Riedel: A Place to Meet is Important for the Ecosystem

Thomas Riedel is organising two events for gamescom that are important for the German and international XR scene. In this interview, he talks about XR at gamescom and what other businesses are important besides games.

Once again this year, gamescom will not only bring together the international gaming industry in Cologne, but also numerous representatives from the XR scene. Thanks to Thomas Riedel, the scene has its own events in Cologne, which take place in the surrounding area and even at gamescom itself. ‘When I looked into the XR industry in 2021, I was amazed that there were virtually no XR events at the world's most important gaming event,’ Riedel told GamesMarkt.

Of course, the XR gaming market is relatively small. ‘But if you compare console sales with headset sales, we're on par,’ he says, at least in relative terms. ‘Representing that and offering the industry a place to connect is important for the ecosystem.’

There is no doubt about the importance of games for XR: ‘Games represent the largest share of XR and also drive most of the innovation in the market. That's why Cologne is important as the location for Gamescom,’ says Riedel. But there is another reason why North Rhine-Westphalia is the right place for many corporations and companies: B2B business, ‘because it represents a more stable market,’ says the XR expert. ‘The industry would hardly be viable without B2B,’ says the initiator and co-organiser of XR Hackathon and XR Get-Togethers.

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