Annual video game trade fair Gamescom plans to continue with the event in August despite the current COVID-19 outbreak. Taking place in Cologne, Germany, Gamescom managed to attract 373,000 visitors and over 1,100 exhibitors from 56 countries in 2019. Known as the world’s largest gaming event, they took to Twitter today to address some COVID-19 concerns.
In the tweet, Gamescom mentions the action taken by Cologne to protect its citizens from the ongoing pandemic. On March 10, the city banned all major events that included 1,000+ participants for the next month. Although Gamescom holds an event much larger than that, it takes place in August, which is still a far way off.
“However,” they add, “we will of course follow the recommendations of the responsible authorities regarding major events, evaluate them on a daily basis and make our decision after careful consideration.”
A short update on the current situation:
⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️ pic.twitter.com/nZH3qMMVvj— gamescom (@gamescom) March 16, 2020
Additionally, should the event end up canceled in the future, Gamescom confirmed that customers would receive a full refund. Voucher codes would lose their validity and new codes would become available for a future date. Exhibitors would also receive a 100% refund as well.
Restrictions due to COVID-19
As of today, Germany has 3,795 COVID-19 cases. They recently imposed border control methods, temporarily controlling traffic from neighboring countries. As schools, restaurants, and nightlife shut down, many people are uncertain of how long these restrictions will last. The disease continues to spread rampantly, and many gaming and esports events, unfortunately, face the decision to cancel.
The show goes on
Besides Gamescom, Dreamhack Dallas plans to continue their event as well. Although this event is much closer in May, they have not been given the instruction to close. The event continues to spread any new details that become available as CDC and WHO recommendations develop.
At this moment, many companies have made safety and health their main priorities. Making sure that crowded events don’t happen is one of the only ways to keep the virus from spreading. Stick with Daily Esports for more information regarding this and other developing situations.
