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Several developers and game publishers at Gamescom 2026 in Cologne, Germany, have reported equipment theft at the exhibition. According to Video Games Chronicle (VGC)<\/em>, Mimic developer Ryan Laley, game publisher iam8bit, and Tessera Studios were all hit during the week.<\/p>\n Go deeper with TH Premium: Memory<\/p>\n \n (Image credit: SK Hynix)<\/span><\/p>\n Laley reportedly lost all his laptops from his booth, while iam8bit said in its X post that it\u2019s missing two laptops as well. Meanwhile, Tessera Studios had two laptops and a Steam Deck taken from its cabinet. Laley\u2019s and iam8bit\u2019s booths are located together in Hall 4.1, next to the west entrance gate, meaning they\u2019re both easy targets for thieves looking for a quick score. However, Tessera Studios is in Hall 10.2, putting it quite far from the other two targets.<\/p>\n My #gamescom cut short. Our equipment was stolen last night from the booth.Police reports have been filed.At a loss for words to describe the feeling. Just defeated. Gonna do my best with what’s left of the week. But a huge blow financially and mentally pic.twitter.com\/dKpp3Of6dfAugust 28, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n The cost of the stolen equipment will certainly be a huge setback for these developers and publishers, especially for smaller indie creators. However, the bigger loss would be the data on the machines, which often includes unreleased builds of the games they\u2019re demoing at the expo. While they may have backup copies of their work stored in some of the best external SSDs, the fact that a copy of the games they\u2019re working on is out in the wild and could potentially be leaked would chill the blood of any developer and could be \u201cheartbreaking\u201d for the team working on it.<\/p>\n Latest Videos From<\/span>Tom’s Hardware<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n \u201cToday at gamescom we arrived at our station in the business area hall to discover that our two laptops had been stolen overnight, despite the presence of Koelnmesse security,\u201d iam8bit said in their X post. \u201cThese were machines we were using to demo iam8bit Presents titles Petal Runner and Escape Academy 2 to media and content creators during the show. On top of obviously disrupting our very busy appointment schedule, this theft has potentially put unfinished builds of these games at risk of being leaked.\u201d<\/p>\n We were robbed at Gamescom.On Wednesday, we arrived at our booth in the Indie Area to find our cabinet forced open. Two laptops and a Steam Deck were gone.The devices contained not only our Gamescom demo, but also personal, company, and critical information.Here\u2019s our story pic.twitter.com\/ZghaSx9RJBAugust 28, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cOn Wednesday, we arrived at our booth in the Indie Area to find our cabinet forced open. Two laptops and a Steam Deck were gone,\u201d Tessera Studios posted on X. \u201cThe devices contained not only our Gamescom demo, but also personal, company, and critical information.\u201d<\/p>\n Gamescom organizers responded to the issues, saying that although they have arranged for uniformed guards to provide general security, individual booth security must be booked separately. They\u2019ve also advised exhibitors to have insurance against theft, and said these warnings are noted in the terms and conditions for participants, as well as in the event\u2019s technical guidelines.<\/p>\n \u201cAll cases have been reported to us and to the police, and investigations are already underway,\u201d the organizers\u2019 statement read. They also said that security is one of their priorities at the event, but also added, \u201cAt an event of this size, however, there will always be individuals attempting to take advantage of the situation.\u201d<\/p>\n \n Follow<\/em> Tom’s Hardware on Google News<\/em>, or<\/em> add us as a preferred source<\/em>, to get our latest news, analysis, & reviews in your feeds.<\/em><\/p>\n
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