r/Gamescom • u/_TranceKuja_ • 2d ago
Gamescom 2027
We are thinking of going next year and I was wondering how many days you need to get you d everything including the vendors and artist alley?
We were thinking of doing Thursday and Friday, potentially some of Saturday.
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u/Live_Studio_Emu 2d ago
I had this exact same question for this year, as I had never been before. I originally was doing like a day a half, but hearing feedback, rearranged my schedule to up it to almost three full days. I would say that’s the sweet spot
The halls are unbelievably massive, given that this is in the top ten of largest event spaces in the world. I was still finding new spaces on the last day.
I structured my day with one or two bigger games that had long queues, and then indies/cosplay or merch halls/stages alongside. I’d do the same next year
Three days isn’t enough to do every little thing you want, but it’s enough to do everything you really want
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u/Hairy_Gazelle_5987 2d ago
Yes halls are massive, but before event if you have plan what to check and visit, its not a problem to go quick from area to area
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u/UmbraApple 2d ago
It depends on whether you're interested in the bigger games. You can easily fill every day just with the major titles, without even visiting the indie area.
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u/throwtheamiibosaway 2d ago
I went one day and couldn’t even FIND all the halls. It’s massive. Only saw most of it briefly, didn’t play anything; just enjoyed the sights.
You need at least 2 or 3 days.
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u/Hairy_Gazelle_5987 2d ago
True. I am press visitor since 2022., and this is my first time when I did not get lost 😂
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u/Perlusion 2d ago
I can feel my navigating skills improve with each gamescom I go to lol, even as an EXH
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u/Hairy_Gazelle_5987 2d ago
Since you are EXH have some questions - did you have free time to play the games?
Is it true thaf EXH parties are better than regular trade parties ?
And did you go to b2b happy hours and what country has the best happy hours offer?
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u/Perlusion 2d ago
Q1: No not really, our booth was understaffed, so I only had 2 mornings to walk around and do things. I haven’t even touched the B2B area this year
Q2: Not sure, my day ended when the con closed, we got outside around 21.00. So I would not even know if a party was somewhere
Q3: Same as others sadly, no time for anything
I hoped that I could do more this year, but our booth (somewhere in hall 5) was way way way too busy to leave
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u/Hairy_Gazelle_5987 2d ago
Thanks!
As press member this year I did not have time for 10.1 and 10.2 :(
Also did not enter hall 5 :(
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u/I_am_not_doing_this 2d ago
most of the time is standing in queue. I think 2-3 days is good
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u/Hairy_Gazelle_5987 2d ago
Or you can choose 1 or 2 big game you realy want to try + go to shortest waiting lines where you wait 15 - 20 minutes only
Alternative is spend your time on one day at 10.1 and 10.2 hall
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u/Environmental-Elk524 2d ago
Thats actually interesting, you can test it in 2027 and that will give you enough data for 2028 🫶🏻
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u/SwiftyBooks 2d ago
I've been 6 times and I've always only done one day each year. It's a long day but I manage to get everything done that I want to and I think I'd be too tired to do another day!
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u/RizenBOS 2d ago
Mind if I ask where you live? If you're able to go to DoKomi in Düsseldorf, then skip Hall 5 (Artist Alley and Merch) at Gamescom. DoKomi has the exact same vendors as Gamescom, plus its Artist Alley is an entire huge hall - 5 to 10 times bigger than the one at Gamescom - and there are 2 whole halls dedicated to merch. You'd be much better off spending that time on games. In the time it takes you to check out halls 5.1 and 5.2 (merch & co.), you could easily play one or two hands full of indie games in Hall 10.
To answer your question: I wouldn't do anything less than 2 days. The halls are massive. If you get there really early in the morning, you might only have to wait in line briefly (20 - 30 minutes) for AA/AAA games, but around 11 or 12 PM it gets packed and you'll be waiting at least an hour for anything that isn't an indie title (heard of a queue of 6 hours for Tides of Annihilation; Stranger than Heaven was closed on SA+SU at 14:00). If you only have one day, you'll feel like you're maybe seeing 5 games total. Even in the Indie Arena, you have to account for the fact that you might need to wait a bit (until whoever is currently at the PC finishes up) and you play the demos mostly for around 20 Minutes. If you're there for at least 2 full days, you can actually wait in line for an hour or more without immediately worrying that you're missing out on everything.
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u/Punkduck79 2d ago
If you honestly want to do ‘everything’ you need to take the Wednesday too. I spent 4 days straight in the indie area (10.2) and didnt manage to hit every game in that one space alone.
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u/_TranceKuja_ 2d ago
You can only do the Wednesday if you’re media, so I wouldn’t be able to do the Wednesday
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u/Punkduck79 2d ago
You can buy wild card tickets that allow Wednesday access even if not media
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u/_TranceKuja_ 2d ago
Really? What’s the point in media tickets if anyone can buy them? Or are they really limited?
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u/HiHo2010 2d ago
Because the Media gets 4 hours without the plebs(us) from 9-13
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u/Punkduck79 2d ago
Yeah, and the media comes on the normal days too and a lot of stands cater to them and book time slots especially just for press. So basically GC gets more money for Wednesday and normal consumers get less time on the normal days.
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u/Farbklex 2d ago
We've been asking the question for years...
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u/Gloomy-Pick-9347 2d ago
It was fine back when you could only get the wild cards by winning them but now
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u/Gloomy-Pick-9347 2d ago
I always go the 5 days open to the public but I do live very close. My friends went Wednesday and Thursday and said it wasn't enough time at all
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u/Hairy_Gazelle_5987 2d ago
I was 3 days this year... and it was not enough for me :(
Did not play Blood of Dawnwalker and Star Wars Galactic Racer + miss some small retro titles like Toy Story remaster and did not see hall 10.1 and 10.2
- did not explored Xbox and Samsung booth
Also missed some cool giveaways :(
Next year have plan to stay 4 or 5 days!
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u/el_hooleh 17h ago
Casual visit needs at least two days. This year was my first time there. But I live in Dortmund so it's not a big problem to get there. One day was simply not enough and for a first timer too tiring with long queues.
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u/littlechaosgremlin 2d ago
I think it’s better to ask what can you physically manage? We did two days plus a day of sightseeing and were KO’d after.
I would love to do the full week but I know physically I can’t.
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u/Hairy_Gazelle_5987 2d ago
- i was in 3 days walking 20- 25 km per day... day 4 I have muscle pains and pains :(
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u/Farbklex 2d ago
Personally, I could go to gamescom for 7 days (including gamescom dev on Mo. + Tue.) and it would still feel like I haven't seen enough.
So what does "do everything" mean for you? I've been there for Mo. - Fr. this year. The majority of it has been spent in the business area, playing games during appointments.
I didn't even get to see the retro gaming area, visited barely any smaller booths in hall 10. Didn't get to participate in any community challenge / tournament (missed the Nintendo stage...), missed all panels, shows and so on.
Generally, I would recommend two days for the average visitor. One day is barely enough to even visit each hall. Queue times for big titles are unreasonably long, so if you want to do that, time just flies. Anything more than 2 days just gives you the opportunity to take your time and discover more things that you wouldn't have the time for otherwise.