Gamescom Hits Capacity At 62,000, Shuts Doors Temporarily

Gamescom, the biggest video game show in the world, just got too big.

Saturday morning the convention had to stop letting people in after the massive 1.3 million-square-foot Cologne’s Koelnmesse, the fourth largest convention centre in the world, neared its 62,000 person capacity.

A Gamescom official told Kotaku that the centre started regulating the show’s two main entrances about 11:30 a.m. local time, and continued to do so for about three hours. The official, who asked to not be named as a matter of policy, said that the show never completely stopped letting people in, but rather waited for people to leave to let in the same number.

“We decided to close down the entrances when we saw we were approaching the center’s capacity,” the spokesperson said. Local media were alerted to the issue so they could tell those still heading toward Gamescom to wait until after 2 p.m.

During the wait, the spokesperson said, the centre tried to set up entertainment outside the main, north entrance, and provided free drinks and a cleared areas for people to sit.

The spokesperson said that there was never any danger and that there have been no reports of injuries. This is the first time in the show’s history that they have had to start regulating attendance.

Currently the show doesn’t use all of the center’s space. Gamescom plans to reevaluate how entry into the show works and how much space they might use in the future.

Those inside the show didn’t notice much of a difference in the size of the crowds. Kotaku has been attending Gamescom since before its move from Leipzig to Cologne and crowds Saturday morning did appear to be slightly bigger than usual, making it harder to move through the show’s four halls and outdoor areas.


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