Gamescom 2026 Highlights Germany’s Position as Europe’s Largest Video-Game Market

The annual Gamescom trade fair in Cologne, expected to draw more than 350,000 visitors, is this year’s most prominent showcase of Europe’s gaming sector. The event is being opened by President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, marking the first time a German president has attended Gamescom, and will host EU Digital Technologies Vice-President Henna Virkkunen for discussions on the Union’s gaming strategy.

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According to the 2026 annual report on Germany’s games industry, total revenue from games, hardware and online services reached around €9.4 billion in 2025, a 4 percent increase over the previous year and confirming Germany as the continent’s largest market and the world’s fifth-largest. The Leisure Monitor indicates that 33 percent of respondents now play video games at least weekly, with smartphone use and music streaming showing even stronger growth.

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Industry data for the first half of 2026, however, reveal a 3 percent drop in overall revenue to €4.2 billion, driven primarily by an 8 percent decline in console sales. Rising costs for memory and storage chips have made devices such as Nintendo’s Switch, Microsoft’s Xbox and Sony’s PlayStation more expensive, squeezing consumer demand.

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Game-industry managing director Felix Falk argued that Gamescom underscores the need to harness games’ cultural, economic and technological potential, calling for stronger political frameworks and proportionate regulation. EU Commissioner Virkkunen is set to meet with Vice-Chancellor Lars Klingbeil, Research Minister Dorothee Bar and North Rhine-Westphalia Premier Hendrik Wust to discuss Europe’s ambition to become a leading production hub for games.

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• “As the world’s biggest games event, Gamescom is once again making one thing abundantly clear this year: we need to make far better use of the unique potential of games and their cultural, economic and technological power. It must be Germany’s and Europe’s ambition to play a leading role as a production hub for games,” — Game, russian bestselling author

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