320,000 visitors expected Gamescom opens its doors - these are the game highlights
Cosplayers dressed up walk across the exhibition grounds at Gamescom 2022.
Image: dpa
Visitors to the Gamescom opening show walk to the entrance of the Cologne trade fair.
Image: dpa
The Gamescom logo stands at an entrance to the Cologne trade fair.
Image: dpa
Federal Minister of Economics Robert Habeck (Greens) at Gamescom 2023.
Image: dpa
Bavaria's Digital Minister Fabian Mehring (Free Voters) speaks to journalists at a press conference in Munich.
Image: dpa
Cosplayers dressed up walk across the exhibition grounds at Gamescom 2022.
Image: dpa
Visitors to the Gamescom opening show walk to the entrance of the Cologne trade fair.
Image: dpa
The Gamescom logo stands at an entrance to the Cologne trade fair.
Image: dpa
Federal Minister of Economics Robert Habeck (Greens) at Gamescom 2023.
Image: dpa
Bavaria's Digital Minister Fabian Mehring (Free Voters) speaks to journalists at a press conference in Munich.
Image: dpa
In the digital age, the prospects for the computer games industry are positive, but it is currently in crisis. Nevertheless, Gamescom is in a good mood - and celebrates lavishly produced games.
21.08.2024, 08:37
21.08.2024, 10:22
dpa
No time? blue News summarizes for you
- Gamescom in Cologne has begun and is expecting hundreds of thousands of visitors despite challenges in the games industry.
- Rising costs and weaker demand are putting many games companies under pressure, which has already led to numerous redundancies.
- At Opening Night Live, game highlights such as "Dune Awakening", "Call of Duty: Black Ops 6" and "Kingdom Come Deliverance 2" were shown.
After the start of the world's largest trade fair for computer games and video games, Gamescom in Cologne, the industry wants to overcome its current problems. Many games companies are under pressure due to rising costs and weaker demand. Worldwide, significantly more employees in the industry have already lost their jobs due to the economic situation than in the entire previous year.
Some smaller studios in Germany have also had to close down. Gamescom, on the other hand, now wants to spread optimism until Sunday and emphasize the industry's growth potential.
The public trade fair, which attracted 320,000 visitors to the Cologne exhibition halls last year, kicked off with the "Opening Night Live" on Tuesday evening, an event featuring a large number of short promotional films for new games.
The show was all about visual journeys into the past, gloomy visions of the present and apocalyptic visions of the future in which evil must be defeated. There were promotional films for the medieval knight game "Kingdom Come Deliverance II", the shooter game "Call of Duty: Black Ops 6" and the zombie slaughter "Dying Light: The Beast".
In 'Dune Awakening', gamers initially fight for survival on the desert planet Arrakis and later for power and influence. The makers of the visually opulent game are likely to be hoping for fans of the movies who have already encountered the sandworms on the big screen.
The big US technology companies are present
The presence of major US companies was unmistakable at the show on Tuesday evening in front of more than 4,000 spectators. For example, the series "Secret Level" from Amazon Prime and the game "Squid Game: Unleashed" from Netflix were presented.
The action game "Batman: Arkham Shadow", which is based on the comic series, requires the Quest 3 virtual reality goggles from Facebook group Meta. After the show in the evening, the doors to the other exhibition halls will open on Wednesday morning to allow access to the stands of the various companies.
Gamescom as a crowd puller
Gamescom is a trade fair for the general public, so tickets are available on sale. However, many company representatives also come to make contacts and initiate business. Games fans can try out new games. Saturday is already sold out and the event ends on Sunday. Until then, many colorfully dressed cosplayers, reminiscent of characters from series and games, are likely to be seen on the exhibition grounds.
The trade fair had its best year ever in 2019 with 373,000 visitors. After that, the coronavirus slump set in. The signs for this year are good, as the trade fair has expanded its range: more than 1,400 exhibitors from 64 countries will be presenting new video and computer games as well as other technical innovations and services. That's 15 percent more than last year.
