Christophe De bont 
24/08/2018
Gamescom 2018 is drawing to a close, but we don’t care about the blisters on our feet or the headaches caused by a combination of dehydration and sleep deprivation. No, we’re just too damn proud of what the #BelgianGamesIndustry managed to achieve this week to feel any of that. There’s still some teams waving the Belgian flag in the entertainment zone, but this was easily the best gamescom ever.
Yes, we know we said that last year as well. You can go and check it. But it’s true. It’s testament to how rapidly our industry is growing and the best proof that everyone’s hard work pays off in the end. We’re pretty sure we haven’t even begun to reach the limits of our potential though, so we’re going to keep building on every achievement until we have ourselves a phenomenal fortress.
The press army hot on the tail of Flemish minister Sven Gatz and Brussels State Secretary Cécile Jodogne resulted in a lot of great mainstream media coverage. This nice VRT news report (in Dutch) features interviews with Dirk Van Welden, Swen Vincke and our very own David Verbruggen, while Rik Leenknegt of DAE had to get roll of bed early for an interview on Radio 1’s De Ochtend.
Major newspapers and magazines on both sides of the country reported on the presence of the Belgian studios at gamescom. There’s too many to sum them all up, but certainly check out the piece in De Tijd (link in Dutch) and Le Vif (link in French) for some excellent analyses.
This is a tad creepy but just like last year two Belgian studios are leaving Cologne with a brand new trophy under their belt. Divinity: Original Sin 2 from Larian Studios was voted as the best Best RPG of the show and just yesterday Flotsam by Pajama Llama Games won the Utomik Rising Star Award at the IndieArenaBooth. Not too bad, considering there’s 79 other games there. Congratulations to all the winners!
This is us signing off from Cologne. We hope you enjoyed the show as much as we did and if you didn’t make it this year, we hope our coverage and the wonderful aftermovie made by VAF|Gamefonds will inspire you to join us next year. Next up: Belgian Game Awards at 1UP Conference (link in Dutch) in February 2019. More on that very soon!
One last time, this resounding success wouldn’t have been possible without our ever so valued partners. A warm thank you to the wonderful people at Flanders DC, who turn gamescom into an essential experience. They couldn’t do that without the valuable support of Digital Wallonia, Brussels Invest and Export, Screen Brussels, VAF Gamefonds, WALGA, Creative Europe and ADN. Thank you all!
