Game City 2023 attracts 70,000 visitors to Vienna

Around 70,000 visitors celebrated three days of free gaming culture in the heart of Vienna. Austria's largest video game fair attracted more than 100 exhibitors. The Federal President and the Vice Mayor of Vienna were also present.

After a three-year break, Vienna's City Hall and Rathausplatz were once again the venue for Game City 2023. Around 70,000 visitors attended the three-day event from 13 to 15 October - free of charge. The programme was varied: games in all forms and for all age groups, scientific discourses, information, e-sports competitions and participatory tournaments. In addition, more than 100 exhibitors were able to exchange ideas with the fan community. No date has yet been set for 2024.

On the second day of the event, Federal President Alexander Van der Bellen was also on site to get an impression of Austria's largest games exhibition. "Meetings with Bundesheer eSport athletes from the eSport Verband Österreich and popular game characters such as Mario were on the agenda, as well as a conversation in the Twitch live stream of the FM4 Spielekammerl," write the organisers. Christoph Wiederkehr, Deputy Mayor of the City of Vienna and City Councillor for Education, Youth, Integration and Transparency, was delighted with the success of the event: "It is great to see how much fun the families and children had with us at City Hall last weekend. We want to focus on the positive and promote fun so that our children and young people can enjoy life and have a stronger immune system. Happy children are healthy children. I am very pleased that the President of the Federal Republic of Germany also came and that our best e-sportsmen and women were there, as well as representatives from the analogue gaming world. The digital innovations should help the development of our youth. I was particularly impressed that many of the games on display encouraged children and young people to be active.

Visitors were able to try out numerous games, do sports and get a taste of e-sports at the stations set up by the eSport Association of Austria, while the "FROG - Future and Reality of Gaming" conference on the topic of "Money & Games" provided in-depth insights into the social and scientific significance of games - and in particular influencing factors such as the monetisation of video game content or career opportunities in the scene. On Saturday, more than 100 cosplayers marched in a parade from the MuseumsQuartier to the Vienna City Hall. Young visitors and their companions had fun playing child-friendly video and board games in the Wienxtra children's zone.