MCV/DEVELOP News, events, research and jobs from the games industry
After a notable absence in 2012, format-holder Nintendo has signed up to exhibit at Gamescom this year.
The event, which runs from August 21st to 25th in Cologne, Germany, lost both Xbox and Nintendo as exhibitors last year as they chose to divert marketing resources to other campaigns.
But Nintendo must have felt it lost out.
Tim Endres, Gamescom project manager at organiser Koelnmesse said: "Nintendo’s return is an absolute highlight for our community, exhibitors and trade visitors from around the world."
He added that other major firms are in talks to confirm attendance, so maybe Xbox too will U-turn on last year’s withdrawal.
"The participation of Nintendo underlines the strong support of the BIU-Members for gamescom. We are looking forward to a great gamescom 2013," added Dr Maximilian Schenk, MD of German trade body BIU.
SCEE, which was a founder member of Gamescom and BIU, will likely be back too, MCV assumes – especially with a new console to promote.
Gamescom’s organisers today also confirmed a wave of publishers signed up to attend. Bethesda Softworks, Bigpoint, Deep Silver/Koch Media, Electronic Arts, Konami, NCsoft, Riot Games, Ubisoft, Wargaming and Warner Bros have also said they will return to the show this year.
Other confirmed exhibitors include: AK Tronic, astragon, Bigben Interactive, bitComposer, Caseking, CD Projekt, Fishlabs, flashpoint, Gaya Entertainment, Kalypso Media, Korea Creative Content Agency, Mad Catz, Medion, NVIDIA, Razer, Roccat, UKIE and Turtle Entertainment.
Exhibitors from 22 countries have confirmed their involvement, with representatives from Brazil attending for the first time. A total of 12 country pavilions have currently been registered or are being planned, one more than last year.
Endres said: "The next chapter of gamescom is being written and once again promises the best in entertainment. We are also in very promising talks with other key players in the industry with regard to gamescom 2013."
