The organizers of the world's largest video games fair, Gamescom, want the fair to take place again this year with several thousand visitors at the Cologne exhibition center.

However, Koelnmesse Managing Director Oliver Frese said at the start of the registration period for exhibitors on Thursday that they were “expressly not aiming for a new visitor record”.

More important are the safety and comfort of the trade fair visitors, which is why there will only be a limited number of tickets.

Bastian Benrath

Editor in Business.

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The fair is scheduled from August 24th to 28th.

In the past two years, due to the corona pandemic, it has only taken place digitally on several online platforms and in the form of video transmissions.

The last physical Gamescom in 2019 was attended by 373,000 visitors.

Frese did not want to set a specific visitor target for this year.

It is still too unclear which corona rules will apply in Cologne in late summer.

"I don't think there will be 400,000 visitors," he said simply.

However, the goal remains to be the largest video game event in the world.

He therefore expects a “significant” number of visitors.

The Gamescom festival in the city center with a music program and most recently around 100,000 visitors should also take place again.

Frese spoke of a Gamescom with the "look and feel of 2019".

The established digital formats should also be retained.

2900 tons of CO2 are compensated

For the return to Cologne, the trade fair is also intensifying its efforts to protect the climate.

Gamescom will be the "first gaming event worldwide with a comprehensive climate protection concept," said Felix Falk, Managing Director of the organizing video game industry association Game.

In concrete terms, the “Gamescom goes Green” concept envisages offsetting all CO2 emissions from the trade fair organizers by investing in climate protection projects.

To this end, Game and Koelnmesse are working together with the organization Climate Partner.

This calculated emissions of 2900 tons of CO2 attributable to the organizers for the upcoming Gamescom.

The majority of this, 70 percent, is caused by the consumption of energy on site, the second largest item is the exhibition material and its construction (10.8 percent).

To offset these emissions, the organizers invested in two climate protection projects, the construction of wind turbines in northeastern Brazil and the purchase of climate-friendly stoves for people in Nigeria.

Initially, however, the emissions caused by the exhibitors and visitors to the trade fair are not offset.

These can offset their emissions with a surcharge on their stand fees or their ticket price, as the organizers said.