A quick tour of the consumer-facing booths at Gamescom tells us that the biggest spenders in mobile here in Cologne are mostly Asian publishers. But rather surprisingly, US streaming giant Netflix has gone big on Gamescom too – and at great expense, if you look at the costs of the larger booths.
According to the menu of booth options on the Gamescom site, a stand just under 1,000 square metres costs about €153k ($166k); the biggest booths over 1,000 square metres will go even higher than that, and this figure doesn’t include the logistics of transport, staff and setup.
Here’s a quick look at the most extravagant booths from mobile-focused publishers:
Level Infinite
Tencent label Level Infinite played host to two big mobile games, Assassin’s Creed Jade and newly-released extraction shooter Arena Breakout.
Assassin’s Creed Jade was not present at all on Ubisoft’s stand, which tells us plenty about which company is really running the game, which does not have a release date just yet.
Hoyoverse
The maker of Genshin Impact, Honkai: Star Rail and the forthcoming Zenless Zone Zero has one of the splashiest booths at the show.
It is also giving out a lot of swag, judging by the huge branded bags so many attendees are lugging around. There’s no shortage of cosplayers hanging around at the booth, too.
Nuverse/Second Dinner
As we predicted earlier this week, Marvel Snap got a full release on Steam as part of Gamescom’s Opening Night Live event on Tuesday.
Publisher Nuverse and developer Second Dinner have followed through on the show floor, with a colossal mech Devil Dinosaur bearing down on the revellers in Hall 6.
Perfect World/Crunchyroll
This was a little unexpected: an absolutely colossal booth for cross-platform game One Punch Man: World, developed by Perfect World and published by Crunchyroll. There’s a mix of PC and tablets on the demo stations.
It is launching later this year – one to watch, if the spend on this booth is anything to go by.
Gameloft/GOAT Games
As we reported last week, Gameloft has licensed out the new Dungeon Hunter game to Chinese developer Goat Games, which will be releasing the sixth game in the series by the end of the year.
Its Gamescom booth is alongside Level Infinite, Nuverse, and Perfect World in Hall 6, and is slightly more modest in size.
Netflix
The streaming giant has gone big on Gamescom with a Zack Snyder-helmed announcement of Super Evil Megacorp’s Rebel Moon game.
Netflix is also a big presence on the show floor, with a giant stand and multiple themed areas based on Stranger Things, Wednesday, Squid Game, The Witcher and, of course, Rebel Moon.
Thatgamecompany
Wholesome MMO-like game Sky: Children of the Light is a bit of a sleeper hit; it didn’t seem to make a huge impact when it first launched on mobile in 2019, but has grown plenty since.
Developer Thatgamecompany has built a player community big enough to attempt to break a (slightly tenuous) Guinness world record for ‘most users in a concert-themed virtual world’ at its Gamescom stand.
Miscellania
Among the huge Xbox and Intel stands in Hall 8, Sega’s booth has a Samba de Amigo section, but there’s no mention at all of the Apple Arcade edition of the game. All the demos are on Switch and Meta Quest, and Apple Arcade doesn’t even get a nod in the trailer that’s on a loop throughout the Sega stand, thought it launches on the same day.
Hall 5 is a mix of questionable anime merch and Lego-branded kids activities. Enter from the business areas and you’re greeted by a huge and slightly random Mini stand. A neon-clad cyberpunk guy appears to be hosting the booth.
Right. If you read to the end for some Farming Simulator action, here it is: a ‘very Gamescom’ picture of a really big tractor.
