Nintendo has confirmed that “after careful consideration” the company will not attend this year’s Gamescom event in Cologne, Germany.
Reports originally came from a German outlet Games Wirtschaftin which a Nintendo representative told the site that the Japanese publisher is skipping Gamescom 2024.
Now a Nintendo spokesperson has also confirmed this Eurogamer that the company will not be attending, stating: “Gamescom is a great event and every year we evaluate whether Nintendo should participate or not. After careful consideration from all perspectives, we have made the decision not to attend Gamescom 2024. Players will receive the chance to try out Nintendo Switch games at other events throughout the year.”
Although Nintendo has almost always been present at Europe’s biggest gaming event, Nintendo’s absence from this year’s Gamescom makes some sense. Firstly, first-party support appears to be drying up on the Nintendo Switch, with few notable releases in 2024 beyond the upcoming release. Paper Mario: The Millennial Door recreate and Endless ocean luminous.
Furthermore, the rumors so far largely indicate that the company’s next hardware – tentatively called Nintendo Switch 2 – will likely arrive next year. In all likelihood, this means we probably won’t get an official announcement on console before or during Gamescom 2024. This also likely rules out Summer Game Fest.
Nintendo not being present at Gamescom 2024 therefore means a big change. With few upcoming games left for Switch’s first-party catalog, it’s likely the Kyoto-based company will instead shift focus to its next big piece of hardware and – at the very least – its own future launch lineup.