With countless events such as GDC and E3 postponed or cancelled due to the coronavirus, Gamescom organizers have been inquiring how the event will be affected, especially since the host city of Cologne has banned events with more than 1000 participants. However, the event will not take place until August and will apparently continue as planned.

At Gamescom 2018, 370,000 people were crammed inside Koelnmesse in Cologne over five days. In the height of summer, thousands of people crowded in, some of them attending all the games without showering, hardly the healthiest and cleanest of places. However, the ban on large events is in place until April 10 and is subject to change.

"On March 10, 2020, the city of Cologne banned all large-scale events with more than 1,000 attendees until April 10, 202 and beyond, in accordance with a decree issued by the state government on the same day. 'As gamescom will take place at the end of August 2020, we are currently unaffected by this decree. However, we will of course follow the recommendations of the responsible authorities for major events, evaluating them on a daily basis and making decisions after careful consideration. Preparations for #gamescom2020 are continuing as planned, in accordance with the current situation, for the dates determined."

However, if the event is cancelled, tickets purchased in the official ticket store will be refunded, but as with any cancelled event, exhibitors and visitors who have already paid for airfare and hotels and spent time and money preparing and creating demos for the unveiling are in trouble The closer the event gets, the more likely it is to be cancelled. The closer the event gets, the greater the likelihood that cancellations will have serious consequences.

Although the coronavirus outbreak is expected to subside over the summer, there is still no guarantee that it will be safe for large crowds to gather in August; Gamescom is one of the last major gaming conventions of the year, aside from PAX West, and with E3 not taking place this year, it will be a more important convention for publishers and developers because it will be a more important convention for them.