On Gamescom 2025

This year August we happened to be in Köln, Germany, during the Gamescom 2025, which is one of the largest industry events for video & computer games, so we spontantously decided to visit. Since we had been there with our family, it fitted quite well into our schedule and we got not just ours but also the kids impressions of the event. This blog post is a bit unusual, as it is neither related to our job, nor is it a hobby project, but nevertheless we had a great time there and felt like blogging about the event and what we took away from it.

Floor plan of the event, the place is packed with people, so one should think ahead which of the halls are to be visited. Source: Source https://www.gamescom.global/de/info/hall-plan

Let's start by what's there. The event takes place over several halls. About half of them are dedicated to industry leaders like Capcom, Ubisoft, Nintendo and more. Those companies usually have large booths, intriguing decorations and stations where visitors can try out their upcoming releases. How many stations they have varies wildly though, e.g. Activision Blizzard usually offers lots of stations in order to give as many people as possible a chance to try out their new games, while Nintendo tends to only offer very few stations, perhaps to create some sense of exclusivity. Some companies host guest speakers and actual developers to give talks, while others even have cozy areas for people to simply relax and watch others play.

Sega's booth had both stations for visitors to test the new release, as well as a relaxing area for people to simply watch others trying the release.

While large publishers make up the majority of exhibitors, there's also a hall for small independent publishers and a hall where retro games from the 2000s, the 90s and before are available. 

Many booths host some kind of tournaments or show battles for people to compete in their games in front of an audience. There even is an entire hall dedicated for e-sport tournaments. Unfortunately we didn't have enough time to attend anything there. Visiting Gamescom means a whole lot of walking, as well as waiting in line to try out games at the booths, so usually it is rather impossible to see all the halls and content in just one day. 

Top left/right: TCG area (Disney and Konami), bottom left Nintendo area, bottom right: honor of kings world, new release by Tencent.

We got to try out both the upcoming Sonic Racer, by Sega, as well as the next version of Mario Kart, by Nintendo. Both games are fairly similar, and at least in our opinion Sega has the superior product. One of our favorite experiences was actually at the trading card section, located on part of the merchandise hall. MTG, Yugioh, Lorcana and all the other common and less common formats had a booth there, hosting space for people to play and buy cards. We got some souvenirs and managed to get through Köln traffic in the afternoon.