Nintendo will not be present at this year's Gamescom which is set to take place in Cologne, Germany from Wednesday, August 21st 2024 to Sunday, August 25th 2024.

According to German site Games Wirtschaft, Nintendo acknowledged that Gamescom is indeed a “central event" in its calendar but has “decided against taking part in Cologne."

The company will miss out on what is the largest gaming convention in the world by attendance, with the gaming legend offering that “players can try out the games for Nintendo Switch as part of other Germany-wide events" instead.

A Nintendo spokesperson also confirmed the company's absence at this year's Gamescom to 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."

Gamescom without Nintendo

Nintendo's absence from this year's Gamescom has raised eyebrows among gaming enthusiasts as the company has consistently appeared at the annual event in previous years, which makes skipping the event this year very unusual.

During last year's event, Nintendo created an immersive experience with gaming stations, photo opportunities, and a show stage in Hall 9. The event featured tournaments and competitions, showcasing new titles such as The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom and Pikmin 4.

However, for 2024, despite the large (and expensive) presence of rivals such as Xbox and PlayStation, it appears that, for 2024, Nintendo won't be playing the promo game. While this is a surprise, it could simply be a strategic move to save major announcements closer to the launch of the rumoured Switch 2 in 2025 according to Japanese outlets such as Nikkei.

With Nintendo stepping back, not ready to show its hand, it appears that it will fall to other industry players to take center stage and deliver the goods at Gamescom in August instead.