Day 2 of my time at Gamescom was absolutely killer. Killer for my feet because of the 11 hours of standing at the booth. Killer because of all the wonderful responses and feedback from players, developers, and press, and killer because of the night that followed.

People really seem to like the experience we are trying to put together with Fragments of Him. It really resonates with players by moving them to tears. Hearing them speak about their time with the game and view on the teaser makes us a bit emotional too. It’s been the first time that I’ve actually seen someone’s tears well up after just watching the teaser video. That person wasn’t quite sure if they were ready to play the game just yet at our stand.

Different person, same kind of response

Standing by and constantly talking to people that play your game can be very tiresome. Fortunately, we could tag team and see some of the show floor in the meanwhile as a nice change of pace. The Koelmesse where Gamescom is held is absolutely massive. I’ve only been able to see half of it before I felt I had to head back to our stand.

Halfway throughout Day 2 it was time for a networking drink at the Holland Pavilion. The networking drink really helped lift up everyone’s spirits and drew in a crowd. It made it a bit easier for us to persuade some to check out Fragments of Him. The time and effort that the people from The Creative Fund NL and Dutch Game Garden have put in to organise this has been really great.

When the 2nd Gamescom day was over, I said goodbye to Mata as it was his last Gamescom day and Elwin who went back to the place we were staying at. Around 20:00 it was time to pack up and head into Cologne to find something to eat. I ended up with some of the other developers at a pizza place and had a few laughs and good conversations. The ‘out of conference hours’ are where people tend to loosen up a bit more and the conversations get more transparent. It’s a way to get to know your peers a bit better in a nice and informal way.

After having a nice meal the group insisted that we’d go into a karaoke bar. Apparently, karaoke is a thing during games conventions among its developers. I ended up in the weirdest karaoke bar imaginable. Immediately after entering, we went down some stairs into a basement where we witnessed a group of people sing asian songs. Combined with the cheesy lighting and lasers, the mood was set. After a couple of songs and drinks the place started to get crowded with names I’ve only seen in E3 interviews or on stage at console press conferences. My mind was blown. Later that evening, after the bar’s closing hours, we went to look for a bar that was still open around 3:00 AM. We passed the Cologne cathedral when we noticed a drone flying over. Apparently it was a Blizzard VP whose name I won’t mention. You can surely understand that this was an unbelievable evening. I was tipsy enough to ask for some business cards to be able to back up this crazy night.

Day 3 of Gamescom was the last day where the business area was still open. With a rolling stomach and 3 hours of sleep I thought of happy things and faced the day. The last business day was not as crowded as those before although we managed to get some interesting people come over to play Fragments of Him. At the end of the last business day we had a small celebration with some beers and cocktails that were making their rounds. When everything was packed and done we went into the EA area for some last drinks before calling it a night.

Stay tuned for a report on the two remaining consumer days on the show floor. 🙂