Angela Merkel to open Gamescom 2017
Would EU believe it.
E3 is barely over, but already we're looking forward to Gamescom 2017 in August - which this year will be opened by Germany boss Angela Merkel.
It's the first time the show, held every year in Cologne, Germany, will be opened by the country's leader.
Open to the public, Gamescom is the world's biggest video games event. Last year it packed in some 345,000 people to Cologne's vast Koelnmesse exhibition center.
Speaking from experience, it gets very, very, very, crowded.
By comparison, E3 usually has only 50,000 attendees (though this year it was boosted by public attendance to 68,000) - Gamescom is five times as busy.
"The participation of the Chancellor is a sign of great appreciation for us," Gamescom organiser-in-chief Gerald Böse said.
"With her visit she honours the development of gamescom into one of the most successful and largest events in the German trade fair system. Gamescom is today the world's largest event for computer and video games. She emphasises the position of Koelnmesse as one of the leading trade fair organisers worldwide in the digital media and entertainment segment."
Merkel has never, to our knowledge, publicly expressed much interest in video games. Still, anything to take a break on hearing the latest on Brexit.