Nintendo is skipping Gamescom this year

While Nintendo has yet to even hint at an announcement for its next console, you can at least not expect to see it at Gamescom 2024 as the publisher has confirmed it won’t be attending.

In a statement to German outlet Games Wirtschaft (as translated by VGC), a spokeswoman for Nintendo of Europe simply said that while Gamescom is “a central event in Nintendo’s event calendar,” the company has decided not to take part this year. Nintendo UK has corroborated this in a separate statement to Eurogamer, saying, “After careful consideration from all perspectives, we’ve made the decision not to be present at Gamescom 2024.”

Nintendo has been a regular Gamescom attendee, although it did skip the event for a couple of years before returning in 2023. While it didn’t have any big reveals planned for the occasion, it was reported to have shown off the long-rumored Nintendo Switch 2 to developers behind closed doors. Earlier this year, it was claimed the Switch 2 is targeting a 2025 launch (via Nikkei), so plenty of fans expect a formal reveal before the end of the year.

Since Nintendo won’t be at Gamescom 2024, this rules out the Switch 2 making its grand debut there, although that was probably always unlikely. Nintendo could show it off at either Summer Game Fest or The Game Awards, but the original Switch was announced with a simple three-minute trailer on Nintendo’s YouTube channel, not at any sort of live event. So, it wouldn’t be surprising if Nintendo does something similar with the Switch 2. When that will happen, though, is anyone’s guess.

As for Gamescom 2024, it will once again be taking place in Cologne, Germany, and run from August 21-25. At the time of writing, Gamescom’s organizers have yet to confirm which developers and publishers will be attending.