Nintendo of Europe confirmed that they will be skipping Gamescom this year despite having the launch of their next-gen console set for 2025.
Unfortunately, no one will be getting an update on the Switch 2. Nintendo fans will be sad at Gamescom this year, as Nintendo of Europe surprisingly confirmed they will not be attending one of the biggest gaming conventions in the world. The red gaming company has consistently been to Gamescom in the past, leading to an unusual no-show from them. They just put out a statement regarding their absence today. Gamescom is scheduled to take place in Cologne, Germany, from August 21-25, and have yet to release the list of exhibitors.
“Gamescom is a great event, and each year we evaluate whether Nintendo should participate or not,” a Nintendo UK spokesperson told Eurogamer. “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.”
Initially, the German site Games Wirtschaft captured a quote from the company, which stated, “Gamescom is a central event in Nintendo’s event calendar. This year, however, after careful consideration, we decided against taking part in Cologne. Instead, players can try out the games for Nintendo Switch as part of other Germany-wide events.”
At last year’s Gamescom, the company used the event to show off tech demos to third-party developers for the Switch 2 behind closed doors. Then, in February, it was reported that the company pushed the release date of its next-gen console from this year to early 2025. Some sources speculated the delay came from the company’s worrying about having a potential hardware supply issue to meet the global demand. They have discussed how they wanted to avoid Sony’s whole debacle with the release of the PS5 through the COVID-19 pandemic.
While they will have other opportunities to finally reveal their next-gen console at events like Tokyo Game Show in September or Gamescom Asia in October, the fans want to know now! With such a major gaming company absent from the showcase, this could mean other companies could have a bigger platform to fill in the gap.
In terms of the upcoming games coming out from them, they currently have Endless Ocean: Luminous, Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, and Luigi’s Mansion 2 HD in the works. Rumours have also said that there could be a Metroid Prime 4 announcement pending as well.
