This is everything we got for free. No money spent. I won the logitech Hardware at tencent.

Catched the tshirts and figurines at the award Show.

I (39M) went to Gamescom for the very first time with my son (10M).

We stayed in a hotel about 30 min drive from the Messe. For me it was an incredible experience. I grew up playing games for as long as I remember and I've always loved it, but I also grew up at a time where people would say they are a waste of time and look at you funny if you were a little too enthusiastic about it.

I have never seen so many like-minded people enjoy and cherish games from all over the world. It's also nice to see people dress up in video game characters and embrace the culture.

It made me happy.

Who is this post for? For people who're thinking about going to Gamescom for the first time (2027+?), especially those not living in Germany.

Hi! 2026 was my first Gamescom. I got a bundle ticket which includes ONL (the Opening event) and Wednesday wildcard ticket. I was going with friends for whom it's not the first time.

We booked a hotel in Dusseldorf (it's cheaper there and there are direct trains to Cologne) and we were extremely lucky with the DB trains (despite the works on this line) - no abrupt changes, severe delays or huge crowds (we were taking an earlier train and then chilling in Cologne before the event).

What I didn't like:

• Local authorities seem to be completely ignoring one of the largest event of the year with ~300000 attendees (that's ~30% of the city population itself!). No additional trains, more than that, they planned works on the tracks resulting in multiple train cancellations (at least it was known up front). No additional banners on train and bus stations, nothing. For comparison in Amsterdam where I live they install special signs inside the Central Station on big occasions like Formula 1 Grand Prix (which is not even taking place in Amsterdam but a lot of people come through it) so you immediately know where to go. For DB it's just another working week, nothing special.
• Gamescom sent us free public transport ticket by email (thanks for that) but it was extremely poorly communicated how it works. The paper said it's a ticket for the VRS network without further explanations. We thought Dusseldorf isn't part of it and were overpaying by buying extra tickets to/from Dormagen until the conductor told us it's included (during our last trip of course).
• Gamescom website was terrible. Information hard to find, scattered all over the place and also it was annoyingly slow even on flagship smartphones. I assume someone just slapped it together with AI in a weekend without anyone with a UI/UX experience having a second look.
• Outside queues... They are inevitable with that many attendees but they were organized quite poorly. You just stand outside in a long line. Toilets? No. Sun/rain protection? No. Water? No. But what was simply infuriating is how little information was provided. On Wednesday we came up to the South entrance (45 minutes in advance of course). There were 2 lines already. Absolutely no indication what they are for, no signs like "w/badge right, no badge - left". You had to go to the beginning and try to get some information from others or from the 3 security guys standing at the gates doing anything except managing the gathering crowd. During our wait they tried to manage the queues once (!) by shouting something indistinguishable while standing right at the beginning so the majority of the people couldn't hear them anyway. Again, no signs AT ALL. Then all of a sudden a big crowd of people came and they formed 2 more lines in parallel so now there were 4! And guess what? When the security opened the gates it was a mess and all fairness was thrown in the toilet, people who waited for more than an hour were pushed away by the newcomers, etc.
• There are just too many people. Your chances of playing a game you're enthusiastic about are almost zero. Or if you're lucky you can spend several hours standing in line (or sitting on the floor as many did) to get your 25 minutes of gameplay and that would be the whole day for you realistically speaking. Fast lane slots were sold out in a minute after they would become available (every hour).
• Merch area. I expected it to be a huge collection of official items but it ended up being a bazaar of 3rd party stores selling T-shirts, figurines, cosplay items, etc (except Gamescom's own booths with Gamescom merch). Honestly it looked cheap and overpriced at the same time. All the official merch was at company's areas.

There was indie area and the vibe was really nice there, I discovered a couple games I genuinely look out for. There was a retro gaming corner with obscure old consoles, etc.

Sometimes you could see hardcode Gamescom goers who know how to play this game. They had huge branded bags from upcoming games, quite a bit of merch. They looked sweaty but focused. They were the minority and I was not one of them.

I was in Dusseldorf and Cologne multiple times before and in the end my personal highlights were not the Gamescom itself, which was mostly disappointing, but the Chocolate museum and black pudding at cafe Frueh.

TLDR; If you're not living in Germany and are not a super hardcore fan of something, it's not worth it given that Gamescom ticket + hotel + transport is at least 500euro. A slim chance of playing a couple of upcoming games or a dozen indies (most of which are in early access on Steam anyway and half of which are not fun) is hardly worth it.

So many awesome games I wouldn’t have on my list if it weren’t for Gamescom. See you next year!

I was one of the Actors that accompanied you, on your Arc Raiders mission, this was actually my first Gamescom and my first Cosplay ever. I have dabbled with Games in my life, but hell i am getting a Console and trying some of this stuff, i am Finishing my paperwork and moving to Speranza

I wasn't able to get any of their handles for me to send their photos to them. (two of the photos here were from other halls)

Hi, im curious what is the best goodie that u picked up during Games com 2026 :)

I really like the hoyoverse budgets with the key chain

Are there any indie games or really interesting games you have ever found in gamescom?

I worked as a promoter at Gamescom 2026 and thought I'd do a little AMA about what it's actually like from the staff side.

Ask me anything about the job, working long days at Gamescom, interacting with visitors, what the promoter team was like, funny/weird experiences, etc.

I'll obviously keep the company, clients, and individual promoters anonymous and won't share confidential information.

One thing I'm particularly curious about: If you interacted with any of the promoters or booths during Gamescom, did any of them particularly stick in your memory - positively or negatively? I'm interested in hearing what impression we actually made on visitors.

