The city of Cologne is known for many things — the impressive Cologne Cathedral and refreshingly light kolch beer, to name a few. But every year since 2009, the city transforms for one week to play host to Gamescom, the world’s largest gaming event.

Held at the expansive Koelnmesse Exhibition Centre, this all-encompassing event brings together all corners of the global games industry, including gamers themselves who flock to Cologne to check out upcoming game demos, merchandise and more.

Though recent years have seen some gaming conventions lost to the march of time, this year’s Gamescom, which ran from Aug. 20 to 24, proved that the show’s popularity is anything but waning: 1,400 exhibitors and 335,000 attendees (up 4% from 2023) showed up to see what the world’s major developers — as well as a far-from-home contingent of Japanese studios — had in store.