Here’s our annual stroll around Gamescom to answer the question at least a couple of you are asking:
Who spent the most money on their Gamescom stand?
Let’s take a look. But it’s probably Tencent, as usual.
Hall 6: Hoyoverse, Silver Palace, Ubisoft, EA, Aniimo, a big tractor
Having taken up alot of airtime during the Geoff Keighley-hosted Opening Night Live showcase, Hoyoverse packs plenty into its spot in Hall 6 too. There’s space for new games Petit Planet, Honkai Nexus Anima as well as live titles Genshin Impact, Star Rail and Zenless Zone Zero.
Nothing on Nodus Fall, though, Hoyoverse’s newly-revealed Elden Ring-style game that may (or may not) be coming to mobile alongside an assumed PC and console release.
Next door is a very over the top stand showing Silver Palace, another large-scale RPG out of China that was featured in the ONL showcase.
Given Ubisoft’s troubles, the French firm has a notably large and elaborate stand as you enter Hall 6, very possibly thanks to its new business partner Tencent. Ubi is opposite EA, whose staging for EA FC is cool but rather less impactful.
Aniimo, the cross-platform creature collector that’s backed by State of Survival maker FunPlus, has a huge and very brightly-lit stand here too.
The rest of this hall seems to be PC and console stuff: Nexon’s Arc Raiders, Star Wars Galactic Racer and The Blood of Dawnwalker. Even on the large Level Infinite (AKA Tencent) booth across the back wall, it was mostly PC and console fare.
And of course here is the obligatory ‘Giant Tractor at Gamescom’, courtesy of Farming Simulator maker Giants.
Hall 7: Google Play, Huawei, Fortnite, NetEase, Xbox
Google Play’s meaty stand is right there as you enter Hall 7, but didn’t seem to be open yet when we strolled by on Wednesday morning.
The tech giant’s “biggest regional consumer push and first major Gamescom presence in a decade” is next to Konami and a giant Sega stand.
A little further in, Huawei has a big, bright stand for its AppGallery mobile store and Game Center tech, and Epic Games is next door with a big presence for Fortnite’s Override season, which also appears to have something to do with Mercedes(?).
Vodafone and Steelseries also have a presence in the same area, and NetEase has a pretty striking Sea of Remnants display, alongside PC/console games Where Winds Meet and Marvel Rivals.
As ever, Xbox takes up the whole back wall here but it’s all console stuff – Halo, COD, Gears, Fable, Forza and so on. King doesn’t get a look in anywhere, nor do any of Blizzard, Activision or Bethesda’s mobile games.
Hall 8: Arknights: Endfield, Tencent Games
This hall’s easy to miss as it’s right at the far end of this consumer part of the show. It’s home to a giant and annoyingly loud Square Enix booth, CD Projekt’s Witcher stand and, most notably, a truly enormous Arknights: Endfield stand.
It’s mostly a giant stage for hired cosplayers and some expensive-looking character models, with a load of PCs for players to try the game around the back. Like last year, Gryphline is not messing around.
Tencent Games, its mobile-focused label, has a stand in here showcasing Honor of Kings World, with Arena of Valor, Honor of Kings Ace and Rust Mobile also playable in amongst some bright, fun staging.
The rest of the (slightly random) companies in here include AMD, Republic of Gamers and Philips, among others.
Hall 9: Samsung, Nintendo, Infold
Samsung is pushing its Odyssey gaming monitors and its Gaming Hub with a giant booth at the entrance of Hall 9, opposite Nintendo which is showcasing Switch Sports Resort in a big way, but also, slightly unusually, the new COD.
Lego has a beefy booth in here alongside Krafton and Rocketbeans.tv, which looks like a Rovio stand at first glance, thanks to for firm’s frowning red mascot.
Infold’s lavish stand is split between elaborate fan experiences for Love and Deepspace and Infinity Nikki, and is attracting a lot of attention. Capcom has the far wall, but nothing much on mobile there.
