Gamescom exec says E3's demise mixed bag for organizer as it contends with added 'responsibility'

The managing director of The German Games Industry Association, responsible for organizing Gamescom, Felix Falk, spoke in a recent interview with The Game Business. Falk had an interestingly different take on both the video game industry trade shows, stating that Gamescom was never in direct competition with the now-defunct Los Angeles annual games event, E3. Instead, he viewed the video game industry’s trade events as complementary to each other.

In the interview, Falk further discussed the dynamic between the two major game expos:

“We were in a great partnership with E3 through the years, and it was never a competition. It was more… announce your game at E3 and play it at Gamescom.”

The Electronic Entertainment Expo, known as E3, held its last physical event in Los Angeles in 2019. The event attracted 66,100 attendees, down from the previous year's 69,200, which was its highest attendance since the annual trade event’s peak of 70,000 in 2005.

E3 2021 was held online, and the event’s future remained unclear until December 2023, when the Entertainment Software Association, responsible for holding E3, officially announced that E3 was indefinitely canceled.

While E3’s abrupt end provided new opportunities for Gamescom, Falk stated it also posed new challenges for the German gaming expo. Falk further commented:

“In some ways, it was good because people expect us to be the major, global week for games with the highest visibility for everyone. So, that’s our responsibility to present a stage for the industry to fulfil this. 

This need is also a disadvantage because Gamescom is not so strong in the calendar. So sometimes, we had to deal with HQ teams more, as it needs to fit the global calendar for companies.”

Gamescom’s reach has historically surpassed E3’s attendee numbers by a considerable margin, with the event drawing in hundreds of thousands of visitors every year. Gamescom 2024 recorded 335,000 attendees from over 120 countries, up from the 320,000 in 2023. The event had a peak attendance in 2019 with 373,000 visitors and 1,037 exhibitors from 56 countries.

Gamescom 2025, set for August 20–24, is expected to break records, with an estimated 1,500 exhibitors participating from 72 countries. Falk predicts that the on-site attendance at Cologne, Germany, could surpass 400,000 attendees.