Gamescom 2024 is a ‘strong signal for the industry and games’

Geoff Keighley and organizers speak about upcoming event

Koelnmesse / Gamescom / Marvin Ruppert

It’s the day before Opening Night Live kicks off Gamescom 2024 and the organizers behind the long-awaited event in Cologne, Germany, took some time out of their busy schedule to provide us with some details about what we can expect from the coming days.

Felix Falk, the managing director of Germany’s games industry association, called Gamescom “the biggest games festival in the world” and stated that the event is a “strong signal for the industry and games” after some tough times marked by layoffs, game cancellations, and lots of uncertainty.

Geoff Keighley, who’s going to host his sixth edition of Opening Night Live on Tuesday, attended the press conference in-between rehearsals. He’s especially excited about the “biggest live audience we’ve ever had for ONL” with around 5,000 seats being up for grabs this year.

This year’s show will take around two hours and feature a pre-show, which will start things off with some announcements early on. Keighley promised that ONL would have lots of gameplay once again this year, mixing this with surprise announcements and special guests.

Here’s a list of games Keighley confirmed for the show:

• Call of Duty: Black Ops 6
• Monster Hunter Wilds
• Indiana Jones and the Great Circle
• Little Nightmares 3
• Dragon Ball Sparking Zero
• Batman Arkham Shadow
• Dune Awakening
• Marvel Rivals
• Squid Game Unleashed
• Tarsier Studios’ new game
• Sid Meier’s Civilization 7
• Kingdom Come Deliverance 2
• Lost Records: Bloom & Rage

“That’s all I can say, but I hope that’s a lot,” he commented. Check out the Opening Night Live 2024 start times to plan your watchalong.

Not only ONL is looking to break records this year: Gamescom director Tim Endres confirmed that over 1,400 exhibitors would be on the showfloor this year, a plus of 15% compared to 2023. “I’m thrilled to announce that Gamescom is growing,” he said. 

He emphasized his joy about “major names coming back,” listing the likes of Take-Two, Capcom, Electronic Arts, and other companies returning to Cologne. “This highlights the significance of Gamescom,” he stated. Endres summarized the status quo as follows: “Gamescom 2024 is bigger, more international, and more diverse than ever.”

Also present was Per Strömbäck as a representative of the Nordic games industry (Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Finland, Iceland, and Estonia), which is this year’s partner association. He highlighted the amount of big games being made in these countries and added: “It’s cool that Hollywood comes to the Nordics to make their franchises into games. We have a lot to brag about.”

Despite that immense popularity and success, he emphasized that “Gamescom is the most important event for us. It’s where we can go to meet the world.”

“Behind the scenes there’s a lot going on for the new companies, the smaller companies,” he explained.

Gamescom 2024 kicks off with ONL on August 20 and then opens its doors from August 21 to 25, 2024.