Gamescom 2021 will be all-digital online event – My Nintendo News

Koelnmesse and Gaming – The German Games Industry Association has decided to organize gamescom 2021 as a fully digital event. This decision was taken after long discussions with partners and exhibitors. Thus, the organizers take into account the current situation, in which too many companies are unable to participate in physical events this year due to the still difficult development. In this way, they also meet the strong need of partners in terms of security planning. This means that gamescom 2021 will run exclusively digitally and free of charge for all gamescom fans. In 2020, gamescom celebrated many successes: over 100 million video views across all formats and channels, over 50 million unique users from 180 countries and 370 partners from 44 countries. Building on this success, the digital offer is still being extended today.

Oliver Frese, COO of Koelnmesse, said: “Together with the game – the German Games Industry Association, we have put all of our energy into making gamescom 2021 in a hybrid format possible for fans and fans. ‘industry. However, even though the hybrid concept was very well received by the partners, we had to recognize that gamescom is still coming too early for many companies in the industry due to the reliability of the planning required. One thing is absolutely clear: everyone involved now needs reliable planning. This is why we are opting for a pure digital gamescom again this year, and with sufficient lead time, we will be able to offer the gaming community an even stronger online event at the end of August 2021. gamescom 2020 and other shows such as DMEXCO @home 2020 and h + h cologne @home 2021 are proof that we can do it. All partners can book their participation now. “

Felix Falk, Managing Director of Gaming – The German Gaming Industry Association comments: “As the gaming industry, we also want to use gamescom to show that bold innovations and developments are the best way to go. in the face of such crises. With that in mind, the gamescom team has been working hard for months on Gamescom 2021, especially on the digital elements. Next year will be the first time we can implement many of the new concepts for the gamescom hybrid format. For digital gamescom 2021, our goal is to provide even more games and reach, as well as an increased community atmosphere. So we’re introducing a whole new concept called gamescom epix, which sends the community on a journey of common social media quest even before gamescom starts. What we want to do with this is to transfer even more of the unique atmosphere of gamescom to the digital world. Together with our many partners, we want to make gamescom the biggest gaming event in the world in 2021. ”

With gamescom 2021, Koelnmesse and the game – the German Games Industry Association wants to build directly on the success of last year’s online event. Gamescom will be launched again with the spectacular gamescom: Opening Night Live with Geoff Keighley. The gamescom content center is now completely relaunched in a more attractive design with many additional features for fans and partners. Also new is gamescom epix, a community campaign that allows fans to immerse themselves in a fun way into the world of gamescom on the road to gamescom. Starting with Gamescom: Opening Night Live from Wednesday evening (August 25) through Friday evening (August 27), gamescom fans can look forward to a full schedule, with some of the highlights and promotions also running during the weekend.

devcom, the premier go-to source for developers and their ecosystem, will also offer an extensive online program and provide the games industry with a central business platform. Several one-day business matchmaking events, such as the popular “Indies Meet Investors and Publishers” devcom Pitch it! or special matchmaking and pitching events with the stands of the international devcom community, will be significantly expanded. Another novelty is devcom’s clear focus on content and the extensive conference program the first two days, while Wednesday through Friday will be devoted to business, networking and devcom’s popular digital exhibit. However, the launch of the new gamescom biz online B2B platform will be postponed for a year as its functionality can only be fully deployed in a hybrid concept. The gamescom congress, Europe’s leading conference on the social, economic and cultural potential of games, will again take place digitally only on Thursday, August 26, 2021.

In the slightly adjusted 2021 digital gamescom schedule, gamescom week will begin as usual with devcom on Monday 23 August. Gamescom: Opening Night Live will take place on Wednesday August 25, with the main gamescom days on Thursday and Friday August 26 and 27. Some of the offers will continue to be available the following weekend.

In 2020, gamescom: Opening Night Live in collaboration with Geoff Keighley captivated more than 2 million simultaneous viewers live in front of their screens. World premieres and the latest news on the most anticipated game titles were presented during the grand opening show. Also this year, Geoff Keighley and his team are producing gamescom: Opening Night Live and preparations are already in full swing. The show will be moved by one day this year to Wednesday, August 25, 2021.

Geoff Keighley: “Gaming fans around the world can look forward to this year’s gamescom: Opening Night Live. After the great success of last year, the interest of the developers is huge to be able to present their world premieres in ONL this year and thus become an important part of gamescom 2021. “

As in previous years, other international gamescom shows such as gamescom studio and gamescom’s premiere: Awesome Indies in 2020 will again be produced by IGN.

Peer Schneider, Chief Content Officer of IGN: “Whether in person in Cologne or digitally, gamescom is an annual highlight for our team! The entire IGN team is thrilled and ready to bring exciting reveals, news, creator interviews and hours of new gameplay to the gaming community in August. There will be no better way to celebrate the biggest games of the year – and beyond – than gamescom 2021. ”

Gamescom partners have the opportunity to be part of the shows with their games and content. For independent developers, a wide range of offerings will be offered in conjunction with Indie Arena Booth Online, which will now be integrated as an interactive game into gamescom as a central platform.

In 2021, as in previous years, gamescom is now the number one go-to source for game fans around the world. This is where gamescom broadcasts and partner content will be brought together in a clear and easily accessible way – the heart of gamescom 2021 beats here. The platform has been completely relaunched both in terms of content and from a technical point of view. Visitors expect a redesigned and significantly improved user interface, customizable schedules, extensive live streams, events, shows, and information on all gamescom games and partners.

Customers benefit from the new, easy-to-use content management system, which further enables them to maintain their content and present it in an engaging way to visitors. The new CMS gives partners many options for integrating individual content – digital reach increases with optimized display options and other metrics.

Immerse yourself in the world of gamescom on the gamescom road, take on epic quests with the whole community, succeed and bring the feeling of gamescom to life? This is exactly what the new gamescom epix community campaign aims to achieve. Fun and interactive social media activities throughout the gamescom cosmos allow fans to interact with gamescom 2021 content and partners ahead of gamescom week and collect points to win unique prizes during gamescom week. from gamescom in August. The prizes will be kept in the gamescom large vault, which will open at the start of gamescom.

More information on the extensive online program, independent offering and gamescom 2021 partners to follow in the coming weeks.

Source: Gamescom PR