Gamescom opened its doors to industry attendees today, meaning those working in the games business can take an early tour of the show before consumers arrive tomorrow.
So who is dominating the show floor this year?
Well, besides Microsoft’s various business arms, western publishers are once more drowned out by bigger, splashier booths from Asian companies like Tencent, Hoyoverse, Samsung and even Nintendo, which has upped its presence dramatically alongside The Pokémon Company.
It is also hard to ignore the influence of Hoyoverse in particular – the Koelnmesse now hosts armfuls of Genshin Impact-like games, with titles from new(ish) contenders Infold and Gryphline particularly prominent.
We also had a quick dash around the business area and have picked out a few notable stands and other nuggets. But first, let’s run through the main consumer-focused halls:
Hall 6: Hoyoverse, Infold, Level Infinite, Facepunch
Some big legacy console publishers in here with Ubisoft’s new Anno game, 2K’s Borderlands 4 and Bandai Namco’s Little Nightmares 3.
There’s a dedicated FC Mobile screen on EA’s stand, showing an FC Mobile ad starring Jude Bellingham on a loop.
Hoyoverse has a large presence too, and is pushing the Song of the Welkin Moon update to Genshin Impact.
Honkai Star Rail and Zenless Zone Zero get a little less space around the back of the booth, but still have quite a presence – there’s a custom Aston Martin on the Zenless Zone Zero stand, for some reason.
The newer contender on the scene, Infold (or Paper Games) is right next door with a splashy Infinity Nikki and Love and Deepspace booth.
Rust Mobile has a (surprisingly?) big space, and Level Infinite (AKA Tencent) takes up the back wall, though PUBG Mobile seems to be the only mobile game here, drowned out by Exoborne, Dune Awakening, Dying Light and Path of Exile.
And yes, there is a massive tractor on the Farming Simulator stand, just like every year.
Hall 7: Roblox, Xbox, Mecha Break, Paramount, Krafton, more
Not much mobile stuff to speak of here besides Roblox, whose stand looked a bit sparse without the heaving masses descending tomorrow.
Xbox takes up the space at the back of Hall 7, showing off COD, its new handheld and other incoming Xbox games.
That is beside a colossal Mecha Break stand and, randomly, a Paramount+ booth featuring Scopely’s Star Trek Fleet Command, among others.
Krafton’s Hall 7 presence is big too – about half the space is dedicated to its Sims-alike Inzoi, with PUBG taking up the rest.
Sega, Konami and THQ Nordic make up the rest of the big players in here, with the latter putting on some sort of live theatre show for its Gothic remake.
Hall 8: Arknights Endfield, LEGO, Netflix, WoW
The big mobile game in here is Gryphline’s Genshin Impact rival Arknights Endfield, whose stand has three colossal screens and what appears to be a working robot assembly line(?).
But this is the more general entertainment hall, so LEGO has presence here, showing off its various licensed sets and games, including Fortnite, Mario and the new LEGO Batman game. Netflix also has a chunky space with which to promote its more culty properties Wednesday, Stranger Things and One Piece.
Microsoft-owned Blizzard’s World of Warcraft stand dominates the hall, taking up the whole middle section.
Hall 9: Pokémon, Nintendo, Samsung, Timi, more
Huge Nintendo and Pokemon stands greet you as you enter Hall 9, with Pokemon TCG Pocket getting airtime on the latter stand.
Just past those two there’s Samsung’s enormous booth featuring Genshin Impact – a presence almost as big as Hoyoverse’s actual stand in Hall 6 (see above).
Samsung’s Gaming Hub space also has a load of Galaxy phones and rolling trailers featuring Candy Crush and Monopoly Go, plus there’s a Pokemon Go-themed phone charging point.
Timi’s striking Honor of Kings World is right next door, and Huawei has also spent a few quid on an Appgallery booth showing more of the usual suspects like Candy Crush and Monopoly Go, but also more hardcore Asia-friendly anime-style RPGs like Crystal of Atlan. Once Human is there, too.
Hero Games’ Duet Knight Abyss, which looks like Genshin-meets-Palworld, also has a notable presence both in here and in the business hall.
Business area: Kwalee, Reddit, Overwolf, webshop antics
Some bonus observations: Kwalee stumped up for a big chunk of the UK stand, while Reddit is sponsoring one of the business lounges this year – a spot once taken by TikTok, which appears to have dialled back its spend in gaming dramatically.
Overwolf went all-in on a medieval castle-style booth, while an old school Aston Martin greeted those visiting Hitman maker IO Interactive to see its James Bond game, First Light.
And given the fierce competition between Xsolla and Appcharge, it was fun to note that their booths were right next to each other…
…and that Appcharge was giving out branded lanyards to replace the default ones Xsolla has officially sponsored for the whole show.
