Gamescom 2020 reveals the official list of partners joining the online-only event happening in August, and it appears that some notable names in the industry are absent. Just like all other physical events in the industry, this year's Gamescom is no longer taking place in Cologne, Germany. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, almost all physical events and conferences are now happening digitally.
Gamescom 2020 List of Partners
Recently, Gamescom organizers confirmed the official list of partners participating in this year's online-only gaming event. The upcoming digital show will feature an opening ceremony on August 27 and daily presentations until August 30. All of these would be available digitally to video game fans worldwide.
Gamescom revealed 85 partners for this year's event and featured more than 10 in a new image shared by the event's organizers. This includes Bandai Namco, Bethesda, Activision Blizzard, Electronic Arts, ESL, Ubisoft, Xbox, Koch, Sega, Astragon and Wargaming.net. Apparently, these gaming studios were featured of their size or maybe because of their broader participation compared to other partners.
#HYPE! Numerous publishers and developers confirmed their digital participation as official partners for #gamescom2020! You can look forward to top international companies. Are you #hyped and #up4gamescom? Check out our website: https://t.co/cYYouGIygi pic.twitter.com/eckCHJcRs4 — gamescom (@gamescom) July 15, 2020
It is also very noticeable that some of the big names in the gaming industry are absent in this year's official Gamescom partners. Among these are large game publishers like Sony, Tencent, Apple, Nintendo, NetEase and Google. Warner bros. Interactive, Capcom, Take-Two Interactive and others are also not on the list. It is highly likely that those not in this year's list of Gamescom partners are planning to hold their own digital event. Playing Into The Future For this year, Gamescom organizers revealed the theme, "Playing Into the Future." The theme has a similarity with PS5's Future Of Gaming." However, on the official website of the gaming event, its motto is "The Heart Of Gaming," making it different from that of Sony's.
According to Gamescom organizers, this year's digital event would center on the positive effects that video games contribute to society. Video games and computer have helped a lot of people during the current global health crisis. It also helped people maintain contact with family and friends amidst lockdown, the organizers noted.
"Playing into the future" – this is the guiding theme of #gamescom2020! Stay tuned for August 2020 to celebrate what brings us #gamers together: the amazing games culture! #up4gamescom Learn more: https://t.co/flO8NcTQVF pic.twitter.com/knu3f8bTqC — gamescom (@gamescom) July 15, 2020
This year, Gamescom would concentrate on a couple of major trends. These are games at school and the new gaming console generation. With that, it is safe to assume that fans could expect more next-generation related announcements and news in the event. Both Sony's PS5 and Microsoft's Xbox Series X are scheduled to arrive in the holiday of 2020.
