Gamescom is on the rise –but to pass E3, everyone has to get in on the action
E3, the Electronic Entertainment Expo, is widely regarded as gaming’s center stage, and it has every right to lay claim to that title. Over three days in early June, the video game industry brings developers, retailers, and media together to show off the Next Big Thing™ while the world watches from afar. It’s a tidy event, manicured, and polished until it shines, and it’s still important — our extensive coverage of the event is testament to that.
But E3 is in danger of losing its prominence in the hierarchy of video game relevance, and it’s primary competition is coming from the Old World, at an event that’s not just for the game makers and game talkers, but the game players as well. Here are the reasons why Gamescom is primed to be bigger than E3, and one reason it could be held back:
Power To The People
Gamescom is the European E3, a four-day event held in Cologne, Germany, its August dates neatly nestled between June’s E3 and September’s Tokyo Game Show. Unlike E3, Gamescom is not just a trade show for retailers and members of the press: the general public can attend Gamescom right alongside the developers and journalists they follow on Facebook and Twitter.
TGS also allows the public to attend the festivities, and throughout the landscape of gaming showcases attendance has been on the rise. This year’s E3 set a new attendance record of 49,200 over the course of three days, while TGS was party to 270,000. Meanwhile in Germany, Gamescom was besting them all. Last year, Cologne hosted nearly 350,000 gamers, an average of 116,000 per day on the show floor.
Europe has become a bastion for Western game development, with EA’s DICE (Sweeden), Sony’s Guerrilla Games (Amsterdam), Evolution and Media Molecule (UK), Ubisoft (France), and more. Having one of gaming’s greatest showcases in the heart of the continent and giving their consumers access to the latest games is a huge marketing tool for publishers, and pays dividends come release when the public already has had a taste of what is in store.
Bringing Out The Big Guns
Hype is cultivated at events like E3 and Gamescom. Sure, many gamers can see for themselves via gameplay trailers whether a new title is going to spark their interest or not, and many people base their purchasing decisions on what they’ve played before. But it’s events like GDC and PAX and E3 that bring us the new and innovative and drive the industry forward.
Click here to view the embedded video.
E3 has been a place for big announcements, but that hasn’t kept Gamescom from bringing to light some of the most interesting titles in recent memory. Way back in 2010, PlayStation finished their press conference with the announcement of not one but two new Insomniac games, Ratchet and Clank: All 4 One and Resistance 3. In 2012 we saw the Move-controlled Until Dawn (which may be making a comeback after several years of silence) and Puppeteer, while 2013 saw our first look at Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture, RIME, and Shadow of the Beast for PS4.
This year could be Gamescom’s real coming out party. BioWare has some really creepy trailers for a new IP that they weren’t ready to reveal at E3; Activision is teasing us with the return of Sierra Interactive properties; and Sony has a few things up their sleeve, which may include something from Media Molecule. And you just have a feeling that Ubisoft was hoping to unveil Assassin’s Creed Rogue at the show, but their track record with keeping leaks under control this year has been less than satisfactory. Gamescom is primed to for an impressive display of properties, and these are just the hints we already know. It may be something that we don’t have any idea about that ends up stealing the show, and a few dollars from our pocketbooks come the holidays.
Going All In: Microsoft & Nintendo
Of course, the biggest obstacle to Gamescom becoming The Place for the year’s biggest gaming news is this: not every publisher comes to Gamescom. In 2012, Nintendo — set to release the Wii U just a few months later — didn’t bring anything to Gamescom. No press conference. No floor presence. Aside from third parties showing off 3DS titles, the company was completely absent from Europe’s biggest gaming showcase. In the same fashion, Microsoft also stayed home come August 2012, eschewing any official presence at the convention center.
It’s possible some of the reticence to participate at Gamescom comes from Sony’s near-monopoly in Europe. While the Xbox 360 maintained a near 2-to-1 advantage in sales over the PS3 in the United States, PlayStation caught up to Microsoft’s sophomore console in worldwide sales largely due to an incredible performance in European territories. But while that theory might make sense in a speculative manner, we can only guess the reasons for two-thirds of the major console manufacturers’ absence from the show in years past.
Click here to view the embedded video.
Luckily, both platform holders have significantly changed their tone in regards to appearing in Cologne. Microsoft is holding a press event on August 12, the day before the show floor opens, while Nintendo has confirmed they will have a presence at the show; no word yet on whether we’ll be seeing more Nintendo Direct conferences a la their last two E3 appearances. Sony, EA, and Ubisoft will all be back as well, along with WB Interactive, Deep Silver, Capcom, and a host of Europe’s indie developers.
Click here to view the embedded video.
What does this all mean? Well, it means that the gaming community has a number of great places to look for what’s big and new and exciting. Summer is an exciting time, with a host of venues vying for our collective attention. For my money, I think that Gamescom has risen to equal footing with LA’s gaming Mecca, but it’s ultimately up to the publishers to decide. This year, we’re seeing hints at major movement to making Gamescom an incredible event. and in just a few days, we’ll have a solid idea as to whether Germany can become the epicenter of the gaming world for years to come.
The post Opinion: Is Gamescom more important than E3? appeared first on Video Game Writers.
