One of the world's biggest gaming shows, Gamescom, is now underway in Cologne, Germany, and hundreds of thousands of people are expected to attend. The organizers sold out the entire 233,000 square meter exhibition floor at the Koelnmesse exhibition center, with more than 1,600 exhibitors signing up to show off their games and products.

In short, Gamescom is huge. It might not be the world's largest gaming event, as that title belongs to ChinaJoy, which had more than 438,000 attendees this year. But Gamescom is a bona fide juggernaut, and it's stayed strong, and grown, while other events have come and gone (looking at you, E3!).

GameSpot caught up with Gamescom boss Tim Endres (director of Gamescom at Koelnmesse) and Stefan Heikhaus (director of Gamescom and events) to discuss how the event comes together each year, how the organization defines success, and how the show has been impacted by the death of E3.

We also chatted to the pair about partnering with Geoff Keighley for the big kickoff show, Opening Night Live, and what Gamescom is doing to help shine a light on smaller games that might struggle to get noticed in the sea of blockbusters that dominate the headlines. The organizers also discussed bringing Games Done Quick to Gamescom for the first time, as well as Gamescom's new Gaming for Democracy initiative to help use the show as a platform for good.

You can see our full interview below, and be sure to stay with GameSpot for the week to get all the biggest news, videos, and interviews from the show floor.

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