Gamescom Expanding Online Strategy due to Coronavirus; Physical Event Will Be Evaluated in Mid-May

Many gaming events have already been cancelled or postponed due to the Coronavirus pandemic, but the organizers of Gamescom in Germany aren’t giving up just yet.

Today they reached out with a press release to announce that the event will not be postponed and will definitely take place at least online in its scheduled dates from August 25 to August 29. Yet, the format remains to be seen.

The plan is being revised by “significantly expanding” the online portion of the event, with Gamescom: Opening Night Live and Gamescom Now receiving new modules.

The same goes for the Devcom developer conference to be held between August 22 and 24 August.

As for the physical event at the Koelnmesse in Cologne, Germany, it might still happen. An evaluation will take place in mid-May as to how it can take place “based on the latest developments of the corona pandemic at that time together with the responsible state authorities.”

If holding the physical event is possible, more information will be released at that stage on which changes may need to be made in order to ensure the health of all visitors. This has already been arranged with the largest exhibitors.

On the other hand, if gamescom or devcom cannot take place physically, both visitors who already purchased tickets and exhibitors will be refunded.

Managing director Felix Falk accompanied the press release with a statement:

“Millions of fans worldwide are excited about gamescom 2020. That is why we are determined to celebrate the latest news, announcements and world premieres together with the community again this year at the end of August. In view of the corona crisis, we are now expanding all digital formats at full speed so that gamescom 2020 can at least take place digitally in any case. We already reach millions of gamescom fans worldwide with the global show gamescom: Opening Night Live and the gamescome now portal. Further expansion of our digital strategy is the way to go right now.”

We also get a comment from Koelnmesse GmbH managing director Oliver Frese.

“gamescom and Koelnmesse already rank among the digital pioneers in the international trade fair landscape. We therefore also see the current corona crisis as a chance to implement digital event formats even more. gamescom 2020 offers the perfect platform for this. When we reassess the situation in mid-May for all gamescom formats at the Cologne fair grounds, the health of our visitors will be our top priority. It goes without saying that preparations are well underway both physically and digitally.”