Beating Its Own Records, Again
My tour to Cologne traditionally began with devcom 2025, where the conference once again proved why it is marked as Europe’s largest industry meetup. Hosted at Confex, this year’s edition welcomed 5,400 attendees (+6% increase from last year). More than 2,500 companies from 89 countries were represented. Across 17 stages, the program featured 390 speakers and 220 sessions. Numbers can feel abstract on paper, yet walking the expo floor gave them weight. Despite the crowded aisles, the atmosphere stayed surprisingly cozy — almost calm compared to the whirlwind that would follow once gamescom opened its doors the next day.
Table of Contents
New Name, Same Vibe
But before jumping into the conference itself, let’s cover a pretty meaningful announcement: starting October 2025, devcom will be reborn as gamescom dev. Yeah, the name change looks corporate on the surface, but it’s actually a natural move. For years, people have asked, “So this is like the developer side of gamescom, right?” Now the answer will literally be in the title.
The official line is about synergies, brand families, and global recognition — and sure, there’s truth to that. Stephan Reichart, who has been steering this ship since the early days, called it an “upgrade in positioning” and a way to finally stop explaining what devcom is. Felix Falk described it as moving into “the next level” of gamescom’s success story, while Oliver Frese from Koelnmesse explained that the short, clean name will work better worldwide. Or my translation: no more confusion, tighter branding, bigger stage.
Underneath the PR wording, the formula isn’t changing. Since 2017, this event has been about knowledge sharing, peer-to-peer networking and side events. That’s the DNA people come back for.
I spoke with a few organizers I’ve known for years, and their attitude was positive and forward-thinking. After all, this isn’t about a label or names. The soul of the conference was always people building something together, and that heritage isn’t going anywhere.
Indies as the Main Act
The expo floor showed where the real heartbeat was. Compared to devcom 2024, this year felt denser, louder, and more international. The indie expo wasn’t just another corner of the hall, well, technically it still sat in a corner, but by now it had stretched into the center of the main floor, hehe. Dozens of small teams packed into every available meter, showing projects that ranged from polished vertical slices to raw prototypes still smelling of code from the night before.
You couldn’t take ten steps without stumbling onto another idea, another screen, another developer eager to talk through the guts of their game. People showing what they had, warts and all, and that honesty pulled crowds in.
These indie booths (or even just tables) became spontaneous hubs of collaboration. Developers drifted from one table to the next, offering feedback, trading design notes, or just throwing out ideas. More than once, I saw conversations flip from critique to brainstorming, ending with contact swaps and half-joking plans to team up. In those crowded rows you could feel projects being born in real time — a reminder that devcom isn’t just a stage, it’s a workshop floor.
But actually, this was just a tiny prelude to what I saw the next day in the gamescom photo tour — specifically Hall 10, where hundreds of indie projects were revealing their work in full force. Besides, I already have a few indie interviews published, like The Last Caretaker and Esoteric Ebb, with more coming soon.
Walls That Speak
In between the booths and sessions, one thing caught my eye: the whiteboard walls wrapping the indie zone. Markers in hand, people left doodles, slogans, inside jokes, and the occasional manifesto. No curation, no filter — just raw expressions from whoever happened to pass by.
I think these walls are the quintessence of the crowd at devcom. Developers, artists, students, veterans — all leaving a trace in a way that was sometimes funny, sometimes cryptic, sometimes just weird. But together it painted a living snapshot of who was really here.
Game Industry Trends 2025
If we put the 220 topics under a retrospective lens, the breakdown looks like this:
- Game Design & Narrative – nearly 18%, the largest slice, showing that creative direction remains at the core.
- Community, Diversity & Leadership – about 25% combined, highlighting the growing weight of human factors: inclusive workplaces, accessibility, and mental health. And how to navigate that delicate map.
- Artificial Intelligence – around 14%, strong but not overwhelming. Skepticism is fading; most understand that without adapting, you fall behind. AI isn’t killing creativity – it takes care of the routines and frees your hands for the real work. It was more about automation of the boring stuff.
- Mobile Development – about 11%, reflecting the continued importance of handheld audiences.
- Multiplayer & Online Systems – close to 10%, service games now often baseline expectation.
- Tech & Coding, XR & Research – roughly 12%, the engine rooms of experimentation and infrastructure.
- Arts, Audio & VFX – around 6%, carrying the visual and emotional soul of projects.
- PR, Marketing & Legal – about 4%, the smallest piece, yet still a necessary one in the full production cycle.
I was expecting at least some content or speakers related to Web3. In my earlier post Gaming Meets Web3: New Tools, New Worlds I voiced hopes that these technologies would find more traction among developers. But it seems those ideas are still brewing in the shadows, not yet widely embraced by game makers. Oh well — there were still plenty of side events and B2B booths at gamescom where curious visitors could dig into how blockchains and smart contracts might aid their games or playerbase.
Devcom 2025 Conference Highlights
Among the many sessions, a few moments left a clear impression. The S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 post-mortem, titled “160 GB of Resistance,” was heavy and human. It laid bare what it means to build a game under the pressure of a very real war.
Another strong pulse came from Gaming in the Era of Agentic AI. With Xbox, PlayStation, Xsolla, and Krafton on stage, the message was clear: AI isn’t optional anymore. Adapt or fall behind. Yet what struck me most was the agreement that creativity isn’t being replaced — if anything, AI is carving out space to let it thrive.
There was also space for the human side of the industry. The panel on learning from failure treated mistakes as part of the process, not something to hide. From Layoffs to Lift-Off shared stories of resilience, especially from women devs hit hardest by instability, while the FLINTA meetup gave them a space to connect and support each other.
And despite AI being on everyone’s lips, one of the most spirited roundtables reminded us that some things can’t be automated. Narrative Design is Alive and Kicking was a rallying cry for human storytelling, flaws and instincts included.
Courage & Dev Night
The last day of the conference was crowned by Courage Cologne and the Dev Night afterparty. I was invited to Courage to explore fresh indie projects, playtest builds, and share my feedback with the creators. More than fifty teams had their work on display, each buzzing with nervous energy and excitement. Sadly, I didn’t have time to dive into every game on the spot, but I made sure to gather contacts with the plan of revisiting them later — in those long winter evenings when the dust of gamescom and devcom finally settles.
And a quick note here: if you’re working on a game and struggling to find a reviewer, or just need honest feedback from someone who’s been around this industry for a while, feel free to drop me a message. As an indie blogger, I do my best to support fellow devs. It’s my voluntary stance, not something I take money for — just a way to keep the cycle of creation and collaboration alive.
Dev Night followed as the natural closer, with developers unwinding, sharing drinks, and turning formal talks into late-night conversations. If the daytime conference was about learning and showcasing, Dev Night was about bonding — the kind of atmosphere that makes you remember why people keep coming back year after year.
The only sad moment for me was having to leave earlier than I’d have liked. With gamescom duties kicking off the next morning at 6AM, I had to bow out before the night reached its peak.
So, How it Was?
Well, devcom 2025 broke its own records again: more attendees, more speakers, more companies. But IMO, the core was the atmosphere: indie creativity, honest conversations about the state of the industry, and the sense of community that keeps people coming back each year. The official program may have ended, but the energy and connections made in Cologne will carry on, letting new ideas and games flourish.
To wrap it up, I’ve put together a gallery of my favorite snapshots from the event — faces, booths, stages, and the countless small details that made this year feel special.
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