Gamescom 2026 was a marathon of a convention, but one of the best Gamescoms I’ve ever been to! This year was the 10th anniversary since my first Gamescom, actually, but a lot of things have changed since then.

The first time I visited Gamescom (well, the first many times), I went as a regular attendee. This year, I had the priviledge of going as part of the Ambassador Programme with Zibartas Cosplay. That means that Gamescom invited a selection of international cosplayers and paid our expenses for travel, accomodation and entrance.

So now I have tried visiting Gamescom as a regular participant, as an exhibitor and as a content creator – and I will say that as a cosplayer, going as a content creator was the most luxury convention experience I ever had. We could use the same entrances as exhibitors, meaning that we didn’t have to stand in the long queue! We also had access to a free wardrobe and changing rooms, which was a game changer for sure. No travelling on the trams and trains in cosplays, risking them breaking and getting dirty in transit.

Content creators also had access on wednesday, when the general public did not yet have access. The ambassadors were invited to join in a photoshoot with German politicians, but since we try to stay neutral and out of politics, we didn’t participate. That left the whole day free, and that turned out to be a great choice, because there were barely any queues. For once, we got to see the booths – really see them – and try out some of the things.

I know Gamescom for most people is all about watching the demo videos or trying out games. For me, it’s about the atmosphere, the art and the people. I’ll note games that look interesting and I’ll check them out at a later date. At the convention, I want to be impressed by the amazing work put into some of the booths – there were so many that had huge statues and props, amazing artwork and I was also really happy to see how many hired cosplayers to bring their game characters to life.

Somehow, we also ended up getting sooo much loot this time. I’ve never really had much luck with that, but since there were not that many people wednesday, we somehow ended up with a lot of canvas bags, hats, mousepads, t-shirts, bags, pins and so much more stuff. It’s always nice to get my stash of crafting t-shirts replenished, and since I often use canvas bags to pack my cosplays in if I’m travelling by plane, they’re also very useful. But I’m happy we were travelling by car, I did not expect to get so much stuff that I couldn’t fit it in my suitcase!

The first day I wore my Cyberpunk outfit that I made a few years back. It’s a nice, casual and comfy outfit – somewhere between cosplay and fashion – with lights to still make it a bit more interesting. It was unfortunately giving me a lot of issues, since one connection broke. Luckily the cosplay village had an awesome cosplay repair booth, and they had soldering equipment, so we could repair it. I really appreciate how good a job they did with that booth, so shoutout to them! (sadly, I was stressing out and forgot to take a photo).

On day two, I debuted my new Rapunzel cosplay! It was kind of a mixed experience – no one recognized it, so I mostly got compliments for my new bag (Loungefly Pascal, which is awesome to be fair). 
BUT we got to go to the Witcher demo in the business booth of CD Project Red, and it was AMAZING! I’m excited to try the new DLC once it comes out, and I also have added Lilla to my “want to cosplay”-list (coincidentally, Lilla is the Danish word for purple, which is my favourite colour!). We were gifted a t-shirt and a bag as a thank you for watching the demo, and that bag was perfect for Friday, where I was Arasaka corporate lady (aka casual) to Zibartas’ white Oda cosplay – the bag is like made for transporting Zibartas’ helmet for that cosplay! His cosplay is amazing, but unfortunately a power hog, so the battery doesn’t last long. By Friday, you could definitely tell that the public was also present. The halls and hallways were quite full and it was getting harder to move around. So we employed the tactic of me carrying the helmet and batteries from the Creator lounge to the halls further away and THEN powering him on and putting on the helmet. That gave us more time to actually walk around and make content with the cosplay. People loved it, and I was the proudest waifu, walking next to my glowing man. We even got a bit extra time, since out friends at the Steelseries booth hooked us up with some power, so we could charge one battery while walking around with the other in their hall. We also met so many of our friends, and it’s always so nice to catch up. 

Friday evening, Kamui Cosplay hosted a dinner for some of the cosplay guests at the convention, and it was really cozy to get to know her and a lot of other cosplayers that I’ve only seen on social media before. I’m always amazed by how friendly all cosplayers are.  They are all just nerds like us, and most of them are just regular, down to earth (and extraordinarily creative and talented) people. 

Saturday was my turn to wear a big cosplay and I wore my Barkbloom Druid. It was great, and people were so positive and friendly. I like this cosplay, because it looks big and flashy, but it doesn’t restrict my movement and it’s quite comfortable, apart from the wig (I hate all wigs). This was the most crowded day and boy, was it hard to move around. We got pretty good at avoiding the main hallway, which is just too stuffed. The weather was not too stable, and you couldn’t get to the last 3 halls without going outside, since they were guiding traffic that way to avoid overcrowding inside. It was really frustrating in cosplay, since weather can be quite damaging, but the air quality was also bad enough to trigger my astma. Still, it was great to wear my druid and I and my cosplay survived!

Saturday evening, we met up with some of the other ambassadors in the evening for some proper German food and a Kölsch (tiny beer that the waiters will keep refilling unless you put something over your glass).  Quick view of the Dom from outside (you must when in Cologne) and then off to a party we went! The Xperion Afterparty took place in a huge Media Markt (computer) store. I think there were 4 or 5 stories. There were free drinks, food and snacks and we even got a goodie bag of Korean snacks to bring home. The party was honestly really impressive – there was a dancefloor in the basement and I later found out you could even get a tattoo there! There was also karaokee and many other things that I probably didn’t even discover. 

And what did we do? Played with kids’ figurines in the children’s area, haha 😀 No, but really, the other ambassadors were great company and I’m sad we didn’t get to spend more time together, because we had so much fun. We also met more of our cosplayer friends at the party and it kind of felt like a reunion party. 

I’m normally not very good at meeting new people. But the funny thing about being part of conventions as an invited guest, judge, exhibitor or organizer is that you’re thrown together to do a job in a team with people whom you might not yet know, but by the end of the weekend, you’ve shared this extremely intense experience that is both very fun and very exhausting and it binds you in a way that just makes you friends in some way. Maybe not close friends, but you know that if you’re ever in their area, you’d both be excited to see each other again. 

Sunday we had to drive back to Denmark (which took us like 11 hours because of traffic) and we were completely exhausted. It was such an intense and amazing experience, and my very biggest regret was that we didn’t have more hours in the days to see and experience things.

Below a few images from the trip.