Devcom delivers the European perspective on gaming

While the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) had a shaky year in the U.S., Europe’s Gamescom event is going quite strong. Last year, Europe’s biggest game event drew 370,000 people, most of them fans who came from 114 countries. The next Gamescom is coming August 20 to August 24 in Cologne, Germany, and it will be preceded by Devcom, a 2,500-person event for professional game developers. I’ll be going to Devcom this year, and I spoke with Stephan Reichart, managing director of Devcom, about the event, which takes place from August 17 to August 19. One of the key differences between the U.S. and German events is fans. E3 let in about 15,000 fans for the third year in a row, with a total of 66,000 attendees, down from 69,000 a year ago. This year’s E3 marked the absence of Sony, Electronic Arts, and Activision Blizzard — resulting in empty space on the show floor. But both Gamescom and Devcom are on a growth path. The latter show is the result of the combination of Devcom and Respawn, which replaced the original GDC Europe show, which shut down in 2016. Reichart said the renewed Devcom is stronger than ever, thanks in part to the growth of Gamescom, European government support of the game industry, and healthy growth of the German game development community.