Recap: Road to Gamescom 2022

Gamecity Hamburg's "Road to gamescom" support program enabled six Hamburg indie studios to exhibit at the Indie Arena Booth during gamescom 2022 in Cologne, the first on-site edition of the world's largest games trade fair since the pandemic, held under the theme "The Heart of Pop Culture." The recap, dated August 30, 2022, serves as a post-event report on the initiative's outcomes and a promotion for future "Road to" programs.

The fair drew about 265,000 trade visitors and gamers from Wednesday to Sunday. The participating studios were Tiny Roar (XEL), Beardshaker Games (Soulitaire), THREAKS (Project MORPH), Octofox Games (Wild Woods), OneManOnMars (Leif's Adventure: Netherworld Hero) and CRATR.games (Heart of Muriet). They used the event to exchange ideas, meet publishers and national and international press, and show demos and prototypes to the public. Before the event, all teams attended a preparation workshop led by Gamecity Hamburg staff covering presentation strategy for devcom, gamescom and the Indie Arena Booth.

The Indie Arena Booth in Hall 10.2 hosted more than 130 indie studios worldwide and was paired with an online multiplayer browser version built by Hamburg-based Supercrowd Entertainment, refined across the 2020 and 2021 digital editions. On the trade visitor day, Gamecity Hamburg held its traditional Hamburg reception, with fish buns and Franzbrötchen, for over 100 guests. An interactive drawing challenge called "Drawmerama" also drew visitors to the booth. State Secretary Michael Kellner visited in place of Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck and played XEL and discussed Leif's Adventure with its developer.

The recap also notes that CRATR.games launched a Kickstarter campaign for Heart of Muriet on August 26, running until September 26. Hamburg publisher Daedalic Entertainment was congratulated for its title Inkulinati, which won Best Indie Game and Most Original Game at the gamescom awards 2022.