Video game conventions have always been a curious and unique thing from the business side of things. You’d think that with the potential for publicity and bringing in new customers, every big publisher and developer would jump at the chance to go to the shows. However, that’s not always the case. As with all things in the industry, you have to wonder about whether “it’s for you” and whether you can really profit from it. Not only that, but certain shows have peaks and valleys in attendance, presentation quality, and more. That’s why Nintendo hasn’t always attended these global showings in recent years.
However, that might change based on what we’ve seen in 2023. The Big N already surprised people by going to PAX East earlier in the year, and now, Gamescom has revealed that Nintendo is the first confirmed publisher to be announced for the show:
Why is this important? Firstly, the publisher hasn’t been to Gamescom in years. We mean that in the literal sense, even before the pandemic, they weren’t doing shows like Gamescom, PAX, the Tokyo Game Show, and more. They were content doing their Directs and showcases and letting the shows do their own thing.
Second, one show that The Big N did decide to skip this year was E3 2023, a move that coincided with so many other people ditching the show that the event was canceled.
However, with this development, it appears that they are looking for venues to show off some things, which could lead to much speculation about what they’ll show at Gamescom.
What do we mean by that? Well, if you look at the tweet above, you’ll notice that the dates for Gamescom are in August. Why is that significant? Currently, Nintendo has nothing announced for August and beyond. Instead, they have The Legend of Zelda Tears of the Kingdom in May and Pikmin 4 in July.
So that could imply that they’ll have announced some new things before Gamescom to give fans an indication of what will be at their booth. We’ll likely have a Direct well before Gamescom, so be on the lookout for that.
But if nothing else, this shows that The Big N is finally coming out of its shell and trying to mingle with people on the global stage again.
Hopefully, this will continue so that fans from around the world get the chance to interact with their favorite publisher.
