"Perfect Match": game and Koelnmesse Expand gamescom Contract

Since 2009, the partnership between the game industry association and Koelnmesse for the leading gamescom trade fair has proven to be extremely successful. This is another reason why both sides have now renewed the contract once again. The state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the city of Cologne have also pledged their continued strong support.

Cologne will remain the centre of the gaming world—at least once a year—over the coming years. The long-standing partners game – the German Games Industry Association – and Koelnmesse have once again extended their contract, which has been in place since 2009. This was announced by game and Koelnmesse at a press conference in Cologne.

As with all previous contract extensions, no information was provided regarding the duration of the current agreement. However, it is expected to span several years.

"gamescom is making a long-term commitment to Cologne. This is a special distinction for Cologne and North Rhine-Westphalia as a games location," said Nathanael Liminski, Minister for Federal and European Affairs, International Affairs and Media of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia and Head of the State Chancellery, who was present at the press conference.

"Cologne and gamescom are the perfect match - a partnership that has proven to be a success story year after year," says Gerald Böse, CEO of Koelnmesse. “Together, we have made gamescom the world's largest and most relevant games event while continuously setting new records. The long-term contract extension is an expression of this successful cooperation. It gives us the opportunity to further expand gamescom in Cologne together with the satellite events gamescom asia and gamescom latam as well as devcom and gamescom LAN - and to make it a festival for a wide variety of pop cultures around the world"

Lars Janssen, Chairman of the Executive Board of game – The German Games Industry Association, adds: "As a global beacon of games culture, gamescom has been setting standards for many years. We want to continue this success story with Koelnmesse in Cologne. gamescom will remain as dynamic, innovative and fast-growing as the games market. To this end, we have agreed, among other things, to further strengthen the diverse gamescom formats worldwide and to invest in the brand and international reach. We are grateful to have such a good partner for the future in Koelnmesse."

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