gamescom Stays in Cologne: Long-Term Deal Locks In the World's Biggest Games Event
Any lingering speculation about gamescom's future home is settled: the world's largest games event will remain in Cologne. Koelnmesse and game, the German Games Industry Association, have signed a new long-term contract, announced in the presence of Cologne Mayor Henriette Reker and North Rhine-Westphalia's media minister Nathanael Liminski. The deal comes with expanded support from both the city and the state, and with ambitions to grow gamescom further, not just maintain it.
A partnership that keeps breaking its own records
The announcement leans heavily on the success story so far, and the trajectory is genuinely striking. When gamescom premiered in Cologne in 2009, it counted 450 exhibitors from 31 countries and 228,000 visitors. By 2024, those numbers had grown to a record 1,462 exhibiting companies from 64 countries and 335,000 attendees from 120 nations, including around 32,000 trade visitors. Add over 500 million online video views for the 2024 edition and you have an event that has outgrown the term "trade fair" entirely.
Koelnmesse CEO Gerald Böse called Cologne and gamescom a perfect match and framed the extension as an opportunity to expand the show into a festival for a wide variety of pop cultures, together with the satellite events gamescom asia, gamescom latam, devcom, and the gamescom LAN. The game association's leadership emphasized investment in the brand and its international reach.
Why the city and state matter
The less glamorous but arguably most important part of the announcement: North Rhine-Westphalia and the city of Cologne have pledged extended funding and support as part of the deal. Both have long invested in the event's ecosystem, from the gamescom city festival that spills gaming culture into Cologne's streets, to the gamescom congress and the invest circle matchmaking format for studios and investors.
Mayor Reker was candid about the economics: hundreds of thousands of visitors from around the world each August strengthen the local economy, create jobs, and cement Cologne's role as one of Europe's leading industry locations. Events of this scale are courted by cities worldwide, and the public commitment makes clear Cologne intends to keep this one.
Stability in an unstable industry
It is easy to shrug at a contract extension, but timing gives this one weight. The games industry has been through turbulent years, and other major events have shrunk, moved, or disappeared entirely, E3's demise still casts a long shadow. Against that backdrop, gamescom locking in its home, its funding, and its expansion plans for the long term is the kind of stability the industry rarely gets.
gamescom 2025 runs from August 20 to 24. The heart of the games world, it seems, will keep beating in Cologne every August for a long time to come.
