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.”

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