Gamescom has officially commented on reports of stolen equipment from several developers who attended the event this month, and its response isn’t going down very well. While Gamescom noted in its statement that the reports “makes us very sad,” it also appears to be dodging direct blame for the thefts by noting that, as “noted in the terms and conditions of participation and the technical guidelines,” attendees can book “individual stand security” and “insure equipment against theft.”
Yesterday, Ryan Laley, the indie developer behind the upcoming game Mimic, shared a tearful video on X detailing the overnight theft of his equipment at Gamescom 2026 in Cologne, Germany. “My gamescom cut short,” stated Laley’s post. “Our equipment was stolen last night from the booth[…] At a loss for words to describe the feeling. Just defeated. Gonna do my best with what’s left of the week.”
Later on the same day, publisher and merch company iam8bit shared a similar story: “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.”
Since then, another developer, Tessera Studios, has stated on X that their equipment also disappeared during the event. “On Wednesday, we arrived at our booth in the Indie Area to find our cabinet forced open,” stated Tessera Studios. “Two laptops and a Steam Deck were gone. The devices contained not only our Gamescom demo, but also personal, company, and critical information.”
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
— The Zibbo Show ➡️ Wishlist on Steam 💥 (@tesserastudios) August 28, 2026
The story has ballooned into a PR disaster for Gamescom, as other studios, such as PR company Ukiyo Studios, have stated that equipment was stolen from them at previous Gamescom events. As a result, the official Gamescom account on X shared a statement earlier today in response.
“We are aware of stolen hardware and take these reports very seriously and understand the frustration of affected exhibitors,” reads Gamescom’s statement. “Since many requests reached us, we would like to inform about general security regulations at the event…”
We are aware of stolen hardware and take these reports very seriously and understand the frustration of affected exhibitors.
Since many requests reached us, we would like to inform about general security regulations at the event:
Uniformed guards provide general security across…— gamescom (@gamescom) August 29, 2026
“Uniformed guards provide general security across the venue,” continues the statement. “Individual stand security can be booked separately, and exhibitors are advised to insure equipment against theft. This is noted in the terms and conditions of participation and the technical guidelines[…] Because security has one of the highest priorities to us as an event and to see that indie developers are affected makes us very sad. At an event of this size, however, there will always be individuals attempting to take advantage of the situation.”
Important to note here that, even without these extra security fees, booking a booth at Gamescom is certainly not cheap. Gamescom’s website features a calculator for exhibitors to estimate the cost of a booth at the event.
For instance, if you were to book a 12 square meter “stand space” booth (the cheapest option available), you’d be looking at a minimum of roughly €2,100. That’s roughly $2,350–and this is before you add extra fees, like, for instance, extra security, on top. Then you have to take flights and accommodation into consideration.
Must feel pretty rough to scrape thousands of dollars together to showcase your indie game at Gamescom, only to get robbed and have the event organizers point you towards the “terms and conditions of participation.”
