The Game Developers Conference (GDC) in San Francisco was already canceled at the beginning of April, and the cancellation of the even more important game fair E3 in Los Angeles was clear: However, the optimism of the Gamescom organizers could not shake this, at least not on paper.
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Last week they invited media representatives to visit Cologne, where Gamescom was scheduled for August 25-29. As every year, hundreds of thousands of visitors were expected.
A week later, however, the situation is different. The federal and state governments agreed on Wednesday to fundamentally ban major events due to the corona pandemic – at least until August 31st. And a major event, well, that’s Gamescom as the world’s largest video game consumer fair by any definition.
The trade fair’s Twitter account initially only responded with one vague tweet to the decision from politics: The decision will influence the planning of Gamescom, it said, and: Gamescom 2020 will take place digitally in any case.
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Tickets that have already been purchased should be refunded
A press release brought more clarity on Thursday evening: With the ban on major events, it is clear that this year there will be no “business area” (meaning the trade visitor section of the trade fair) “in the previous format on site”, it says no “entertainment area” (the public area). Oliver Frese, Managing Director of Koelnmesse, speaks of a “painful” decision.
In practice, the announcement means: The classic Gamescom, with elaborately costumed fans and huge game stations, will be canceled in 2020. The online part of the show will be maintained and expanded.
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According to the Gamescom organizers, Devcom, a developer conference in the run-up to the fair, will also take place digitally.
There is money back
The organizers carefully indicate what a Gamescom will look like as a purely online event: “In addition to proven formats such as’Gamescom: Opening Night Live‘or’ Gamescom Now ‘is currently being worked intensively on the expansion of these and the introduction of additional modules, “it says. More specific information will be announced in mid-May.
The organizers also promise that visitors who have already bought tickets for Gamescom 2020 will be refunded their money. Exhibitors should also get payments made back to Koelnmesse “100 percent”. There will be more details on how exactly visitors get their money in the coming weeks. On Twitter on Thursday night it said that anyone who had already bought a ticket had to do nothing first.
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Many players may regret the cancellation of the offline part of Gamescom, although it should hardly really surprise anyone. 2020, however, is a special year for game fans and game companies, because two new consoles have been announced for the Christmas season with Sony’s Playstation 5 and Microsoft’s Xbox Series X. They would have played an important role in the exhibition halls too.
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