gamescom 2024: less waiting, more event

More event, less waiting: with digital queue management, e-commerce agency Shopmacher cut the traditional queues in front of several gamescom booths. The digital treasure hunt gamescom epix delivered an even more immersive community experience with new digital trading cards and quests.

gamescom 2024 caused a stir once again: more than 335,000 gamers streamed into the halls of Koelnmesse, and on the digital screens fans generated over 40 million video views at gamescom Opening Night Live alone. In the middle of it all, e-commerce agency Shopmacher optimized and ran the entire digital platform for the event for the fourth year running. Smart digital features also turned the in-person gamescom visit into a real experience for everyone.

One highlight was the community adventure "gamescom epix," introduced two years ago. This year it was expanded with digital trading cards, developed in part with influencers and drawn by artists from the gamescom community. In gamescom epix, gamers complete quests to earn fame and rewards, including the coveted trading cards. The numbers show how well the idea was received: last year 200,000 quests were completed, which contributed significantly to website traffic. The story and concept were developed by gamescom itself together with social media consultant Patrick Teeuwen, while the technical development and implementation were handled by Shopmacher.

"With our community adventure gamescom epix, we created a highly entertaining way for gamescom fans to dive into the gamescom universe before, during, and after the event, on site and/or online," says Cornelia Köhler, Strategic Marketing Communications Manager at Koelnmesse. "At the same time, epix lets our many partners present themselves to our community in the most engaging way possible. With the gamescom trading cards, we added an element to epix this year that encourages even more exchange among players. Our results show that it worked. Ultimately, we owe all of this to the tireless work of our team, our social media consultant Patrick Teeuwen, and our agency Shopmacher," Köhler adds.

Another new feature was digital queue management. At popular booths, gamers sometimes have to wait a long time to try out the latest releases themselves. Shopmacher wanted to make these tedious queues disappear and offered exhibitors a feature to manage the crowds. At some booths, visitors booked time slots in advance via the gamescom website and got direct access to the exhibitors of their choice. That way, no precious festival time was wasted on pointless waiting. The rush in the signing area was channeled by the system too, so autograph hunters could meet their idols stress-free.

To optimize the system further on site, Shopmacher was present in Cologne with a full team. Project manager Moritz Helten explained how the application worked to visitors in person and stayed in constant contact with the developers behind the scenes. This made it possible to roll out 29 smaller updates during gamescom while it was running, making digital queue management even more convenient for visitors and exhibitors alike, all without any interruptions to live operation. "The fact that key players like Xbox, Bandai Namco, and Porsche used our solution does make us a little proud," says Shopmacher Managing Director Manuel Ludvigsen-Diekmann. The heavy demand did mean that available slots were sometimes booked out online within seconds. "Next year we'll improve the user experience even further and communicate even more transparently how many free slots are still available and when queue management closes," the Shopmacher manager promises.

And because after gamescom is before gamescom, Shopmacher is already tinkering with new ideas. "Looking ahead, we certainly have the chance to make the gamescom visit significantly more exciting and, at the same time, more convenient in the coming years. For example, by giving visitors the chance to plan out their entire day at the fair without waiting or stress," says Manuel Ludvigsen-Diekmann, already looking ahead to the future of the digital-physical fair visit. One thing is already certain: he and his team will be heading to gamescom again next year. To work, of course.