Several builders and recreation publishers at Gamescom 2026 in Cologne, Germany, have reported tools theft on the exhibition. According to Video Games Chronicle (VGC), Mimic developer Ryan Laley, recreation writer iam8bit, and Tessera Studios had been all hit throughout the week.
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Laley reportedly misplaced all his laptops from his sales space, whereas iam8bit stated in its X publish that it’s lacking two laptops as effectively. Meanwhile, Tessera Studios had two laptops and a Steam Deck taken from its cupboard. Laley’s and iam8bit’s cubicles are positioned collectively in Hall 4.1, subsequent to the west entrance gate, which means they’re each straightforward targets for thieves searching for a fast rating. However, Tessera Studios is in Hall 10.2, placing it fairly removed from the opposite two targets.
The value of the stolen tools will definitely be an enormous setback for these builders and publishers, particularly for smaller indie creators. However, the larger loss could be the info on the machines, which regularly consists of unreleased builds of the video games they’re demoing on the expo. While they could have backup copies of their work saved in a number of the best external SSDs, the fact that a copy of the games they’re working on is out in the wild and could potentially be leaked would chill the blood of any developer and could be “heartbreaking” for the team working on it.
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“Today at gamescom we arrived at our station in the business area hall to discover that our two laptops had been stolen overnight, despite the presence of Koelnmesse security,” iam8bit said in their X publish. “These were machines we were using to demo iam8bit Presents titles Petal Runner and Escape Academy 2 to media and content creators during the show. On top of obviously disrupting our very busy appointment schedule, this theft has potentially put unfinished builds of these games at risk of being leaked.”
“On Wednesday, we arrived at our booth in the Indie Area to find our cabinet forced open. Two laptops and a Steam Deck were gone,” Tessera Studios posted on X. “The devices contained not only our Gamescom demo, but also personal, company, and critical information.”
Gamescom organizers responded to the problems, saying that though they’ve organized for uniformed guards to offer common safety, particular person sales space safety have to be booked individually. They’ve additionally suggested exhibitors to have insurance coverage in opposition to theft, and stated these warnings are famous within the phrases and situations for contributors, in addition to within the occasion’s technical tips.
“All cases have been reported to us and to the police, and investigations are already underway,” the organizers’ assertion learn. They additionally stated that safety is one among their priorities on the occasion, but in addition added, “At an event of this size, however, there will always be individuals attempting to take advantage of the situation.”
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