Berlin, Germany – The largest and most innovative market in Europe arrives in the world’s gaming mecca. This best describes investor events held by Germany Trade & Invest on Septermber 4, 2012 in Tokyo and tomorrow in Seoul. On the heels of this year’s Gamescom in Germany, the timing of these events couldn’t be better to encourage companies to tap the German market. To date there are over 10,000 people working in this growing sector.

“South Korea was this year’s partner country at Gamescom. The country is absolutely number one, especially in the online gaming field. And despite the slight decline in the console games market, Japan is a longstanding giant in the gaming industry.

Germany features a market of 25 million active gamers with significant room for further growth. The three countries represent an ideal partnership,” said Peter Alltschekow, Director Eastern Germany at Germany Trade & Invest in Berlin. In 2011 the industry generated nearly 2 billion euros, an increase of 3.5 percent over the previous year.

Especially the growth regions in the eastern part of the country are attractive for investors. In the Games Academy in Berlin, for example, talented individuals are trained to be game designers, programmers and producers. Leipzig also belongs to the most well-known creative centers in the gaming field.

The states of Thuringia and Saxony-Anhalt support gaming investors with specialized agencies for the creative industries. And Germany’s ultramodern communications infrastructure creates top conditions for the distribution of online and mobile games.

“In contrast to the movie and music industries, the electronic gaming industry has continued to grow in recent years. This is promising for both German companies and international providers. South Korean gaming companies OnNet and Azubu have already established a presence in Germany. Other investors are hopefully not far behind,” continued Alltschekow.

Germany Trade & Invest is the foreign trade and inward investment promotion agency of the Federal Republic of Germany. The organization advises foreign companies looking to expand their business activities in the German market. It provides information on foreign trade to German companies that seek to enter foreign markets.

Image Courtesy of   Barone Firenze / Shutterstock.com

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The fourth edition of gamescom, the world’s biggest trade fair and event highlight for interactive entertainment, ended on Sunday 19th with a great result. More than 275,000 visitors, including around 24,500 trade visitors (+14%) from 83 countries (2011: 71), experienced the eagerly awaited new products and developments from of than 600 exhibitors (+8 percent) from 40 countries (+1).

On an exhibition area covering 140,000 square metres (+15%), the exhibitors presented more than 330 global, European and German premieres (+10%). The trade fair was also extended in terms of content.

In addition to PC and console games, online and browser games, the latest themes from the industry were above all mobile and social games. Gerald Böse, Chief Executive Officer of Koelnmesse GmbH: “gamescom has once again demonstrated its international reputation in terms of business and entertainment.” More than 5,300 journalists from 54 countries reported from Cologne for five days.

Visitors to gamescom were able to experience some fantastic gaming worlds in the last five days. One noticeable trend at gamescom 2012 is that games are increasingly picking up on everyday themes, such as the complete networking of people by means of Internet-capable smartphones. In addition to PC and console games, online and browser games, other hot themes from the industry are above all mobile and social games. Browser games are taking great strides with regard to graphics and they are no longer inferior to many AAA titles.

In addition to games developed specifically for mobile applications, classic games are also conquering the smartphone and tablet PC market. For the whole of 2012 the German Federal Association for Interactive Entertainment Software is forecasting a six-percent boost in the sales of games. Dr. Maximilian Schenk, Managing Director of BIU: “The concept of gamescom has borne fruit: as a leading international trade fair, it presents all types and aspects of games for all platforms.

We would like to thank most sincerely the gamer community, the visitors, exhibitors and partners, the City of Cologne, the State of North Rhine Westphalia, our partner country South Korea and especially Koelnmesse. We can all be very proud of gamescom 2012 – and we intend to continue in the same vein in 2013.”

For Katharina C. Hamma, Managing Director of Koelnmesse GmbH, the focus is on the successful further development of the trade fair concept: “We have expanded gamescom as an international business and innovation platform and at the same time we have considerably enhanced the quality of the experience for our consumers and the community. The innovative ticketing concept for individual days of the trade fair and the entry management system worked without a hitch and contributed significantly to the improved quality of the event.”

Following the experiences of the previous year, advance ticket sales were reorganised, ahead of the trade fair, date-specific ticketing was effectively extended and offered in advance sales. The exhibition area was enlarged by 15 percent to 140,000 square metres and, in addition, one exhibition hall was converted into the entrance for consumers and community.

Around 24,500 trade visitors from 83 countries, from European and international industry, met up to do business in the halls of the exclusive gamescom business area. Our partner country South Korea presented itself as a starting point for new international business. More than 20 companies made up the shared South Korean stand.

Together with the other shared country stands representing China, France, the UK, Iran, Canada, Mexico, the Netherlands, Poland, Scandinavia, Spain, Taiwan and, for the first time, Hungary and Austria, gamescom significantly extended its international reach. The adjacent gamescom entertainment area once again turned the Cologne Exhibition Centre into the world’s biggest interactive playground.

A large number of exhibitors considerably expanded their exhibition stand areas. gamescom fans also got their full money’s worth away from the monitors and game stations. Innovations such as the “gamescom trailer cinema powered by LG” or the “cosplay village” were just two of the highlights of the comprehensive supporting programme. The latter was once again headed by the gamescom congress and the gamescom campus On particular success was the large number of games companies and educational institutions which presented the games industry as an employer to young people.

Once again this year the “Game Developers Conference Europe” (GDCE) and the gamescom festival in the heart of the City of Cologne offered the perfect framework for gamescom 2012.

As Europe’s leading conference for games development, the GDC Europe once again lured around 2,000 developers and industry representatives from Europe and around the world to Cologne. This year’s gamescom festival once again carried the world of games and excellent musical entertainment into the heart of the City of Cologne. More than 120,000 visitors partied, played and danced between Neumarkt, Rudolfplatz and Friesenplatz.

This year the range of entertainment offered by the gamescom festival was, just like gamescom itself, bigger and more even more varied. 13 bands on the main stage on the Hohenzollernring – with headliners The Donuts, Kettcar, Bosse, Thees Uhlmann & Band – provided a real festival atmosphere. On these squares and the section of the ring, the festival visitors submerged themselves in the virtual games worlds of Sony, Ubisoft, Activision and Electronic Arts, which presented numerous games stations over the entire festival area.

The next gamescom will take place from 21 to 25 August 2013.

Image Courtesy of   Barone Firenze / Shutterstock.com

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