Games Convention 2009 in Leipzig, but industry moving GamesCom in Cologne

The Games Convention in Leipzig was a blast this year and Leipziger Messe announced earlier this week that the game event will stay in Leipzig next year, claiming industry and visitors are giving clear support to continue with the fair in Leipzig.

Leipziger Messe CEO Wolfgang Marzin announced the Games Convention 2009 will be back from August 19 to 23 in Leipzig:

In a representative survey carried out by the Leipzig Institut für Marktforschung, the vast majority from the games industry and of visitors voted to keep the GC – Games Convention at its traditional venue in Leipzig. To the question “Do you think there should be a GC in Leipzig in 2009?”, only ten per cent of exhibitors answered “no”. And out of the 14.600 trade visitors at the GC – Games Convention, only 13.2 per cent responded with “no”.

Private visitors voted with a clear “yes”, with more than a third of them having travelled over 300 kilometres to be here: 82.1 per cent of them want a GC 2009 in Leipzig. “It’s a clear picture”, is how Messe boss Marzin described the outcome.

However, things may not be as rosy as they seem for the Games Convention. The German Bundesverband Interaktive Unterhaltungssoftware (BIU), which represents the game publishers, confirmed that they will no longer support the Games Convention in Leipzig next year. Organizer Koelnmesse decided earlier this year to move the event to Cologne, as they believe Leipzig does not have the infrastructure that's necessary to grow the event and make it a top European gameshow.

Leipziger Messe owns the rights to the name "Games Convention" and has no intention to sell it and therefore the new event, which will be held in Cologne next year from September 9 through September 13, will be called GamesCom.

Koelnmesse managing director Oliver Kuhrt claims the game industry is backing GamesCom and states "whatever happens in Germany in 2009 outside of Cologne cannot claim to represent this sector." Kuhrt says more than 120 companies, including all market leaders, have confirmed they will participate in GamesCom.