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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Entertainment
Keza MacDonald and Tom Regan

‘Injection of energy’: gamescom aims high despite dwindling in-person scene

A woman at gamescom 2022 in Cologne
A woman at gamescom 2022 in Cologne. Organisers of this year’s event are expecting more than 1,120 exhibitors. Photograph: Ina Fassbender/AFP/Getty Images

Like Glastonbury and Primavera for music lovers, huge video game conventions have traditionally been a beloved gathering place for gamers, and a focal point of the year for gaming news.

At events such as E3 in Los Angeles and gamescom in Germany, hundreds of thousands of fans would turn up to play forthcoming games in cavernous halls full of light and sound. But where music festivals have roared back since the Covid pandemic, video game conventions have struggled to regain their former essential place in the calendar.

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