gamescom closes with significant increase in visitors and viewers

On Sunday afternoon, Koelnmesse and game took stock and the results were truly impressive: gamescom 2023 has once again made a huge leap forward. The organisers recorded a total of 320,000 visitors from more than 100 countries. In terms of visitor numbers, the show has not yet reached the level of 2019, when 370,000 visitors were counted. At the time, however, there was much criticism of the overcrowded halls. Today, a visit to gamescom is much more comfortable, even in the entertainment area.

On Sunday afternoon, Koelnmesse and game took stock and the results were truly impressive: gamescom 2023 has once again made a huge leap forward. The organisers recorded a total of 320,000 visitors from more than 100 countries. In terms of visitor numbers, the show has not yet reached the level of 2019, when 370,000 visitors were counted. At the time, however, there was much criticism of the overcrowded halls. Today, a visit to gamescom is much more comfortable, even in the entertainment area.

In any case, gamescom was more international than ever before. This is also reflected in other key figures, which are perhaps even more important than the total number of visitors: 31,000 trade visitors were counted, half of whom came from abroad. That is 25 per cent more than last year. And in terms of the number of trade visitors, gamescom 2023 has already returned to pre-pandemic levels.

When it comes to the number of exhibitors, gamescom 2023 has already broken all records: 1227 exhibiting companies from 63 countries with a 76 percent foreign share clearly show: gamescom is the leading international trade fair.

The number of viewers on the internet is no less impressive. By Saturday evening, all show programmes of the trade fair together had reached 180 million views. The gamescom Opening Night Live alone reached 20 million views.

"What we had already seen in the run-up to the event in the form of several records for exhibitor numbers, floor space and internationality was now impressively confirmed at the end of the event: gamescom is and remains the world's largest games event," said Gerald Böse, CEO of Koelnmesse. "Microsoft had the biggest Xbox stand ever and won the 'gamescom Green Studio of the Year' award. And companies like NetEase are with us for the first time with a stand in the entertainment area. All of this underlines the international importance of gamescom and the attractiveness of Cologne as a location.

And Felix Falk, Managing Director of games, adds: "In 2023, gamescom has once again made a great leap forward: it is bigger, more diverse and more international than ever before. New partners from the streaming sector such as Netflix or Disney+ have contributed to the increased diversity, as have the largest indie area in the history of gamescom and the further expanded offer for content creators. Above all, the international significance of gamescom has increased: "In addition to the strong growth in the number of trade visitors with a high international share and the growth of the developer conference devcom, the record in online reach was particularly convincing," says Falk.

In 2024, gamescom will take place from 20 to 25 August. As usual, devcom will take place before then.