Gamescom 2021 commits to a fully-online format for this year’s festivities

Keighley and Co. will return August 25

The German Games Industry Association has officially confirmed that Gamescom 2021 will follow a fully digital streaming format this summer, abandoning previous plans to showcase this year’s iteration as a hybrid online/physical event.

Previously, Gamescom had hoped that the situation regarding the global COVID-19 pandemic would have settled enough to allow for a small-scale live show. But despite the global rollout of vaccines and steadily declining infection numbers, the organizers have decided that it remains too late-in-the-day for companies to commit to travel and marketing plans, as well as designing programs and displays for the show floor. Thus the decision was made to replicate 2020’s online-only format.

“Together with game — The German Games Industry Association, we have put all our energy into making Gamescom 2021 in a hybrid format possible for fans and industry alike,” said Koelnmesse CEO Oliver Frese. “However, even though the hybrid concept was very well received by the partners, we had to recognize that Gamescom still comes too early for many companies in the industry due to the required planning reliability.”

Gamescom 2021 will kick off on August 25 with Geoff Keighley’s Opening Night Live stream. From there, Gamescom will run until the evening of August 27, showcasing a slew of announcements, trailers, developer interviews, Q&A’s, and much, much more. This year’s event will also see the debut of “Gamescom Epix”, a community-driven experience that will allow viewers to team up for “quests” on social media and the new-and-improved Gamescom hub.