Gamescom 2021 to combine offline and digital events

Next year’s gamescom will be held as a hybrid event. Its physical part will take place in Cologne from August 25 to 29, 2021. At the same time, its online edition will run on the net.

That’s according to game, the German Games Industry Association, the co-organiser of gamescom.

In the latest post, the Association said that gamescom 2020, the first one ever to be implemented in all-digital form, was a success despite a relatively short planning phase. The show expanded its international reach attracting many first-time participants. The ‘gamescom: Opening Night Live’ broadcast was viewed by more than two million people. That’s up four times from last year.

Among key factors contributing to the success of the show were partnerships with Twitch, YouTube, TikTok and Steam.

The extraordinary circumstances made gamescom 2020 extremely challenging, yet especially exciting. The digital concept demonstrates how big the international potential of our games event – already the largest in the world – still is. At the same time, however, it has become clear how important the on-site conference, in addition to further digital development, is for the community and the games industry. So, we now have to take our experience from this year and use it to develop the ideal combined on- and offline event for 2021.

Felix Falk, Managing Director of game

Falk also noted the involvement of policymakers in the event, which allowed it to send positive “political signals.” Specifically, the launch of the major games funding program for German developers was announced at gamescom 2020. The program is expected to help Germany “catch up as a competitive international site for games development.”