Gamescom keeps getting bigger. The massive game fan trade show drew more than 345,000 visitors to Cologne, Germany, this year. That’s a good indication that the game industry is in a healthy state, as the event is one of the largest industry shows in the world.
The trade show attracted 806 exhibitors. By comparison, last year’s event drew 335,000 visitors and 703 exhibitors. The number of professional visitors was 33,200, up 5 percent from a year ago. The event took place from August 5 to August 9, earlier than previous Gamescoms that occurred in mid-August.
The visitors this year came from 96 countries. By comparison, the ChinaJoy game fan event and trade show drew more than 272,900 attendees to Shanghai in the week before Gamescom — and E3 drew 52,200 (though it restricts of most of its attendees to industry people and press).
“Gamescom has reached the next level – it has not only experienced further growth this year in terms of the exhibition space and the numbers of trade and private visitors,” said Maximilian Schenk, the managing director of Gamescom’s conceptual sponsor and German trade group BIU, in a statement. “Thanks to many new events and campaigns, it has also become even more diversified this year. It is a reflection of the increasing significance of computer and video games in our society. Gamescom has impressively confirmed its exceptional position as the world’s largest event for computer and video games and Europe’s most important business platform this year.”
Electronic Arts’ Star Wars Battlefront won the best of Gamescom award. Virtual reality and esports events were big at the show.