Gamescom organizers have confirmed they are continuing to prepare for Gamescom 2020, and are monitoring the coronavirus outbreak.
In a tweet, the organizers stated that while the city of Cologne had banned events with over 1,000 participants, the period was up to April 10th.
As Gamescom is set to take place on August 25th to 29th, organizers are monitoring recommendations from authorities, while currently still planning for Gamescom 2020 to go ahead.
“Dear Community,
We are currently receiving enquiries about how a possible threat from the Corona virus could affect gamescom.
We take this topic very seriously because the health of all trade fair visitors and partners is our top priority.
On 10.03.2020, the city of Cologne banned all major events with more than 1,000 participants up to and including 10.04.2020 on the basis of a decree issued by the state government on the same day. Since gamescom takes place at the end of August 2020, we are currently not affected by this decree. However, we will of course follow the recommendations of the responsible authorities regarding major events, evaluate them on a daily basis and make our decisions after careful consideration. The preparations for the #gamescom2020 are continuing as planned according to the current status for the determined date.
Should gamescom be postponed or cancelled by Koelnmesse, all ticket purchasers of the official ticket shop will be reimbursed for the already paid visitor tickets. VOucher codes lose their validity and will be made available again for new events.
We look forward to you and your participation.”
The coronavirus (also known as COVID-19) has affected many worldwide, from businesses with offices in China, Japan, and public gatherings and events. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7]. This includes the postponement and cancellation of GDC and E3 2020 respectively.
The Johns Hopkins Whiting School of Engineering are mapping the virus’ spread [1, 2]. As of this time of writing, there have been over 181,580 confirmed cases worldwide, and over 7,100 deaths. Almost 79,000 people have made a “total recovery.” On March 11th, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the outbreak “can be categorized as a pandemic.”
As of this time of writing, Gamescom 2020 will take place from August 25th to 29th, at Koelnmesse GmbH, Cologne.
Image: Gamescom official website
