Gamescom 2024: Four Days, Tired Feet, No Regrets
Setimedia's Oyungezer team spent four days at Gamescom 2024 in Cologne. Hands-on with Indiana Jones, Avowed, Little Nightmares 3, Replaced and the Turkish indie stand.
Gamescom is too big to cover completely, and that's exactly right. You make choices, you miss things, you end up in an accidental queue and walk out having played one of the best games of the week. That's the deal.
Oyungezer was in Cologne for all four days, working through the Koelnmesse halls for the community back home. First media day brought no crowds but still punishing queues for Gothic Remake and Stalker 2. Patience ran out on both. Day two was better planned: timed reservations for Indiana Jones and Avowed paid off, and both were worth the effort.
The Turkiye stand was a scheduled stop. Watching domestic studios present their work to international press and publishers at Gamescom, in the same hall as Sony and Ubisoft, is one of those moments that puts the growth of the local industry in proper perspective. It's grounding in the best way.
The indie halls did their usual thing. Little Nightmares 3, Replaced, and Winter Burrow all made strong impressions well outside the AAA section. Those halls are where you find the games people are still talking about in February.
Setimedia's reason for being at Gamescom is never purely editorial. It's where client meetings happen, where industry contacts get a proper catch-up, and where the real conversations take place that only work face to face. There's also the gap between what press releases claim the market is excited about and what the market is actually excited about. Reading that gap is part of the job.
We left tired, damp, and already thinking about next year.
