Ahead of the Game” is the motto this week in Cologne.

After a two-year Corona break, the computer and video game fair Gamescom is taking place again.

In 2020 and 2021, the "festival", as the organizers like to call it, was only digital.

The trade fair didn't have it easy this year either.

Many large exhibitors, such as the console manufacturers Nintendo and Sony, had already canceled in advance.

A final overview of all exhibitors was only available at the end of July.

But now the stands are up and, starting this Thursday, will once again be attracting visitors from all over the world with innovations from the universe of digital pastimes.

Gregory Bruner

Editor in Business.

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In an interview with the FAZ, Felix Falk, Managing Director of the Game Association, which is helping to organize the trade fair, expresses his pleasure at the trade fair being held again.

“Games culture is community driven.

For three years, this could only be experienced to a limited extent.

Even though this special Gamescom year was challenging for everyone, we are pleased that we can finally enable the on-site meeting that the communities have been waiting for for so long.”

That the fair will take place again is not a matter of course.

The highly acclaimed Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) games fair, which is usually held in June in Los Angeles, did not take place this year.

Instead, manufacturers and developers decided to use the summer for digital presentations.

However, Falk is combative: "The will to maintain and further develop the world-famous Gamescom in Germany distinguishes us from other events that were canceled this year."

More than 30 world firsts at the opening

This attitude is obviously getting the job done.

During the big opening presentation on Tuesday evening, developers and publishers took the opportunity to meet each other.

“Today, product announcements can of course be made digitally at any time.

Nevertheless, we were able to present more than 30 world firsts in our opening show alone.

That shows how important Gamescom is as a major joint event,” says Falk.

The organizers are not only concerned with presenting the latest games.

Anyone who walked through the halls on the Wednesday trade visitor day noticed that the trade fair is used actively by professionals to maintain contacts and networks.

"The industry has now become much more professional - and quieter," notes a long-time observer of the industry in the trade visitor area.

“Today a Gamescom is less of a class reunion.

Rather, developers and publishers use the fair to make contact and explore business opportunities.”

The professionalization is being driven by new players in the market, such as the Swedish Embracer Group.

This can be described as a financial holding company with a focus on games.

Formed from publisher THQ Nordic in 2019, it's tirelessly buying up smaller studios and trademark rights at the moment.

Recently, for example, the license for the "Lord of the Rings" brand.

New exhibitors from China and South Korea

The presence of such market participants with a lot of money for investments attracts many young, still independent developers to Cologne.

"In recent years there has been a lack of opportunities for direct meetings and small talk between developers and publishers," says Simone Lackerbauer from the Bavarian support program Games Bavaria.

"It's also easier to get direct feedback from publishers for new projects at a trade fair." Explaining and selling the concept of a game only via video telephony is much more difficult.

Likewise, new market participants from other parts of the world are thronging to Cologne and Europe.

"For example, with Tencent and Krafton, two major exhibitors from China and South Korea are present at Gamescom for the first time this year," lists Felix Falk.

Tencent is one of the largest players in the games sector with sales of almost 33 billion dollars, which also outshines veterans such as Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo in this sector.

The fact that the trade fair attracts such heavyweights to Cologne is an indicator of a market that is currently moving at a rapid pace.

"When Microsoft announced the largest acquisition in history with the takeover of Activision Blizzard, even the last person must have noticed that the importance and potential of games should not be underestimated," says Felix Falk.

How much the topic of games is now spreading can be experienced until Sunday at the Cologne exhibition center and in Cologne city center at the Gamescom music festival.