Leipzig 2009 'still going ahead'

Earlier this year, the head of the Bundesverband Interaktive Unterhaltungssoftware (German Federal Association for Entertainment Software) announced that it would be moving its official annual games convention away from Leipzig, and would be renaming it GamesCon. Given that the Leipzig fair owns the rights to the name Games Convention, the event had to choose a new moniker.

The Games Convention was previously held at Leipziger Messe, but the head of the BIU, Olaf Wolters, stated that the venue would be changing due to a lack of infrastructure--including hotel rooms and international flights--in the area. Cologne was picked as the new destination, and Wolters hopes that the event will now grow again in attendance figures.

It was presumed that the Games Convention would not return in 2009, but today the Leipzig organisers announced that it will be staying put, and that there will be a Leipzig next year.

Leipziger Messe boss Wolfgang Marzin released a statement today saying, "The GC Games Convention is not moving." Marzin said that the event would "continue to pursue its international strategy."

The first Leipzig Games Convention took place in 2002, and is usually held in the last week of August. In 2007, around 185,000 visitors attended, and there were talks by industry luminaries including Denis Dyack, Peter Molyneux, and Jeff Strain.

This year's Leipzig Convention, which is the last to be run with the full support of the BIU, is taking place from August 21 to August 24, and will be "even more international." The business area will also expand by 25 percent.