Daniel Van Scher

Seeking for the big fish.

[Daniel Van Scher @scher_van]

@usopen @naomiosaka She is the definition of cringe .

[Alex Roca Sánchez @Yurink4]

Spanish indie devs not only got robbed at @gamescom, even got stabbed. Hey @Wario64 @ZhugeEX, please give some visibility to this chad

[TJ @MajorRespect]

Dear #devs, #gamescom, @geoffkeighley, @asha_shar, @NintendoAmerica, @PlayStation and all the devs of the world.

@gamescom did not have a “sad incident.” It had a predictable failure, then tried to make the victims own it.

Overnight, booths were hit. Laptops, Steam Decks, demo machines gone. Solo and tiny teams lost hardware they stretched to buy, builds they spent years on, and personal/company data sitting on those drives. For at least one indie, the show was over the moment they walked in. This was not a random phone off a table. Cabinets were forced. Restricted halls with advertised security still got cleaned out.

Then came the official line: we are “very sad.” Also, exhibitors can book extra stand security. Also, insure your gear. Also, at an event this size there will always be people who take advantage. Translation: the world’s largest games show sold the prestige of being there, then pointed at the fine print when the smallest exhibitors paid the price.

That is the truth bigger companies keep dancing around. Gamescom needs indies for the story. “100s+ indie studios.” “Awesome Indies.” “Small teams, huge success.” Those headlines make the floor look alive. They make politicians and press believe the industry is still creative, not just a few mega booths and livestream ads. The second the cost of that story lands on a solo developer’s @Alienware and two years of work, the organizers remember the terms and conditions.

AAA can absorb a stolen laptop. A publisher can replace a demo rig before lunch. A platform can write it off. A one person studio cannot. Travel, booth, hardware, time off a day job, demo builds, backups they hoped they would not need, that is often the entire runway. When the venue fails and the organizer shrugs, it is not “risk of doing business.” It is a transfer of risk downward, every year, until the people who can least afford it stop coming.

Do not pretend this is new or mysterious. People already said similar thefts happened before. The response pattern is the same: condolences, police are informed, security is a priority, please read the guidelines. No automatic coverage for indie area overnight losses. No admission that “book your own guard” is a joke when the booth is 9 square meters and the developer is sleeping in a cheap hotel. No public commitment that next year the indie halls get real protected storage and monitored overnight coverage included, not sold as an add-on.

Here is the part the big companies should feel in the gut. If you only post “thoughts with the affected teams” and go back to your meeting rooms, you are part of the machine. You benefit from the indie halo. You benefit from a show that looks diverse. You benefit when small studios eat the downside of a venue that is too big to care.

So hit them with something they cannot ignore:

Say out loud that Gamescom’s statement was inadequate.
Offer hardware, travel money, legal help, or a replacement demo station to the studios that got hit, publicly, not as a quiet DM.
Tell Koelnmesse and game e.V. that 2027 contracts for major booths are tied to included overnight security and loss coverage for the indie and business area small stands.
Stop using “event of this scale” as a moral get out of jail card. Scale is their product. If scale makes small exhibitors unsafe, the product is broken.

Indies are not content. They are not a hall decoration. They are people who bet their savings on a week in Cologne because this industry still pretends that showing up matters. When the biggest show in Europe cannot keep their machines in a locked cabinet, it is not a footnote. It is the business model speaking.

Amplify the developers by name. Demand a written policy, not another sad tweet. If the platforms, publishers, and giant studios stay polite, this happens again. That is the truth. Act like it.

And as a side note big shout out to @CDPROJEKTRED and other companies that offered to assist!

[Daniel Van Scher @scher_van]

@ukiyostudiosau Say it louder , they seem to be deaf , fucking disgrace .

[Grummz @Grummz]

Developer @SwammyXO says that last year, @Gamescom security told them to leave their laptops on site and not to take it out.

The very next day, the laptops were stolen.

You can't make this up.

[Grummz @Grummz]

Gamescom on string of Indie booth thefts at show:

"Hey, sh*t happens"

Gamescom released a whopper of a statement this morning on the string of laptop and computer thefts that hit multiple Indie Devs, many of whom could not continue the show.

Gamecom said that while it takes the stolen hardware "seriously" and are "very sad' they pointed out that their legal agreement says that the Indie devs can hire stand security "booked separately" and that they should have had insurance.

They closed out the tone deaf statement by saying "there will always be individuals attempting to take advantage of the situation."

Well @gamescom , the first thing you should do is FIRE YOUR MARKETING AND SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGERS. Because they just ignited a tsunami of bad press and started a fire instead of putting it out.

They did the literal opposite of what you are supposed to do, and are obviously incompetent about how the internet works.

Nowhere in your statement as an apology of any kind, and you cast blame on the developers and asked them to PAY YOU for more security.

I know conventions, I've booked a lot of them, INCLUDING yours, and your nickel and diming for power, carpeting, internet, trash, and yes, security is laughable. You charge 10x rates because you know you have a captive audience. You're worse than movie theater candy prices and everyone is sick of it.

You really expect an indie dev to pay 30-50 euros an HOUR or risk having their computers stolen from the booth? Yes, I already know the answer. I've seen your price sheets and paid your extortionist prices.

I'm so very glad game conventions are going away, and that game companies have so many more options for going direct to gamers.

The truth is Gamescom, we really don't need you anymore.

(Their full statement attached in replies.)

[Indie Game Joe @IndieGameJoe]

This isn't the first year devs have been robbed at gamescom, and their response is unacceptable.

My full statement:

[Daniel Van Scher @scher_van]

@gamescom Like I said a disgrace , your event is falling down, and this is your response , shameful.

[Daniel Van Scher @scher_van]

@StirringDragon Is not about being an idiot , you’re not in Frisco streets to be worried about being robbed, they’re in an environment that is supposed to be “secure”.

[Daniel Van Scher @scher_van]

@StirringDragon Still .

[Daniel Van Scher @scher_van]

@paulavaynshteyn We just have to focus on @gamescom doing something about this , not in just one incident or another , this is something that has been happening through years , so it has to come to an end .

[Daniel Van Scher @scher_van]

@PereSuau94 @gamescom you’re a fucking disgrace of organization.

[Daniel Van Scher @scher_van]

@RyanLaley What the hell is going on over there ?, maybe we need to have the organization accountable for all of this .

[井上雄彦 Inoue Takehiko @inouetake]

🇯🇵🔥🏀

[Daniel Van Scher @scher_van]

@alejandroggo Según ellos no puedes .

[Daniel Van Scher @scher_van]

@aleixmartines Represio 🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡

[Daniel Van Scher @scher_van]

@tonifreixa Yes you’re more than a club, a bunch of clowns .🤡

[Daniel Van Scher @scher_van]

@coachty23zch One of the worse banks ever to exist , nobody should open business account there .

[Daniel Van Scher @scher_van]

@Baurier99 Vaya unos pesaos , y encima vas y hablas en inglés a ver si llegas a más gente que os crea en vuestra patraña , pesaos .