Gamescom 2026: The Mobile Mavens discuss rising competition, the indie opportunity and the changing face of games
- “One of my biggest takeaways from Gamescom was that the games industry continues to grow, but so does the level of competition.” - Claire Rozain.
- “Roblox was a major focal point at this year's gamescom, but my biggest takeaway wasn't about the platform itself; rather, it was about where its creators will go next.” - Gordon Thornton.
- “If you’re building an indie game right now, don’t underestimate how much of the industry is looking at you.” - Mor Aviram.
Gamescom 2026 welcomed 368,000 visitors from 131 countries, as the event continued to expand its international footprint this year.
Across the show floor, industry professionals gathered for one of the biggest events on the global games calendar and there was plenty to see and discuss throughout the week. PocketGamer.biz was on the ground throughout the event and you can read our own takeaways.
With the event wrapped up, we also reached out to the Mobile Mavens who attended Gamescom to ask what stood out to them and what wider industry trends they spotted.
Here’s what they had to say.
Claire Rozain
One of my biggest takeaways from Gamescom was that the games industry continues to grow, but so does the level of competition. The quality bar has never been higher: studios are launching increasingly polished games, while competing for the same players, attention and acquisition channels.
“The next major UA challenge will therefore not simply be finding more users, but identifying the environments most likely to produce high-value payers at a sustainable payback.”Claire Rozain
The next major UA challenge will therefore not simply be finding more users, but identifying the environments most likely to produce high-value payers at a sustainable payback. Even with AI-optimised advertising algorithms, advertisers still need better intelligence about the quality of the inventory in which those algorithms are spending.
This is also what I am currently building: a Payment Propensity Score that connects to MMP and benchmarks tool data to measure which source games and apps consistently generate payers and IAP revenue. The goal is to give UA teams an inventory intelligence and governance layer, helping them distinguish inventory that produces installs from inventory that produces long-term paying users.
Gordon Thornton
Roblox was a major focal point at this year's gamescom, but my biggest takeaway wasn't about the platform itself; rather, it was about where its creators will go next.
As Roblox developers inevitably expand into native mobile, PC, and console platforms, the question is whether traditional gaming spaces are ready for the possible culture shock.
“As Roblox developers inevitably expand into native mobile, PC, and console platforms, the question is whether traditional gaming spaces are ready for the possible culture shock.”Gordon Thornton
For example, the modding scene has historically been driven by community kudos and free labour. Roblox, though, has built an ecosystem where monetisation is standard, and creators are expected to generate revenue for their user-generated content. I spoke with some modding platforms, and they are already experiencing this shift: this incoming generation views custom content creation as a paid career, directly challenging long-held industry norms.
As an industry, we need to focus on their expectations and behaviours and be ready to embrace them - they are an incredibly creative community/cohort that will likely structurally affect the industry. The industry needs to welcome them and create a progression path from Roblox that satisfies their creativity and expectations of reward.
Mahmoud Ziater
This year's gamescom was a really strong one for indie developers. I spent most of my time in the trade area, speaking with developers at the international pavilions such as Thailand, Qatar, and Morocco.
These spaces offered an interesting look at how different countries are positioning themselves in the global games industry to create opportunities for local companies and studios. In the last decade, we’ve seen the balance of the industry shift slightly away from the Americas and Japan to give voice to a wider range of regions, and gamescom really showed this change off.
One of my personal highlights was getting the chance to play 1001 Threads of Mizan from MBC Games Studio. The game has attracted considerable attention as the first AAA-scale video game from the MENA region, and seeing a project of this scale representing the region at one of the world's biggest gaming events was especially meaningful to me as someone working in the MENA gaming industry.
The Indies area itself was crowded, as usual, but seeing so many people lining up and getting excited to try games made by independent developers was great. Meeting some of the developers and hearing about the games directly from the people behind them was one of the most enjoyable parts of the event.
Unfortunately, the experience was also affected by the news of equipment theft affecting some indie developers and creators. Considering how much effort and investment independent teams put into showcasing their work at events like gamescom, it was particularly disappointing to hear about these incidents.
Louise Wooldridge
One quite obvious point is the increase in stands (and general presence) from Chinese companies. It's interesting how focused they are on aesthetics - the stands tend to be quite beautiful and ethereal, and themes like romance are brought to the fore, so they stand out quite starkly next to many of the Western offerings which typically centre on combat or horror.
They are effectively capitalising on this surge in interest from predominantly female consumers in romance, or 'romantasy' - as seen across media, such as with the success of many book series recently, like ACOTAR.
At the Love and Deepspace stand, hordes of young women were gathered around a handful of cosplayers, dressed as the characters from the game.
Some who won a competition were rewarded with brief one-on-one interactions with the cosplayers, where they would hold hands and take photos together. It was one of the busiest stands.
I feel like in the past, there was a sense of shame around the genre of romance, but now it is almost mainstream - and game companies in Asia are delivering on this in spades.
“The show floor has essentially become a marketing channel. Digital discovery is increasingly crowded, and so publishers are turning physical experiences into digital marketing assets.”Louise Wooldridge
There has been an explosion in the commercial and cultural visibility of romance in games. We see it also in Western titles, like Baldur's Gate 3, Cyberpunk 2077, but as a pillar rather than the core foundation.
GTA was obviously missing, but Take-Two have not had a consumer stand at Gamescom for quite some time - not since pre-pandemic, so this was a continuation of that approach.
Also, the potential impact of an event like Gamescom, in terms of marketing, is so much broader now than ever before. Almost 380,000 people attended. Many of those were walking around filming the stands, the cosplayers/actors, the physical installations and elaborate displays, and then sharing these videos and images online.
The show floor has essentially become a marketing channel. Digital discovery is increasingly crowded, and so publishers are turning physical experiences into digital marketing assets.
And this then reads as organic discovery - shared by content creators through personal channels.
Lots of publishers are now spending huge amounts to get people offline because that's increasingly one of the best ways to generate attention online.
Mor Aviram
Gamescom 2026 reminded me where the energy in gaming is. I left Gamescom with one very clear thought: if you’re building an indie game right now, don’t underestimate how much of the industry is looking at you.
I spent three packed days moving between indie events, booths, publishers, investors and developers. The community was incredible. The Indie Arena alone brought together 180+ developers and 17 publishers. But what really stood out was where the attention, and increasingly the money, is going.
Q2 2026 was the strongest quarter for gaming financings in 12 months, with more than 10+ new gaming funds representing $2B+ in capital were announced, including new funds specifically focused on indie developer financing. And you could feel it on the ground.
“So my biggest takeaway for indie developers is simple: don’t just build the game and hope people find it. Start early. Build your community. Meet creators. Talk to publishers and investors.”Mor Aviram
I met investors, publishers and funds actively looking for smaller teams with something different. The money is paying attention to indies again. Why? Because the definition of a “big game” has changed.
Recent indie game breakouts have shown that you don’t necessarily need the biggest team or budget. You need something people notice, experience, talk about and want to share. But more opportunity also means more competition for attention.
So my biggest takeaway for indie developers is simple: don’t just build the game and hope people find it. Start early. Build your community. Meet creators. Talk to publishers and investors. Show up. Create moments people want to share. The opportunity is there. Go fight for it.
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