planning for 2024.
From 20 to 22 August 2023, game developers, service providers and experts from all over the world flocked to Cologne. With a total of 3,400 participants, including live stream viewers, the event reached a new record, as the organisers announced at the end of last week.
A visitor survey showed that networking was also named as the main motive for attending the conference. The opportunity for personal exchange and networking attracted the industry players to Cologne.
And this brings us back to what we were missing in the two “digital years” of gamescom. Namely exactly that: the people, the gamers, the other trade visitors, the networking and the many friends and contacts that we were able to meet again this year.
See you next year, gamescom! We’ll be back.
Photo: gamescom