Multiple exhibitors at Gamescom have reported thefts of laptops and other equipment from their booths in Cologne, with one indie developer saying the loss has effectively ended his show early.
Indie developer Ryan Laley, showing his asymmetrical survival horror Mimic, posted an emotional video to X/Twitter on Friday, explaining that his booth had been broken into overnight.
"Our booth got raided last night – not just mine, others as well," he said.
My #gamescom cut short. Our equipment was stolen last night from the booth.Police reports have been filed.At a loss for words to describe the feeling. Just defeated. Gonna do my best with what's left of the week. But a huge blow financially and mentally pic.twitter.com/dKpp3Of6df
Laley said the thieves left chargers behind and took only the laptops, and that he'd reported the theft to Gamescom's central management, its security team, and the police, though he doesn't expect the equipment to turn up.
"As an indie solo dev, this shit's expensive," Laley said. "And hard to do all by yourself. And to have this happen is beyond frustrating. It's heartbreaking."
Cyberpunk 2077 studio CD Projekt Red responded to Laley's message, writing: "We are very sorry this happened to you. We hope you know you're not on your own with this. And while it won't help right this second, we'll check the Arasaka hardware archives and see if we can send a few things your way. No choom should have to start from zero."
Laley wasn't alone. Iam8bit also reports that two of its laptops were taken overnight from the same business area.
"Today at gamescom we arrived to our station in the business area hall to discover that our two laptops had been stolen over night, despite the presence of Koelnmesse security," the company wrote.
Today at gamescom we arrived to our station in the business area hall to discover that our two laptops had been stolen over night, despite the presence of Koelnmesse security. These were machines we were using to demo iam8bit Presents titles Petal Runner and Escape Academy 2 to…
"These were machines we were using to demo iam8bit Presents titles Petal Runner and Escape Academy 2 to media and content creators during the show. On top of obviously disrupting our very busy appointment schedule, this theft has potentially put unfinished builds of these games at risk of being leaked."
The statement added: "This is hugely disappointing for us and our development teams at Nano Park Studios and Coin Crew Games who worked tirelessly to prepare for this show."
We were robbed at Gamescom.On Wednesday, we arrived at our booth in the Indie Area to find our cabinet forced open. Two laptops and a Steam Deck were gone.The devices contained not only our Gamescom demo, but also personal, company, and critical information.Here’s our story pic.twitter.com/ZghaSx9RJB
Tessera Studios, developer of The Zibbo Show, said its booth in the Indie Area had been broken into earlier in the week, where robbers forced open a cabinet to steal two laptops and a Steam Deck containing personal and company data. The studio said it had also heard of thefts at the Games from Spain booth and "several more across the entire fair".
In fact, several companies have now come forward about their experiences at Gamescom, including Ukiyo Studios, which said it had a PC stolen from its booth two years ago, but Gamescom "blocked us from [filing a police report], saying 'it makes Gamescom and the city of Cologne look bad'".
