Gamescom

Gamescom (stylized as gamescom) is a trade fair for video games held annually at the Koelnmesse in Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Gamescom is the world's largest gaming event (measured by exhibition space and number of visitors), with 370,000 visitors and 1037 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.

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.

2009
Gamescom 2009 was held 19–23 August. 245,000 people attended that year's visit.

Notable press conferences
Wednesday, 18 August:
 * Electronic Arts
 * Sony Computer Entertainment Europe

Thursday, 19 August:
 * Microsoft Game Studios
 * Konami
 * Namco Bandai Games

Notable announcements
Sony Computer Entertainment Europe announced the PlayStation 3 Slim, a smaller and lighter model of the console and a release date of 1 September 2009. Firmware 3.0 for the PlayStation 3 was also announced, adding new features to the PlayStation Network. Sony announced that the European Video Store would launch in November 2009. Sony also announced that the PlayStation Portable would get smaller games (under 100mb) in the form of 'minis' and that comics would also be available to download in December 2009. A "free game" registration promotion was announced for the PSP Go.

Microsoft Game Studios announced Fable III, along with a release date of 2010. Also, Microsoft announced their intention to release Fable II on the Xbox Live Marketplace in five episodes, the first of which would be free to download.

Media coverage
While most press conferences were not available for live streaming, Electronic Arts streamed its press conference on EA.com. Sony Computer Entertainment Europe also showcased its press conference on its online community-based service PlayStation Home shortly afterwards. Sony also made its press conference available for download on the PlayStation Store. Various gaming websites offered live-blogging of the respective press conferences.

2010
Gamescom 2010 was held 18–22 August. 254,000 people attended that year's visit.

Notable announcements
The two main announcements this Gamescom came from Insomniac Games, who announced two sequels from two of their franchises: Ratchet & Clank: All 4 One, by revealing some gameplay from the game, and Resistance 3, via a live action teaser trailer. These games will be exclusive to the PlayStation 3. All 4 One has a set release date as late 2011, while Resistance 3 did not have a release date.

2011
Gamescom 2011 was held 17–21 August. 275,000 people attended that year's visit.

Notable events

 * The first Dota 2 International championship took place. The tournament had the biggest prize pool of any e-sports tournament at the time.

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.

Notable events

 * The World Championship Series 2013 Season 2 Global Finals, a StarCraft II tournament with a $150,000 prizepool, were held during the event.
 * Three League of Legends Tournaments were held during the event:
 * International Wildcard Tournament
 * Season 4 Spring Promotion Qualifier
 * European LCS Playoffs

2014
Gamescom 2014 was held 13–17 August. 335,000 people attended that year's visit.

Notable events

 * The Counter-Strike: Global Offensive Major ESL One Cologne 2014 was held at Gamescom

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.

Notable events

 * German Chancellor Angela Merkel opened the event, which marked the first time in history that a Gamescom was opened by a sitting Chancellor.

2018
Gamescom 2018 was held 21–25 August. 370,000 people attended that year's visit.

Notable events

 * Nvidia announced the GeForce RTX 20 Series at the Palladium Cologne on 20 August 2018.

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.

2021
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
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.

Game Developers Conference Europe
From 2009 to 2016, the Game Developers Conference Europe (GDC Europe), a European spinoff of the Game Developers Conference, has been held in conjunction with the Gamescom. The Conference took place at the Cologne Congress Centre East.

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 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.

Trivia
The Gamescom supersedes Games Convention, held in Leipzig, Saxony, Germany.