Once-mighty Leipzig show shut doors in 2011 after shift to casual, multiplayer emphasis, cites lack of funding.
The one-time largest European video game convention is officially no matter. After evolving into Games Convention Online when Germany’s industry trade organization pulled its support, show organizers announced today that it would not be pursuing a show in 2011 due to the lack of financial support.
“The day has come for GCO to say goodbye,” the Leipzig Messe said on the show’s website. “Despite your fantastic support over the last two years, we have been unable to put Games Convention Online on a firm financial footing. The ideas and topics we created together were innovative and we certainly had the right thoughts as far as the development prospects of online games were concerned.”
“Unfortunately, in the end, the idea on its own didn’t suffice to organize an economically successful trade fair and congress,” the farewell message continued. “The Leipziger Messe will naturally continue to provide a platform for young innovative branches of industry, but this needs to be supported and developed by the majority of the industry concerned. Despite all joint efforts, we were still unable to achieve this.”
The Leipzig Games Convention’s problems began in 2008, when Germany’s Bundesverband Interaktive Unterhaltungssoftware (German Federal Association for Entertainment Software) said that it would be putting its support behind GamesCom in Cologne. Space constraints were cited as the reason for the move, as the BIU said the reason why 2008 attendence rose by just 1 percent to 185,000 was because the city of Leipzig had reached its housing capacity.
In a press release, Leipzig Messe officials said that they would remain open to future industry events, should the interest arise.
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