Gamescom Attendance Rises to 345,000, Star Wars Battlefront Wins Game of Show

Europe's big-time gaming show, Gamescom, wrapped up yesterday after a week of exciting news.

Now that the dust has settled, organizers on Monday announced [PDF] that attendance for this year's event, held August 5-9 in Cologne, Germany, reached 345,000. This is up from 345,000 last year.

Visitors, which included 33,200 industry professionals (over 5 percent increase from last year), came from 96 different countries. A total of 806 companies from 45 countries attended the event (+14 percent).

This year-over-year growth is a "reflection of the increasing significance of computer and video games in our society," Gamescom chief sponsor Dr. Maximilian Schenk said in a statement.

Gamescom organizers also announced today that DICE's Star Wars Battlefront won the overall game of show award. The hotly anticipated game arrives in November for Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and PC. During EA's briefing at Gamescom, DICE revealed an exciting new dogfighting mode called Squadron Fighter.

You can catch up on all of GameSpot's Gamescom coverage here.