Gamescom 2021 will take place from August 26th to 28th. KoelnMesse and the Federal Association of the Games Industry are currently asking fans in which format. In 2029 just over 370.000 visitors streamed into the Cologne exhibition halls, in 2020 it was suddenly zero. Corona. How Gamescom will present itself in 2021 is currently being worked on, according to the email. A lot is possible here, but really probably only a little.
Gamescom 2021: Virtual queues and prizes
The central question and probably one of the most important for the Gamescom organizers: Would you take part in a Gamescom on site in Cologne this year if there were appropriate hygiene and safety standards? Much depends on the answers. Due to the pandemic situation, public life is largely paralyzed, and nothing is going on in the event industry. People have now come to terms with it, so that KoelnMesse's introductory question is entirely justified. Just because a Gamescom could take place on site in 2021, fans would not automatically flock to the exhibition halls en masse - especially not with the international orientation of Gamescom, which is likely to complicate the situation for the organizers significantly.
The following questions also revolve around safety standards. So what would the organizers have to do to ensure that fans visit one of the largest gaming events in the world as carefree as possible, but at least with a good feeling? Digital queues with fixed slots could straighten out what is happening at the stands, contact and tracing options should certainly be required and empty exhibition halls would also be very likely as a required security requirement.
Despite the pandemic, many fans would be happy if a Gamescom could take place in Cologne in 2021. The organizers also ask about the price limit. A wildcard for 147 euros? For 122,50 euros? 98 euros? 73,50 euros or less? The organizers want to know where fans draw their personal pain threshold when it comes to admission. At the last Gamescom, a weekend ticket was 22 euros.
The questions give a vague indication of a possible path: fewer visitors, fewer exhibitors, much more security - that could be significantly more expensive.
Overall, the organizers are keeping quiet about the design of the Gamescom Regarding 2021. And for good reason, because it's truly impossible to predict what will happen in the summer and what the coronavirus situation will be like. If vaccinations were to pick up speed from the second quarter of the year, that would at least be a glimmer of hope – even if achieving herd immunity by then is still a long way off. Gamescom seems unlikely. Would vaccinated fans then be allowed to attend on site - similar to Eventim's ideas - and everyone else via stream? The situation is probably more of a gamble for the organizers at the moment, and they are acting with caution. In about a month you would normally be able to buy tickets for Gamescom. It remains to be seen whether that will be the case this year, and if so, for which format of Gamescom 2021.
In the end, the decision for or against an on-site trade fair, hybrid event or online full format depends not only on KoelnMesse and the industry association, but on the official bodies that decide on containment measures or demand security guidelines. The question of corona tests then also hovers in the room: the test landscape is to be expanded. Do visitors to Gamescom 2021 then have to be tested in advance on site? How safe would that actually be? And much more: Could fans and organizers even bear the costs necessary for a strict hygiene concept?
And then there is a kind of logistical constraint: one of the exhibition halls is currently being used as a vaccination center. Operations will start on Monday. At best, vaccinations will then be carried out with the highest possible utilization in the future. This special “public traffic” must then probably also be taken into account when holding a physical trade fair event.
