Convention season continues rolling strong through the Summer and its next stop is Gamescom 2015. Based in Cologne, Germany, it’s the European epicenter for game-related content. It’s a bit of a trek for your average game con goer to travel to, but it’s very much an important step on the tour for developers and publishers hawking their games and battling for headlines. Here are 5 things you should know before you dive in:
1. The World’s Biggest Game Convention
In the US, we get very excited about the Electronic Entertainment Expo. It’s in our country, it’s shiny – why wouldn’t we? The misconception we tend to get too enraptured with, though, is that it’s the biggest in the world. That’s not quite true.
Just last year, Gamescom pulled an impressive attendance number of 335,000 guests. That number is down from the year before, but multiple times larger than this year’s E3 attendance, which topped out around 50,000. Much of this can be attributed to the major difference between E3 and Gamescom: Gamescom allows fans into the show.
2. Blizzard’s Big Engagement
Mega developer/publisher Blizzard is pulling out all the stops with its significant Gamescom presence. Not only is the next expansion to its super popular MMO going to be revealed on the first night, all three nights will be packed with Blizzard-focused events. Pros will be playing rounds of Heroes of the Storm in exhibitions, as well as Hearthstone matches, Starcraft II rounds, quizzes and other events. Blizzard franchises are a big deal in Europe, and Blizzard looks to respond in kind.
3. Microsoft’s Time to Shine
In a peculiar move, Sony will be skipping the event entirely this year, opting to have a big presence at the Paris Games Week instead. This gives Microsoft the opportunity to gain ground in a region that is historically full of Sony loyalists. The Xbox One has plenty of exclusives that would benefit greatly from a show floor that is uncrowded by the competition, like Gears of War and Rise of the Tomb Raider.
Windows 10 just launched last week, and Microsoft would be wise to sing its praises, especially in the face of all of the decent press it’s getting.
4. Focus on European Developers
With the show being in Cologne, it only makes sense that there be a specific emphasis on European studios at the show. Remedy, the Finnish studio behind Alan Wake and Max Payne, will most certainly be there talking about Quantum Break (which was noticeably absent from E3). Nordic Games, Deep Silver, and more are expected to represent this weekend. Non-Euro companies will also be bringing their Euro friendly wares, like Konami’s Pro Evolution Soccer Series.
5. Press Conference Schedules
Like E3, Gamescom is host to press conferences from the biggest names in the industry. Microsoft will be first, their conference going live August 4th at 10am EST/7am PST (remember, they’re on the other side of the world right now). EA will have a press conference the next day at 4am EST/1am PST. Blizzard will have two big media events. The first will be on the 5th at 6am EST/3am PST, and the second – to announce the next WoW expansion – will take place on Thursday the 6th at noon EST/9am PST. Oddly enough, Call of Duty will have a press conference all to itself, airing at 1pm EST/11 PST on Wednesday the 5th.
Keep up with Cologne, and leave what your most excited to see in the comments, or tweet us @CurseGamepedia.