Quite a few Gamescom exhibitors have reported in a single day thefts of their tools on the Cologne, Germany, occasion this week.
On Friday morning, developer Ryan Laley, who was exhibiting the asymmetrical on-line survival horror recreation Mimic, posted a video on X explaining that his laptops containing the sport had been stolen in a single day.
“Successfully, my Gamescom‘s over early as all our laptops have been stolen,” Laley mentioned. “Our sales space obtained raided final night time – not simply mine, others as effectively. All our laptops have been stolen.
“As an indie solo dev, this shit’s costly, and exhausting to do all by your self,” Laley defined in tears. “And to have this occur is past irritating; it’s heartbreaking. So, yeah.”
He added: “We’ve reported it to central administration, and their safety workforce, they usually’ve been reporting it to police. I don’t anticipate it to be discovered or returned. They’ve left the chargers, it’s simply the precise laptop computer itself, together with different folks’s – it’s not simply mine, it’s the entire space, it’s been raided.
“I don’t know what I’m going to do now, as I can’t actually do my job. However we’ll submit updates if I get any updates, however successfully Gamescom is over for me.”
Later that day, writer iam8bit – which additionally runs Summer season Sport Fest Play Days – posted a message by itself X account, stating that the laptops it was utilizing to point out its video games to press and different trade attendees had additionally been stolen.
“At present at Gamescom we arrived at our station within the enterprise space corridor to find that our two laptops had been stolen in a single day, regardless of the presence of Koelnmesse safety,” it acknowledged.
“These had been machines we had been utilizing to demo iam8bit Presents titles Petal Runner and Escape Academy 2 to media and content material creators in the course of the present. On prime of clearly disrupting our very busy appointment schedule, this theft has probably put unfinished builds of those video games vulnerable to being leaked.
“That is massively disappointing for us and our growth groups at Nano Park Studios and Coin Crew Video games who labored tirelessly to organize for this present. We ask that anybody who could have details about what occurred to please attain out to us.”
Laley then confirmed that he was on the similar sales space space as iam8bit, particularly Corridor 4.1 within the enterprise space.
Indie studio says its tools was stolen from one other Gamescom corridor
Laley and iam8bit’s each had been each situated to the correct on the entrance to the corridor, subsequent to the West Entrance of Koelnmesse.
One may theorize, then, that somebody gained entry to Koelnmesse’s Corridor 4.1 from the West Entrance and stole tools from the primary space they discovered. Nonetheless, different studies have additionally emerged of thefts from elsewhere within the Koelnmesse venue.
Tessera Studios, the developer of The Zibbo Present, posted a message on X explaining that they had been additionally “robbed at Gamescom” earlier within the week, at their sales space within the Indie Space in Corridor 10.2.
“On Wednesday, we arrived at our sales space within the Indie Space to search out our cupboard pressured open. Two laptops and a Steam Deck had been gone,” the studio wrote. “The gadgets contained not solely our Gamescom demo, but additionally private, firm, and significant data.”
Replying to followers on X, Tessera mentioned it had additionally heard of “no less than two” comparable incidents on the Video games from Spain sales space, and “a number of extra throughout your complete truthful”.
The thefts are inflicting some to name into query the effectiveness of Gamescom safety. Because the world’s largest online game occasion – round 357,000 guests attended the present final yr – exhibitors from across the globe (1,568 final yr) attend to point out their upcoming video games in separate public and enterprise areas.
As such, many indie studios convey their very own tools with them – particularly within the enterprise and indie areas the place the reported robberies passed off – anticipating it to be appropriately guarded in a single day.
Replying to Ryan Laley’s submit on X, Ukiyo Studios, an Australia/Japan-based video games advertising and marketing company, alleged: “Two years in the past we had a PC stolen from our Gamescom sales space, and after we tried submitting a police report, an individual from Gamescom blocked us from doing so, saying ‘it makes Gamescom and the town of Cologne look dangerous’.”
“We’ve had one thing stolen at Gamescom annually,” they added. “All the time chalked it up because the ‘value of doing a present in Germany’. With all these others now reporting their thefts, hopefully Gamescom does a greater job with safety, however not likely holding my breath.”
Final yr, German information broadcaster WDR reported claims from commerce union Verdi that Gamescom was not sufficiently vetting its safety personnel, with customs officers finishing up a large-scale inspection throughout Gamescom 2025 and discovering that “most of the women and men employed as safety at Gamescom had been unable to supply official identification playing cards or guard identification numbers”.
Gamescom has now posted an announcement concerning the thefts on X, saying it’s “conscious of stolen {hardware}” and that it understands “the frustration of affected exhibitors”.
“Since many requests reached us, we want to inform about basic safety rules on the occasion,” it acknowledged.
“Uniformed guards present basic safety throughout the venue. Particular person stand safety may be booked individually, and exhibitors are suggested to insure tools in opposition to theft. That is famous within the phrases and circumstances of participation and the technical tips.
“All circumstances have been reported to us and to the police, and investigations are already underway. We additionally need to make sure that the reported circumstances are particular person circumstances, which we’re very sorry to learn.
“As a result of safety has one of many highest priorities to us as an occasion and to see that indie builders are affected makes us very unhappy. At an occasion of this dimension, nonetheless, there’ll all the time be people trying to reap the benefits of the state of affairs. Our safety measures are designed to reduce such dangers as successfully as doable.”
