February 03, 2020

How to Transform the Real Gamescom Festival Experience into a Digital One

When it comes to frontend design and digital user experiences, gaming fans are arguably one of the most demanding audiences. The world’s largest video game trade fair, gamescom, entrusts the design of its digital content hub, gamescom now, to the experts at Frontastic, Hygraph, and SHOPMACHER.

About gamescom

As the central platform for the European computer and video game industry and the world’s largest event for interactive entertainment, gamescom brings together industry leaders, retailers, and the media every year. It is organized by the German Games Industry Association, game, in collaboration with Koelnmesse.

Challenge

Implementation

Gamescom is not just an ordinary business fair; it’s a festival where, in non-COVID times, hundreds of thousands of people make their way through the fair and across the city of Cologne. The goal was to replicate this festival experience online. SHOPMACHER was brought on board for concept, design, and execution, eventually taking full responsibility for the project. The technical foundation was built using headless systems from Hygraph and Frontastic.

A key advantage was that many SHOPMACHER employees are gamers themselves, so they could easily put themselves in the shoes of potential gamescom fans and cater to their needs. The result was a platform designed with the aesthetics of typical gaming platforms, offering not only livestreams but also a comprehensive overview of games that met the high visual and conceptual standards of the gaming community.

To further engage users, gamification elements were introduced, such as “gamescom EPIX.” Through community challenges developed in collaboration with a social media agency, visitors could complete quests. Upon completion, a vault with prizes would be unlocked.

Another important requirement from the organizers was to allow the many partners represented on the platform, including around 60 major international publishers and developers, to independently manage their content in the lead-up to the event. Of course, they needed to avoid seeing each other’s preparations, as highly confidential information about new releases was being uploaded. This became SHOPMACHER’s very own “quest,” as Hygraph—like most other CMS platforms—is primarily designed for internal company use, where everyone has access to everything.

One of the major challenges was ensuring that the platform could handle the massive influx of visitors. Gamescom traditionally kicks off with gamescom: Opening Night Live, which is broadcast worldwide to millions of viewers. While there is little traffic on the platform beforehand, visits skyrocket during the show, putting enormous pressure on the system. The synergy between Frontastic, Hygraph, and SHOPMACHER worked seamlessly, delivering consistently excellent performance throughout the event.

Result

Overall, gamescom now featured hundreds of games from over 60 major international publishers and developers, as well as numerous other partners, with countless videos and livestreams. The 2021 streaming offer was watched live by 13 million viewers, a 30% increase compared to the previous year.

The organizers were pleased. “I’m truly thrilled with how well our digital offering has been received by the community worldwide once again this year,” praised Oliver Frese, CEO and COO of Koelnmesse. “A lot of heart and soul went into the further development of our shows, our content hub gamescom now, and our partnerships from the entire team and many partners – and it paid off. The numbers speak for themselves, and we have definitely maintained our pole position as a global digital event. This puts us in the best position to bring the community and industry together, both on-site in Cologne and online, with a hybrid gamescom in 2022.”

Felix Falk, Managing Director of the German Games Industry Association: “Gamescom 2021 fully harnessed the power of the community. Whether it was co-streams of gamescom: Opening Night Live, joint quests with gamescom EPIX, or our donation campaign for the gamescom forest, the numerous shows, activities, and central content hub gamescom now were used by the community millions of times worldwide. We also created many interaction opportunities this year to digitally recreate the unique atmosphere of gamescom. I’m delighted that gamescom 2021, with its many innovations, has been so well received. It’s a great success for us and all the partners involved.”

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