Thought Leadership
The world’s largest trade fair for computer and video games, Gamescom, opens its doors on Wednesday (9.00 a.m.).
After an opening show on Tuesday evening, where new games were presented, it was mainly trade visitors who flocked to the Cologne exhibition halls on the first day of the fair. On Thursday, the event will be opened to the general public. Expected guests include the Federal Research Minister Dorothee Bär (CSU), who is responsible for the industry, and NRW Minister President Hendrik Wüst (CDU).
By Sunday, several hundred thousand visitors are expected to come to try out new games or make new contacts. The exhibition space at this year’s Gamescom has grown by 3,000 to 233,000 square meters, with more than 1,500 exhibitors – more than ever before.
The gaming industry is a growth market. New technology is enabling ever better visual possibilities. The trends include so-called handhelds, i.e. gaming devices with a small display, such as the Nintendo Switch 2. Handhelds have been around for a long time, but powerful processors have continuously improved the quality of the devices – making handheld gaming more attractive. A forerunner of today’s handhelds is the Gameboy, which became a mass phenomenon in the 1990s.
dpa
