Copenhagen Gaming Week soars: Attendance doubles to 23,000 for festival's second edition

In total, more than twice as many regular festival tickets were sold for Copenhagen Gaming Week 2025 compared to 2024. This is in addition to a large number of exhibitors, performers, and accredited industry professionals from both Denmark and abroad, as well as thousands of tickets distributed to schools and after-school programs through a special application program.

"It is nothing short of amazing to see how Copenhagen Gaming Week has grown at record speed without compromising the quality of content for neither guests nor exhibitors. This year, we made a conscious decision to move from ‘hands up,’ where visitors simply cheer on others playing, to ‘hands on,’ where attendees could actively engage and try out as many experiences as possible," says Andreas Bjerrum Larsen, Head of Copenhagen Gaming Week, elaborating further:

"Together with a broad coalition of industry players, we have succeeded in creating a platform that not only engages visitors but also supports gaming, play, and esports as culture, education, and business. We have experienced a Bella Center filled with all generations - from children and young people to parents and grandparents, boys and girls. This confirms that gaming is a community-driven and inclusive experience."

Due to overwhelming demand, the festival had to announce multiple sell-outs. Saturday's tickets were snapped up as early as January, and by Friday morning of the event, the rest of the festival was completely sold out.

Bella Center buzzing with excitement

Several major events added extra excitement to the festival's final days, from Friday evening through to Saturday's conclusion:

• On Friday evening, the 2025 Spilprisen (Game Awards) was held at Bella Center Copenhagen in collaboration with industry organization Games Denmark and gaming media outlet Arkaden. Nearly 600 participants celebrated the most outstanding achievements in Danish game development.
  
  
• On Saturday, Minister of Culture Jakob Engel-Schmidt officially inaugurated Denmark's new Institute for Game Development, NIMBI, which has received government support to strengthen Danish gaming culture.
  
  
• Laurids Foldager was crowned Denmark’s Best Gamer in the "W" tournament, which culminated in Power City with confetti, roaring cheers, and thousands of spectators.
  
  
• A historic moment for trading card enthusiasts occurred when a rare 26-year-old Pokémon Base Set from 1999 was opened, revealing three Charizard cards.

Beyond these highlights, the festival was buzzing with activities throughout all three days, featuring everything from street sports, trading card games, and 'Superliga' soccer stars to board games, indie game developers, famous content creators, YouTube stars, and the highly popular streampo1nt, where guests could watch well-known Danish streamers play and engage with audiences both online and in Bella Center.

Big ambitions for the future

“It has been a long journey to bring this festival to life, with interruptions from the pandemic, but in collaboration with Wonderful Copenhagen, Blackbox Media, and our many partners - as well as startup support from the City of Copenhagen - we have created a platform with enormous potential. We see this growing even further in the future—not only physically in Bella Center but also reaching out towards the rest of Denmark, the Nordics, and even globally,” says Nicole Bellaiche, Director of Bella Presents, who oversees Bellagroup’s proprietary event formats such as Copenhagen Gaming Week and the Bogforum litterature festival. She adds:

“We are already in talks with international industry players and festivals to explore how we can strengthen gaming and gaming culture across borders. There is immense potential for gaming as a cultural and export industry in Denmark. Now, we finally have a platform that can support this potential and compete with our neighboring countries, which have historically moved faster in this area.”