Europe’s gaming bash kicks off as trade eyes ‘Grand Theft’ enhance

Fans and professionals will get a primary glimpse at scores of latest titles at a sold-out opening ceremony that begins at 8:00 pm (1800 GMT), which is able to spotlight coming video games for about two hours.

But regardless that “GTA VI” won’t be amongst them — its US maker Rockstar Games has its personal plans for what could possibly be one of many greatest recreation launches ever — it will likely be on everybody’s thoughts.

Nearly 360,000 individuals attended Gamescom final yr, nearly hitting the pre-Covid ranges of about 370,000.

Visitors, a lot of whom gown up as their favorite characters, will be capable to play new releases at lots of of stations beginning Wednesday.

Over 1,600 exhibitors will showcase greater than 800 video games, in response to organisers.

Japan’s Nintendo is to current “Nintendo Switch Sports Resort” and the Xbox division at Microsoft will showcase “Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4” and “Gears of War: E-day”.

But one other notable absence is Japan’s Sony, maker of the PlayStation 5 console.

Rockstar in the meantime has scheduled a Netflix preview of “GTA VI” for Thursday forward of its November 19 launch, which is anticipated to steal away a few of the Gamescom highlight.

‘Too a lot’

Some rival studios have pushed their releases ahead to keep away from clashing with “GTA VI”, creating an unusually dense calendar of latest video games.

“It’s a very crowded market,” mentioned Joost van Dreunen, a professor at New York University’s Stern School of Business and a specialist within the economics of video video games.

“There’s just too much for people to play.”

At the identical time, console costs have risen as reminiscence chips turn out to be costlier because of the AI trade’s large demand for computing energy.

In the US online game market, for instance, total spending dropped 21 p.c in June.

The mixture of steep competitors and strain on revenue margins has pressured many studios to slash prices.

Nearly 10,000 individuals have misplaced their jobs within the gaming sector since January, and the trade is on track for 15,000 layoffs this yr, in response to the ASGC Games Industry Layoffs Tracker.

If reached, that determine could be near the 2024 document, which adopted a hiring growth throughout the Covid pandemic.

“The current focus is margins. Not just growth. Not just revenue. Margin growth,” von Dreunen mentioned.

“Every major decision follows from that objective.”

© 2026 AFP