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| (Image Source: News In 24 English) |
gamescom 2021 took a major step forward in its second year as a purely digtal event. Numerous facets of the digital concept were optimized leading to hundreds of satisfied partners and millions of satisfied fans around the world. The grand opening show "gamescom: Opening Night Live" hosted solely by Geoff Keighley reach around 5.8 million live viewers which is 30% more than around two million in 2020 while 63% of the overall attendees experienced the Indie Arena Booth for the first time where they have enjoyed the demonstrations of upcoming indie games, interacted with the game developers and watched the Indie Games Awards Show with about 16,000 international viewers entering the Summercamp of Doom, the digital version of the biggest shared developer event in the world.
"gamescom 2021 was a tremendous success. Not only was the community closely involved through gamescom EPIX, but the event also featured the entirely revamped 'gamescom now' hub and our programme of gamescom shows, including 'gamescom: Opening Night Live'. We succeeded in taking a huge step forward with our digital concept – to the delight of our many partners and of the community as a whole. This offers us an outstanding digital foundation for the years to come, when gamescom will be able to take place in Cologne once again and we can combine the digital experience with live, in-person visits," says German Games Industry Association managing director Felix Falk. "Be it the political opening of gamescom or the Debatt(l)e Royale, I am pleased that all the parties have taken this opportunity a few short weeks before the German parliamentary elections to highlight the importance of digital and games policy for the upcoming legislative period. There was a cross-party consensus that further improvements in the conditions for Germany as a games location were on tap, including the simplification and continuation of games funding, efforts to attract specialist personnel, the deployment of serious games and the expansion of digital infrastructure. Thanks to these positive signals at gamescom, our German games industry can look forward to the German parliamentary elections with confidence."
Followed in more than 180 countries and watched by more than 13 million people worldwide, gamescom 2021 was clearly focused on its central theme "Games: The New Normal". Its congress and political events in particular offered opportunities for guests including Federal Minister of Transport and Digital Infrastructure Andreas Scheuer and Minister of State for Digitalization Dorothee Bär to highlight the tremendous social and economic potential of games and the need for Germany to take full use of such potential. It was pointed out that improving the conditions that the German games industry operates is a key requirement for making it possible. The Indie Arena Booth, on the other hand, took place as a gamified online event, multi-day live stream and online awards ceremony across multiple platforms. Next year's gamescom will be held in Cologne, Germany and online on August 24-28, 2022.
