As part of BusinessOulu’s creative team I had the pleasure of visiting the world’s largest game event, Gamescom, a couple of weeks ago in Cologne.
Gamescom is an exciting mix of both business and entertainment. In the business area, games developers, publishers and service providers alike are bustling to meet their goals for the event. The entertainment area is equally bustling but perhaps with a different kind of excitement, as anyone who has purchased a pass to the entertainment area can familiarize themselves with upcoming game titles and enjoy the culture of games overall. In fact, it is quite common for game studios and publishers to announce their new titles at Gamescom.
Our focus was more in the business area where BusinessOulu was a part of the Nordic & Baltic Booth, beautifully coordinated and organized by Neogames. We got to share our booth with fellow Finns, Norwegians, Swedes and Estonians. It was a merry gathering of Nordic and Baltic game people, with a total of 60 companies and 12 organizations sharing the booth.
There were eight Oulu game studios taking part in Gamescom this year, five of which participated with the help of BusinessOulu’s GoGlobal project.
Conventions like Gamescom are an important avenue for game studios – big and small – to build connections with potential business partners. The days are usually filled with a myriad of meetings, for example, with potential publishers for one’s game. In addition, it’s a great opportunity to have a sneak peek at upcoming trends and technologies, as well as to see how the buzz-generating technologies from a couple of years have lived up to their expectations. For instance, I was happy to see VR glasses still drawing a crowd at demo stations.
It was great to catch up with game industry people and see Oulu game studios playing an active part in Gamescom, especially after the break we have had with face-to-face events. I look forward with enthusiasm to what Oulu game studios bring to the playing field in the future.
Anne Ryynänen, Business Advisor for the Creative Industries at BusinessOulu