This year's gamescom was once again held entirely digitally, which the organizers consider a success. They believe this has laid the foundation for the future.
The comprehensive development of the program, the shows, and the gamescom now content hub clearly paid off: In 2021, over 13 million viewers watched the entire gamescom streaming program live, 30 percent more than the previous year. As in the previous year, the total number of views will increase many times over in the coming days, as many fans continue to watch the content even after the live broadcast.
In 2021, the community was particularly active thanks to new formats: Together, fans solved all 30 quests within gamescom EPIX, allowing the numerous prizes in the gamescom VAULT to be distributed to tens of thousands of fans. The interactive game of the Indie Arena Booth Online (IAB Online) attracted 15.000 players, 500 of whom even spent a significant amount of time in the "Summer Camp of Doom" and reached the maximum level of 50.
Furthermore, the community donated a total of almost €7.000 to the gamescom forest, allowing the forest to continue growing as a climate project. The games presented at gamescom 2021 generated particularly strong interest from the community: This year, over one million fans visited the gamescom Festival on Steam, organized in conjunction with the event. This represents an increase of 43 percent compared to the previous year. There, fans were able to try out numerous games as demos.
Felix Falk, Managing Director of game – Association of the German Games Industry:
“gamescom 2021 relied entirely on the power of the community. Whether it was co-streaming gamescom: Opening Night Live, collaborative quests at gamescom EPIX, or our fundraising campaign for the gamescom forest: the numerous shows, activities, and the central content hub gamescom now were used millions of times worldwide by the community. Furthermore, we created a particularly large number of interaction opportunities this year to recreate the unique gamescom atmosphere digitally. I am delighted that gamescom 2021, with its many enhancements, was so well received. This makes it a great success for us and all participating partners.”
Will physical events soon become secondary?
As great as that sounds for the organizer, the absence of a physical, on-site event is clearly noticeable, and in a negative way. Is there a risk of it playing a subordinate role?
What's missing is the players' direct connection to the games on-site, something no livestream or similar can replace. Even the few playable console demos offered no consolation. The lack of business networking, which is absolutely essential, has a similarly negative impact. People are increasingly losing touch, which simply can't be good in the long run.
Let's hope that gamescom 2022 can finally return to Cologne and bring back the true gamescom feeling. At least there's some hope.
Gamescom 2022 will take place from August 24th to 28th in Cologne and online.
