Germany’s love affair with the games industry continues. I remember my first trip to Leipzig at the start of my career: a smaller, scrappier event buzzing with possibility. Now, walking the unfathomable halls of the Koelnmesse in Cologne, it’s staggering to see how far Gamescom has come. The entire city feels like it is taken over - from train stations plastered with ads to late-night Kölsch bars packed with developers, streamers and fans.

And with E3’s departure, Gamescom has become the global gaming showcase. Anecdotally, though, you can feel a shift: fewer extravagant Western megabooths, more activity from smaller studios, and a stronger showing from the big Asian publishers. Gamescom 2025 reflected an industry in transition.

On the show floor, the heat was literal and figurative - Cologne stayed warm well into the evenings, and so did the buzz around certain games.

• Horror dominance: Konami’s booth packed in crowds with Metal Gear Solid returning and Silent Hill F, alongside Resident Evil’s latest return. In an age of endless live-service games, it was striking how much energy single-player still generates.
• Crimson Desert’s fortress: Pearl Abyss built an actual castle to house its demo stations, and it worked - one of the most photographed booths of the week, backed up by strong hands-on impressions.
• Borderlands 4: pure gameplay: Gearbox ditched pageantry for practicality, offering a vast number of playable stations. It proved you don’t need fireworks if you let people play.
• World of Warcraft: Midnight: Blizzard had the biggest footprint on the floor, leaning into the longevity of its evergreen MMO with an expansion still a year away. The booth was less about “what’s new” and more about “we’re still here, and we’re huge.”

The mix of AAA, AA, and indie showed Gamescom’s breadth: blockbuster franchises pulling queues, indies carving out loyal corners, and mid-tier challengers making noise with confidence.

The texture of Gamescom 2025 echoed what we felt earlier this summer at Develop in Brighton. The industry is recalibrating.

• Caution from the giants: Fewer wild bets, more reliance on familiar franchises.
• Boldness from challengers: Asian publishers and ambitious indies filled the creative vacuum.
• Genre signals: Horror and RPGs were the clear crowd magnets, while shooters felt relatively muted.
• Marketing shifts: The smartest booths weren’t just showpieces; they were built for content creation to travel on TikTok, YouTube Shorts, and Instagram Reels.

Overall, the vibe was neither doom nor unbridled optimism. It was pragmatic energy - publishers leaning into what works, while newcomers tested the edges. Gamescom, as always, acted as a cultural mirror.

If you’re heading to Cologne next year, here’s your quick Gamescom survival guide:

• Shoes first. The Koelnmesse is enormous - you’ll clock up 20,000+ steps easily.
• Accept the queues. Forty-five minutes for a big demo is standard; two hours isn’t unusual. Plan around it.
• Pack the essentials. Portable charger, refillable water bottle, and energy snacks are lifesavers.
• Find the escapes. There are quieter cafés, back entrances, and even outdoor areas to reset.
• Don’t just chase headlines. The Retro Area, Indie Arena Booth, and dev talks often deliver the most memorable moments.

The best Gamescom experiences aren’t always the loudest; sometimes they’re the unexpected gems tucked away in Hall 10.

If 2025 was the year of recalibration, 2026 may be the year of reinvention. Expect more hybrid broadcasting, further growth of Asian publishers, and a stronger push into VR and mixed reality. Indies will continue to thrive in the cracks, while AAA will lean harder on proven IP.

But what won’t change is Gamescom’s role as the industry’s cultural barometer. It doesn’t just tell us what’s launching - it shows us what the games industry believes will matter. And in 2025, the answer was a fascinating mix of caution, creativity and global ambition.