Nintendo steps away from Gamescom 2024 “after careful consideration”
No attendo
When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
Nintendo has confirmed that “after careful consideration” the company won’t be attending this year’s Gamescom event in Cologne, Germany.
Reports originally came from German outletGames Wirtschaft, in which a Nintendo representative told the site that the Japanese publisher will be skipping Gamescom 2024.
Now, a Nintendo spokesperson has also confirmed toEurogamerthat the company won’t be in attendance, stating: “Gamescom is a great event, and each year we evaluate whether Nintendo should participate or not. After careful consideration from all perspectives, we’ve made the decision not to be present at Gamescom 2024. Players will have opportunities to try out Nintendo Switch games at other events throughout the year.”
While Nintendo has almost always had a presence at Europe’s largest gaming event, its absence from Gamescom this year makes a degree of sense. For one, first party support on theNintendo Switchappears to be drying up, with few notable 2024 releases beyond the upcomingPaper Mario: The Thousand-Year DoorremakeandEndless Ocean Luminous.
Furthermore, rumors thus far largely indicate that the company’s next hardware - tentatively being referred to asNintendo Switch 2- is likely to arrive next year. In all likelihood, this means we probably won’t be getting an official announcement on the console before or during Gamescom 2024. This likely also rules out Summer Game Fest.
Nintendo not attending Gamescom 2024 does represent something of a sea change, then. With fewupcoming gamesleft for the Switch’s first-party catalog, it’s likely the Kyoto-based company is instead shifting focus to its next big piece of hardware and - at the very least - its own future launch line-up.
You might also like…
Get the best Black Friday deals direct to your inbox, plus news, reviews, and more.
Sign up to be the first to know about unmissable Black Friday deals on top tech, plus get all your favorite TechRadar content.
Rhys is TRG’s Hardware Editor, and has been part of the TechRadar team for more than two years. Particularly passionate about high-quality third-party controllers and headsets, as well as the latest and greatest in fight sticks and VR, Rhys strives to provide easy-to-read, informative coverage on gaming hardware of all kinds. As for the games themselves, Rhys is especially keen on fighting and racing games, as well as soulslikes and RPGs.
The PS5 Pro’s PSSR upscaling gives multiple games a huge visual upgrade – can it compete with Nvidia’s DLSS 3 successor?
I’m a Nintendo Switch expert, here are the best early Black Friday deals right now
Phishing attacks surge in 2024 as cybercriminals adopt AI tools and multi-channel tactics
