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With the first-ever visit by Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, an even wider variety of topics, and numerous renowned speakers, gamescom congress 2026 impressively demonstrated its relevance as the world’s leading conference on the potential of games. The congress took place last August 27, 2026 across a total of eight stages featuring 85 program items and 165 speakers as part of gamescom 2026 in Cologne, Germany. With over 1,100 attendees from business, education, science, politics, media, and society and 165 international experts provided insights into the potential of games for education, culture, the economy, science, and society, the event set a new record.
Federal President Steinmeier opened gamescom congress 2026 with a speech before an audience drawn from the games industry, business, education, culture, politics, academia and the media. In his speech, he discussed, among other things, the profound impact games have on various industries and how they can contribute to the promotion of democracy as a cultural medium. He summarized, “Digital games, taken as a whole, are culturally significant — and therefore, I believe this is crucial, they are also significant for our democracy.” The Federal President also highlighted the significant social role of video games. Games can help people manage everyday life — as an outlet for stress, as a bridge against loneliness and as training for cognitive skills. At the same time, they convey historical knowledge and civic education, and encourage players to think about values, rules and fair play in how we treat one another. He closed his speech with a call to make greater social use of the positive potential that emerges through play: the sense of connection, the creativity and the energy. “The Federal President's visit sends a clear signal from gamescom today about the special social value of games. Games, the companies and creatives behind them, and the games community are all a positive force for society and for democracy — as gamescom and gamescom congress demonstrate so impressively. That is a force we should be making far greater use of,” says Felix Falk, Managing Director of game – The German Games Industry Association, co-organizer of gamescom and gamescom congress. Koelnmesse GmbH President and Chief Executive Officer Gerald Böse stated, “We are delighted to welcome Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier to the Koelnmesse exhibition grounds. His visit is a special honour for us and an extraordinary signal of the social significance of gamescom and the gamescom congress. We are proud that gamescom provides an international platform where industry, politics, academia, media and the community come together to highlight the positive power of games.”
Following his speech, the Federal President attended the congress's two opening panel discussions: “Games For Democracy: What They Can And Cannot Do” with North Rhine-Westphalia's Minister for Media Nathanael Liminski, Foundation for Digital Games Culture Managing Director Nandita Wegehaupt, and German Cultural Council Managing Director Olaf Zimmermann and “Saving The World Through Play: What Games And Their Communities Can Achieve” featuring Game Director and Paintbucket Games founder Jörg Friedrich, Professor of Experience and Game Design Prof. Dr Sabiha Ghellal, and creator and PietSmiet founder Peter Smits. Both discussions explored examples of what games can contribute to our democratic society, in keeping with one of this year's gamescom congress theme “Playing Field: Democracy”. On his subsequent tour of gamescom, the Federal President spoke with game developers and members of the community, seeing for himself the positive impact games have on society, democracy and culture. “With the Federal President’s first-ever visit and a new attendance record, this year’s gamescom congress concluded more successfully than ever before. This highlights once again how the future-oriented medium of games positively shapes the important issues of our time in business, culture, education, and science, and provides important impulses,” said Falk. “The gamescom congress 2026 once again demonstrates the enormous potential of games for society. The visit by Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, high-profile panels featuring international organizations, and strong initiatives to promote democratic values have impressively proven this. Topics were addressed that extend far beyond the games industry. Together with the game Association, we are creating an important platform for this exchange here in Cologne,” said Böse.
In terms of content, this year’s congress was shaped by key themes such as “Democracy As A Playing Field” and “The Games Effect”. Participants included representatives from international organizations such as Europol, the Red Cross, and the United Nations as well as numerous experts from the games industry. Among those represented were the technology company Razer and game studios such as Paintbucket Games, remote control productions, and ROTxBLAU. Representatives from academia also provided insights into current research and findings including from the University of Education in Freiburg, the Institute for Democracy and Civil Society (IDZ) in Jena, and the Paderborn Education Center for Information Technology Professions. In talks, panels, workshops, and roundtables, the speakers discussed a wide range of topics such as how can games create spaces for democratic experiences and support people who have fled their home countries and how can AI be used to foster creativity, and how is it simultaneously changing career entry into the games industry. Other topics included the use of games to prevent cybercrime in schools, new approaches to digital remembrance culture, the competitiveness of the European games market, and the requirements for inclusive games. gamescom congress 2026 is made possible through the support and cooperation of the State Government of North Rhine-Westphalia, the City of Cologne, the German Society for Game Studies, the German Cultural Council, the eSports player foundation, Games Syndicate Cologne, NetCologne, Playing For The Planet, the Foundation for Digital Games Culture, UNICEF, USK, and Video Games Europe, as well as Curatomic, Nerdstar, OMG FUSE, Sunday Studio and media partners ARD, brand eins, n-tv, and Wikimedia.
