DW Edited by: Chrysa Vachtsevanu

Gamescom, which bills itself as “the world’s largest video game trade show,” opens its doors to the public in Cologne today, Wednesday, under the slogan “World Class Games”. More than 1,220 exhibitors from 63 countries in total will present their new products on 230,000 square meters. Hundreds of thousands of gamers and enthusiasts will wait patiently, forming huge queues to play for 15 minutes one of the video games that will be released in the coming months. The international video game industry meets again at the Cologne Fair.

“This year, Gamescom is more than ever giving the stamp of global culture and the world of video games: An exhibition dynamic, international, creative, diverse and huge”, writes Felix Falk full of enthusiasm in the press release. Falk is the CEO of the German Association of the Video Game Industry, which is co-organizing the exhibition. Furthermore, it goes without saying that the Gamescom event still exists. The E3 (Electronic Entertainment Expo) in Los Angeles, which for decades was the most important trade show for video games, has not returned after being forced to stop due to the coronavirus pandemic.

For the second time Greek participation in Gamescom

For the first time, a country from Latin America is the official partner country of Gamescom. The Brazilian video game industry has seen strong growth in recent years, having focused primarily on the PC and mobile game market. More than 1,000 studios are now based in Brazil – in 2014 there were only 133. Today around 13,200 workers are employed in the Brazilian video game industry, producing more and more material for the international market, which thanks to digital distribution is possible at low cost.

A delegation from the Association of Digital Game Creators of Greece, together with Enterprise Greece and gi-Cluster, also participates in this year’s event for the second time.

And Habeck at Gamescom

German Vice-Chancellor and Minister of Economy Robert Habeck officially opened this year’s Gamescom. After all, his ministry is responsible for state funding of digital games, as well as for awarding the German Electronic Games Award. This is a big issue in Germany, as this industry lags behind in the country compared to the US, Canada and France. Despite the existing federal funding of €50 million per year from 2020, the amount does not appear to be sufficient – ​​and for the time being no further federal funding can be applied for. High wage costs, a high tax burden and a shortage of video game developers (fewer than 12,000 are estimated to work in the video game industry in Germany) make it extremely difficult for German studios to keep up with global competition.