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GUIDE TO GAMESCOM
Com one, come all… The inaugural Gamescom this August is proving to be an ambitious event, supported by everyone who is anyone in the industry – and open to all. But don’t just take our word for it. Here, Oliver Kuhrt of organiser Koelnmesse runs through the plans for the event… IN LESS THAN 50 days, Cologne’s trade fair centre Koelnmesse will be celebrating the world of interactive entertainment. A dazzling display awaits gamers, fans and families – both on the trade fair grounds and in the city. Gamescom features the stars of a successful trade fair: namely, the exhibiting companies and partners of Gamescom. The industry’s new leading trade fair has already managed to bring all of the significant players on board. With Nintendo, Microsoft and Sony, the three platform owners are at the top of the list of exhibitors. In addition to other companies affiliated with our association partner the German Federal Association of Interactive Entertainment Software (the BIU), the industry’s entire value chain – from developers to publishers to major retail partners – will be completely represented in Cologne. Across 120,000 square metres of exhibition space, visitors to Gamescom will see the games industry’s entire thematic spectrum in Cologne – including PC and video games, as well as online and offline games. A SHOW FOR THE TRADE…
It is two months before the start of the trade fair and we have currently received over 300 registrations from exhibitors. I cannot yet predict the final number of companies that will be participating in the premiere of Gamescom on August 19th. However, one thing is already clear: Gamescom will quickly be the international event it was conceived to be. The share of foreign companies participating in Gamescom is now already at around 40 per cent. International companies from 25 countries will be exhibiting. Major industry players from the USA, Canada, France, Great Britain, Japan, China and even Cyprus and Israel will be there. Six individual countries – namely Canada, France, Italy, Taiwan, Thailand and the Netherlands, plus countries of
Oliver Kuhrt is head of Koelnmesse, the exhibition centre in Cologne that is organising Gamescom this summer