2023-08-26 03:31:45
August 26, 2023 Today at 5:30 AM
For a short week, Cologne hosts Gamescom. The show is now the world’s only reference for video games. Visit to an unmissable event for an entire industry and its fans.
The electricity bill for this last week of August at the KölnMesse promises to be particularly high. For five days, from August 23 to 27, the world of video games met in Cologne. A total of 1,227 exhibitors and their incalculable number of screens, consoles and computers come together in the ten halls of the city’s exhibition centre. Since the descent into hell of E3, the great American rival of the show, which did not survive the covid, Gamescom has become the only global reference. It was well worth a little detour.
Unsurprisingly, the event is colossal. The count is not yet official, but 265,000 visitors are expected. In terms of clothing, the t-shirt-shorts combo is the great classic, but in the lot, we spotted a good ten more or less successful costumes from Mario, almost as many from Zelda and Pokemon and an indeterminate number of heroes from from Asia. The plastic swords, axes and rifles displayed in all directions are, however, not really the type to worry about security.
On the stands, unsurprisingly, the giants of the sector are the ones that attract the most crowds, and the queues are endless to test the new products. At the end of the last hall, X-Box occupies almost half of the building. The SEGA, Nintendo and others are not left out, cleverly scattered throughout the site.
Full screen view At the end of the last hall, X-Box occupies almost half of the building. ©AFP
Lamborghini and the CEO are unknown
At the corner formed by two alleys, a crowd gathers on the Ubisoft stand. We distinguish Yves Guillemot, the founder of the French publisher. Impossible to talk to him, he had to make an appointment weeks in advance to hope for a slot of a few minutes in his overloaded schedule. The boss, however, lends itself to the game of photos, in front of an orange Lamborghini, the main communication tool for the new opus of the home racing game. After a few minutes, the conclusion is clear: despite the few shots with the boss, Yves Guillemot clearly attracts less fans than the sports car. Many of them take a selfie next to the car without realizing that the grizzled man next to it is the boss of one of the most famous publishers in the world.
85
millions of euros
With a turnover of 85 million euros, the Belgian video game sector is still lagging behind.
Faced with the giants, the presence of Belgian actors is a tad more timid. The small forty companies that made the trip would fit in a small tenth of Nintendo’s stand. With its With a turnover of 85 million euros and 1,085 jobs, the sector is still anecdotal in Belgium. “We are clearly behind schedule”, confirms François Fripiat, the founder of Demute. We find him four years after having met him in the same place. His SME of ten people specializes in sound production for game developers. Recently, he collaborated on the highly anticipated Outcast 2.
This year again, he is counting on the event to multiply contacts. “I don’t meet a lot of new people, but it’s above all the way maintain contacts and talk about future projects with partners“, slips the boss. Recently, he began to negotiate with one or the other giant of the sector. “But I can’t say with whom yet. Besides, I may never be able to,” he smiles.
“Gamescom is primarily a place where publishers seek games and developers seek funding.”
Francois Fripiat
Demute Studio CEO
Its meetings take place in the meeting space provided by the Belgian pavilion. In 2019, he opted for a stand, but he no longer renewed the experience. “Gamescom is primarily a place where publishers seek games and developers seek funding. We therefore came to pollute the discussions a little by proposing to themt to spend the money they seek”, he laughs.
The Badass Mongoose studio, located a few meters away, is part of these many investor seekers. “The company has existed since November 2022, but we have been working on the project for three years, in addition to our main activity”, slips Gillian Sampont, one of the two founders, seated next to a screen where his creation is displayed. .
“We have already invested the equivalent of 110,000 euros. The budget necessary for the entire development of the game is around 300,000 euros.”
Cedric De Muelenaere
Badass Mongoose studio co-founder
If the game is still far from being released, the first version is already rather well done. “We have already invested the equivalent of 110,000 euros. The necessary budget is around 300,000 euros”, specifies Cédric De Mûelenaere, the other co-founder. It will therefore be necessary to convince publishers. Like hundreds of other projects. “Indeed”, recognizes Gillian. “The goal is not to sign directly. Some publishers also often give good advice to improve our product.”
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The studio hopes to see its creation released in 2025. Its ambition? 50,000 sales. “It is from this limit that we can speak of a success, but a lot of games do not succeed.” Blame it on ever-increasing competition. “On Steam (a game distribution platform, editor’s note), 1,000 titles released every day“, slips Gillian. “But that does not mean that we cannot make a place for ourselves. This high level of competition is the reality of many sectors. Whoever wants to launch a new beer has the same challenge.”
Full screen view ©REUTERS
Toyota and Netflix also party
The two developers have in their agenda a dozen appointments planned. In the meantime, they can take the opportunity to make sure they don’t miss anything on the equipment side. Companies whose gaming is not the core target are also present en masse. JBL and Samsung are, for example, there to present respectively their audio headsets and their curved screens, obviously not leaving a bunch of gamers indifferent.
Some even more distant gaming companies have also made the trip. As Netflix, present in force. The streaming giant is banking on its flagship series Stranger Things and Wednesday. We wonder why and if their granita is really worth getting into a line about thirty meters long.
At the corner of hall 8, a car emerges between the screens. It belongs to Toyota, which, for the occasion, has set up an obstacle course. “We are partners of the Ninja League, a course event organized in all the major cities of Germany”, slips the stand manager. “We had to be here, especially for the crowd that the event brings.” So no console planned in the cockpit. case for now.
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