Nintendo will not be at Gamescom this year
"After careful consideration, we have decided against participating in Cologne."
Back in March, Gamescom - the world's busiest annual game show - confirmed that it will return as an in-person event this year, running from 24th to 28th August at Cologne's Koelnmesse convention centre. Nintendo, however, will not be there.
Instead of "participating" in Cologne, Nintendo states that "instead, players will be able to try out the games for Nintendo Switch at numerous events throughout Germany".
"Gamescom is a key event in Nintendo’s calendar of events," Nintendo said in a statement to Games Wirtschaft (thanks, VGC). "This year, however, after careful consideration, we have decided against participating in Cologne.
"Instead, players will be able to try out the games for Nintendo Switch at numerous events throughout Germany.
"Events that have been firmly scheduled so far include roadshows with our Airstreamer [tour bus] and our [VW] Bulli, for example at locations such as the SWR Summer Festival and the Stuttgart Children and Youth Festival.
"For Japan and video game fans, we have decided to participate in the Main Matsuri Japan Festival in Frankfurt as well as the DoKomi in Düsseldorf and the AnimagiC in Mannheim. Further tour stops and activities are being planned.
“We look forward to seeing our fans again at many regional events.”
As Tom recently summarised for us, safety measures to manage Gamescom's usual crowds will include a limited ticket allocation, better entrance management, digital queues and extra-wide aisles in halls.
Gamescom has been held as a digital-only event for the past two years, but more than 370,000 gamers attended in 2019.
For those not attending in person, the show's Gamescom Opening Night Live event has been confirmed to return, so you can get your regular dosage of host Geoff Keighley.