Last year, Nintendo made itself quite comfortable at Gamescom in Cologne. This year the switch manufacturer prefers to do it without the trade fair.
Anyone who was already looking forward to playing the latest Nintendo titles in Cologne this August or even getting a first look at the upcoming Switch 2 can now shed a tear.
Nintendo has decided to stay away from this year’s Gamescom 2024 in Cologne. The publisher announced this today via press release. Nintendo is the first major publisher to cancel the Cologne gaming trade fair this year. It remains to be seen whether more will follow.
The Cologne trade fair has already spoken of record-breaking bookings for the next edition of Gamescom, but it is still completely unclear whether all the big names in the industry will actually be there or whether it is just a matter of the sheer number of exhibitors. The trade fair was already well booked last year, but quite a few exhibitors such as Sony, Electronic Arts and THQ Nordic skipped the trade fair or, like Ubisoft, were only there with a small presence.
Sony, for example, has no more notable releases in the coming months apart from Stellar Blade, so participation is questionable, even if there is an announcement about the PS5 Pro. Ubisoft, on the other hand, sounds more likely for the trade fair, as Star Wars: Outlaws, its potentially biggest title for 2024, will be released just a few days after Gamescom. Apart from that, many publishers are considering major cost-cutting measures and restructuring measures, which could result in any trade fair budgets falling victim to them.
In any case, Nintendo’s justification states: “Gamescom is an important date in Nintendo’s event calendar. However, this year, after careful consideration, we decided against participating in Cologne. Instead, players can play the games for Nintendo Switch at other events Try it all over Germany.”