Gamescom 2024 is not due until August 21, but Nintendo has already indicated that it will not be present at the event. Gamescom 2024 is expected to run from August 21-25 in Cologne, Germany. Advance ticket sales for Gamescom 2024 started on March 20, 2024.
While it is still over 4 months to the start of this year’s event, Nintendo’s withdrawal is unusual. As reported by Games Wirtschaft, the venue of the exhibition, Koelnmesse, is experiencing “overwhelming demand” from exhibitors for stand space. However, it is still too early to tell which game developers and publishers will make it to the event.
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Last year, Nintendo was at Gamescom and it was reported that the company showed the Switch successor dev kit to select media personalities at a closed-door meeting. Gamescom 2024 would have been the perfect location to show off the capabilities of the Switch successor which is expected to be launched in early 2025.
In last year’s event, Nintendo was a prominent figure with gaming stations, photo and selfie spots, and a large show state set up in Hall 9 for gamers to interact with the company’s products and characters. The company used the event to shine a light on Pikmin 4 and The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. The Japanese company eventually won five Gamescom Awards.
“Gamescom is a central event in Nintendo’s event calendar,” said a spokeswoman for Nintendo of Europe when asked about the matter. “This year, however, after careful consideration, we decided against taking part in Cologne. Instead, players can try out the games for Nintendo Switch as part of other Germany-wide events.”
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Nintendo is traditionally considered one of the biggest crowd-pullers at Gamescom. Therefore, pulling out of the event will be a huge blow to the organizers. Last year, it was reported that the event saw over 320,000 visitors which is close to the pre-COVID-19 numbers.
Possible reasons why Nintendo is pulling out of Gamescom 2024
It is hard to tell with certainty why Nintendo decided against participating in Gamescom 2024. However, the biggest guess is that the company has nothing to show. If you take a trip to the Coming Soon section of the Nintendo eShop, you will discover that all the games there are scheduled for release before Gamescom 2024.
Gamescom is usually the best location to showcase upcoming titles, not games that are already in the hands of players. The only exception is if there is an upcoming expansion to games already available to players. Therefore, with nothing in Nintendo’s pipeline scheduled for release towards the end of the year, there is no incentive to be at Gamescom 2024.
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Another big guess is that Nintendo doesn’t want to be pressured into spilling anything it doesn’t want to be in the public domain yet about the upcoming Switch successor. Nintendo always likes to maintain the element of surprise around their hardware and software developments.
In last year’s event, Nintendo was probably not happy that the news of the development kit for the Switch successor was leaked online when it wanted it to remain within the closed display that it held. The company’s president even came out later to denounce the news.
The company will definitely have a lot of news writers asking questions about the Switch successor at Gamescom 2024. Avoiding the event is simply the best way for the Japanese company to keep that pressure off their shoulders.
Nintendo’s primary goal now is likely to get the Switch successor to the market as soon as possible. Every other activity would seem like a distraction to the Japanese gaming mogul. Nevertheless, their absence will surely be felt. Hopefully, Nintendo’s pulling out will not draw Gamescom closer to E3’s fate.
