Gamescom, Europe's answer to the E3 games conference, is still in full swing, with hundreds of thousands of gamers packing the trade fair grounds in Cologne. Gamescom runs until Sunday, Aug. 9, but with all the corporate presentations out of the way, and gameplay reviews starting to pour in, it's time to take stock of the lessons we learned from this year's event.
1. Sony's No Show Is a Worrying Sign
Sony opted out of an official press conference in Cologne this year, instead preferring to wait until Paris Game Week in late October. Sony reportedly thinks Gamescom is too close to E3, coming just two months after the L.A. event. This could be a one-off, with Sony returning in force in 2016, but observers point to the decline of the Tokyo Games Show, which began when big names – including Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo – started pulling out.
2. With Reboots and Sequel En Masse, the Games Industry is Copying Hollywood at its Worst
With the exception of some innovative tech and a handful of smaller games, there was very little truly new and surprising on show in Cologne this year. Instead, much like a studio summer movie slate, we were submitted to a seemingly endless stream of sequels and reboots, from Doom 4 toHalo 5, from Call of Duty: Black Ops 3 to FIFA 16.
Judging by the line-ups outside the Gamescom demo booths, gamers aren't yet suffering from sequel fatigue. But the raves that followed Electronic Arts' presentation of Unravel, a delightful puzzle game from Sweden's Coldwood Interactive, featuring a hero made entirely out of yarn, suggests there is an appetite for something beyond the action, strategy and sports titles that dominated Gamescom this year.
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