The eagerly awaited gamescom 2025 opened on August 20. This year's exhibition brought together more than 1,500 exhibitors from 72 countries across 233,000 square meters, setting another record.
Youdao Ads joined the industry gathering, sending its team to Cologne to report firsthand on emerging trends and the atmosphere on the ground.
At one of the world's largest gaming exhibitions, companies pulled out all the stops with elaborate booths, entertaining cosplay, and other attractions.
Cosplayers at the Anno 117: Pax Romana booth.
The detailed Honor of Kings: World booth.
Established players enthusiastically visited major IPs such as Resident Evil Requiem, Silent Hill f, and World of Warcraft: Midnight. Chinese games also stood out.
Phantom Blade Zero from S-GAME was one of the highlights. Centered on the beauty of Chinese martial arts, it built anticipation on global social platforms through high-quality gameplay videos. A short film titled Seeking the Heart, produced with Xinhua News Agency, reinforced its association with martial arts. Hands-on experiences at gamescom then converted that anticipation into immediate word of mouth.
The very long queue at the venue.
Despite occupying 500 square meters and providing more than 60 demo stations, the Phantom Blade Zero booth still drew long queues, underscoring its popularity.
Game Science, which attracted major attention in the gaming community over the previous two years, also released a teaser for Black Myth: Zhong Kui on social media and at the pre-show presentation, closing the event with a major reveal. The trailer surpassed seven million Bilibili views within eight hours, while related Zhong Kui topics appeared on multiple Bilibili trending lists, generating excitement before release.
The Youdao Ads team was also delighted to encounter Papergames' Love and Deepspace.
The game received a nomination for Best Mobile Game at this year's gamescom, challenging a selection pattern traditionally dominated by action and strategy titles. It was the first time a romance game aimed at women had received a nomination in this category at gamescom.
The Youdao Ads team stops by for a photo.
This sends a clear signal: games built around emotional companionship, narrative, and specialist audience segments have considerable global potential.
Discussing these changes with experienced industry practitioners, Youdao Ads found that broad, untargeted approaches to reaching general audiences are giving way to strategies that better understand public sentiment and players' emotional needs. Rich content ecosystems and community building are increasingly important for establishing a two-way relationship with players.
Beyond experiencing the celebration of gaming, the team strengthened its connections with leading global creator resources. It held in-depth discussions with the heads of long-term partner MCNs and met several internationally recognized KOLs.
The team with creator representatives.
@hyoga.x, who has 1.1 million YouTube subscribers, shared that he enjoys games that incorporate cultural elements and believes many players feel the same; developers from different countries brought many surprises to gamescom. @Dexerto, which also has more than one million followers on X, described gamescom as an ideal window into player-community sentiment and future trends.
The trip provided up-to-date insights and demonstrated Youdao Ads' close cooperation with high-quality local resources. We believe meaningful resonance and effective growth depend on understanding the people and content of local markets.
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