The heart of gaming is beating in Cologne – and it's bigger than ever
Gamescom is the world's largest trade fair for video games. In 2025, numerous enthusiastic fans and exhibitors from the gaming industry once again gathered in Cologne to celebrate their shared passion.
And again, records got broken. Like the hosts promised, Gamescom 2025 was bigger than ever.
How Big Is Gamescom?
Gamescom 2025 took place at the Koelnmesse exhibition center on an area of approximately 233,000 square meters and provided space for 1,568 exhibitors from 72 countries, as well as 40 country pavilions from 35 countries.
Visitors to the exhibition grounds could explore various areas, such as the Entertainment Area, Event Area, Cosplay Area, and Indie Area. The latter, as well as the Entertainment Area and the outdoor area, were expanded in 2025 to provide more space to the visitors.
Gamescom Is Growing – Especially Its Digital Reach
Gamescom 2025 welcomed a total of 357,000 visitors from 128 countries, surpassing last year's figures. Although Gamescom did not quite reach the 2019 level of 373,000 visitors this year, strong growth can be observed in many different areas.
More than 630 million viewers tuned in digitally this year – a 105 percent increase over last year. Opening Night Live alone attracted 72 million people, representing an 80 percent increase.
In addition, there were more trade visitors than ever before attending Gamescom this year, with a recorded total of 34,000 trade visitors. The largest increase came from the USA, China, Canada, and Japan.
The devcom developer conference (gamescom dev from now on) and the gamescom congress also saw an increase in visitor numbers.
And it's not just at Gamescom itself that people celebrate their love of gaming, but also in the surrounding area. As in the previous year, around 80,000 people took part in the gamescom city festival in Cologne city center.
The upward trend in visitor numbers, both physical and digital, clearly shows how big the gaming scene has become and how many people are interested in it. How big the fair can become and what impact this growth could have on the fair remains uncertain. What are your thoughts on this?