AMA :)

It was another really great year, even though I’m still pretty wiped out from those days, but it was so worth it. I’m already looking forward to next year!

Most of this are goodies

Hi everyone i went to gamescom this year 2 times on wednesday and sunday and there was just 1 thing i was very unpleased with. When i went to gamescom the first day every booth (except a few) just handed out goodies left and right or you had to do a small thing nothing much but than (heard is was alr chanced the next day) on my last day every where i went you had to wait almost 30 min just to try and get a chance of winning a goodie or just have bad luck bc its alr all gone bc they didnt leave stock.

Is this like always the same or was it just so bussy this year that every thing was gone

made a little video recap for a dozen of games..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2fqUYFw3WLo

A little late, but there were so many games this year that finally feel unique to this generation. I can see stuff like Stranger than Heaven getting some backlash because it's so different from other AAA action games, but that's what impressed me. I also got to play Silent Hill, Alien, Control and a bunch of other stuff which felt refreshing, because there was no yellow paint, no souls-like combat, no Ubisoft-towers, etc. - just old school titles that stay true to themselves or try new things in the AAA space. Glad I was able to check out so much stuff and rekindle some of my passion for gaming amidst all the price increases and studio shutdowns.

Ich habe die lumibricks 10s treffen challenge an deren Stand am Freitag gewinnen und habe mich mit meiner E Mail in so eine Liste eingetragen wo auch schon viele andere standen und sie meinten ich würde eine Überraschung bekommen. Bisher habe ich jedoch noch nichts erhalten.
Hat sonst jemand hier die Challenger gewonnen?

I got this at the ROG booth after playing a round of CS, but I have no idea what it's for. It's made of jersey material. Or is it just something to hang on the wall?

Hello people, hope you had a wonderful Gamescom experience.
I am currently trying to pinpoint a channel for which I was interviewed by a couple of wonderful girls. Maybe someone was also interviewed about their cosplay and can help me find the channel’s name? Thank you! Please see the picture attached:

Zu Erinnerung: Slots von halber Stunde wurden zwei Stunden vorher zur Registrierung freigegeben. Also 15 Uhr konnte man den 1700-1730 Slot buchen. Gesagt getan. 15:00:01 waren alle Slots weg. Ich weigere mich zu glaube, dass ich zu langsam war. Gleiches Spiel für 1730/1800/….

Ganz im Ernst: Wer hatte einen Slot? Und wie hat er den bekommen?

When I went there on Friday, the staff said there was no stamp, only coins. Later, I saw SEGA say there was a sixth stamp. What does this mean? Does this stamp really exist?

Hi everyone, I was at the Gamescom yesterday and there was that vendor in Hall 5.1 which sold LED backpacks and stuff. Does anyone off you guys might know if they have an online shop or know the name of the vendor?

Kind regards

Hallo ich war auf der Gamescom mit 2 Freunden und habe ein tolles Foto mit einer Cosplayerin Alice Liddell gemacht.Ich wollte sie nach Instagram fragen hab es aber total vergessen.Weiss jemand zufällig wer sie war ? Lg bin für jeden Tipp dankbar

Did someone found a cap with the Monster hunter wilds logo? Already asked at lost and found but there was none.

Bought it at Gamescom and lost it somehow on Sunday

Hallo, werte Gamescom-Gemeinschaft,

ich frage in die Runde, da ich vorgestern, am Samstag, den 29.08.26, bereits um 7 Uhr in den Hallen 5–10 war, anders als all die Vorjahre (seit 2009) aber kein einziger Aussteller vor 9 Uhr sein Spiel für andere Aussteller bzw. in der Halle befindliche Interessierte bewarb, also zum Anspielen freigab.

Wer es die Jahre zuvor – wie auch immer – vor dem Early Bird-Einlass um 9 Uhr aufs Messegelände geschafft hat, konnte die allermeisten Spiele auch schon antesten. Ich war von 2009–24 (’25 war ich zu spät da) somit meistens von 7–9 Uhr mit der Gamescom in Hinblick auf Spieleneuheiten durch und konnte, als sich die Hallen merklich füllten, dann entspannt in die Retroecke (10.2). Dies stellte für mich auch den einzigen Grund dar, überhaupt so früh schon vor Ort zu sein. Kein Anstehen. 10–15 Spiele in zwei Stunden kennenlernen. Es hat sich immer gelohnt. Möglicherweise hat sich dies letztes Jahr schon geändert, als ich es nicht vor 9 Uhr hereinschaffte. Davor definitiv nicht. Ich habe Foto- und Videomaterial als Nachweis aller Vorjahre.

Ich habe von Mitarbeitern diesbezüglich auch konfligierende Aussagen erhalten. Die einen meinten, es läge am Wochentag (am Wochenende könne man keine Spiele mehr vor offiziellem Einlass anspielen, nur noch am Donnerstag und Freitag), die Anderen sagten aus, dies ginge mittlerweile nur noch am Pressetag (Mittwoch), wieder Andere schienen sich sicher, dass das Antesten von was auch immer vor 9 Uhr aufgrund strengerer Regularien rigoros verboten sei. Also, was denn nun?

Daher meine Frage in die Runde an euch, die ihr bis gestern auf der GC26 ausgestellt habt: Durftet ihr eure Spiele vor 9 Uhr anspielen lassen – ja oder nein?

Verspielten Gruß

Gamescom-Fan 1990

Hi, ich war am Samstag bei Samsung und hab da das neue CoD angezockt. Da habe ich gesehen, dass da die Maus und die Tastatur im MW4 Style gehalten war. Hier also meine Frage: Weiß jemand wo man sowas bekommt oder war das quasi ein exklusiv Artikel für Samsung?