While Gamescom was entertaining for those of us sitting at home some attendees did not have such a good time as there were reports of multiple thefts with laptops going missing and developers equipment etc. Gamescom has issued a statement addressing the concerning incidents which are being blamed by some on lax security with reports that they were turning a blind eye to certain things including teenagers casually sneaking into the business only areas etc. Here’s what was written by the Gamescom team:
“We are aware of stolen hardware and take these reports very seriously and understand the frustration of affected exhibitors.
Since many requests reached us, we would like to inform about general security regulations at the event:
Uniformed guards provide general security across the venue. Individual stand security can be booked separately, and exhibitors are advised to insure equipment against theft.
This is noted in the terms and conditions of participation and the technical guidelines.
All cases have been reported to us and to the police, and investigations are already underway. We also want to ensure that the reported cases are individual cases, which we are very sorry to read.
Because security has one of the highest priorities to us as an event and to see that indie developers are affected makes us very sad. At an event of this size, however, there will always be individuals attempting to take advantage of the situation.
Our security measures are designed to minimize such risks as effectively as possible.”

I bet it was a tik tok challenge by those teenagers.
I’m pretty sure this is all just a challenge on TikTok to get more revenues on their platforms.
It seems like CD Projekt Red has pledged to help replace all stolen equipment of an indie dev.
Absolute chads.