devcom Developer Conference 2024 (here the winners of the Indie Awards), an annual event held from August 18 to 20 (as always, before the start of gamescom) at the new convention centre Koelnmesse Confex, concluded with a record number of attendees, sessions, and speakers. We are talking over 5,000 unique participants who registered for devcom 2024, an increase of 45% compared to 2023, consolidating devcom’s position as the largest industry conference in Europe and the second largest worldwide. Among these numbers, there were 1,300 professional visitors from gamescom who registered for the event and explored the new exhibition area during the second day of the conference.
The conference included over 350 speakers, about 100 more than in the previous year, who presented their topics in over 210 sessions on 17 stages, + Keynote Stage. Additional side events, such as “Xsolla Game Night,” “European Game Night,” and “Courage Cologne,” helped attract thousands of additional participants.
In addition to the increase in participation and content, the conference attracted participants from 1,660 companies and 83 different countries. In particular, 10% of the participants represented companies with 2,000 or more employees, while 27% came from companies with 100-2,000 employees. This indicates a significant representation of large and established companies as well as innovative medium-sized enterprises with substantial resources, influence, and decision-making power in the industry.
The #ddc2024 keynotes were given by game writer and narrative designer Kelsey Beachum, known for her innovative work on the award-winning indie space adventure title Outer Wilds. They were also given by Jason Latino, cinematic director at Larian Studios, reflecting on how wrong he was about some of the biggest game successes.
Among the most anticipated and highlighted sessions were:
- Demystifying Creativity (Fawzi Mesmar, VP Global Creative, Ubisoft)
- Code Power-Ups: 10 Game-changing Programming Hacks (Terrance Cohen, Senior Engine Programmer, Insomniac Games)
- You Must Self-Publish: The Future of Independent Funding (Jason Della Rocca, co-founder, Execution Labs)
Stephan Reichart, Managing Director of game events GmbH, commented on the closing of the event and the results achieved:
“This year’s devcom developers’ conference was an extraordinary success, exceeding all our expectations and breaking all records. The move to the new Confex at Koelnmesse allowed us to expand our offerings and create a more spacious environment for our attendees, speakers, and partners. Compared to last year, we saw a 45% increase in the number of visitors, highlighting devcom’s growing importance in the global gaming industry. Our B2B program was extremely well received, providing publishers and developers with additional days to negotiate new projects at devcom and gamescom.”
