Several developers and publishers attending Gamescom 2026 have reported having laptops, Steam Decks, and other equipment stolen from their booths, and the situation has started raising some serious questions about security at one of the biggest gaming events in the world.
Among those affected was indie developer Ryan Laley, the developer behind the upcoming multiplayer horror game Mimic. Laley revealed on X that equipment had been stolen from his booth overnight, including laptops that were being used to showcase the game. According to Laley, several other laptops were also stolen from the surrounding area, and the loss was enough to essentially bring his Gamescom experience to an early end.
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/dKpp3Of6df
— Mimic | Ryan Laley (@RyanLaley) August 28, 2026
Laley described the theft as a massive financial and mental blow, which isn’t hard to understand when you’re an independent developer who has invested a considerable amount of time and money into getting a game in front of people at an event like Gamescom.
Unfortunately, Laley wasn’t the only one affected. Publisher iam8bit also reported that two laptops had been stolen overnight from its station in the Gamescom business area, despite the presence of Koelnmesse security. Those laptops were being used to showcase Petal Runner and Escape Academy 2 and contained unfinished builds of both games. That means iam8bit isn’t only dealing with the cost of replacing the hardware, but also the possibility of unfinished versions of those games ending up somewhere they aren’t supposed to be.
Today at gamescom we arrived to our station in the business area hall to discover that our two laptops had been stolen over night, despite the presence of Koelnmesse security.We ask that anyone who may have information about what happened to please reach out to us.
Then there’s Tessera Studios, the developer behind The Zibbo Show. The studio said it arrived at its booth in the Indie Area and discovered that someone had forced open a locked storage cabinet. Two laptops and a Steam Deck were stolen, with the devices containing the Gamescom demo alongside personal, company, and other important information.
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’s our story pic.twitter.com/ZghaSx9RJB
— The Zibbo Show ➡️ Wishlist on Steam 💥 (@tesserastudios) August 28, 2026
Tessera Studios also said it had heard about at least two similar incidents involving exhibitors at the Games from Spain booth, along with reports of other thefts throughout the event. With multiple developers and exhibitors now reporting stolen hardware, this is where the situation starts getting extremely frustrating.
Gamescom Responds to the Thefts
Gamescom eventually responded to the reports, stating that it was aware of the stolen hardware and that police investigations were underway. Gamescom also pointed out that uniformed guards provide general security throughout the venue, while individual booth security can be purchased separately. Exhibitors are also advised to insure their equipment against theft, something Gamescom says is included in its terms and conditions and technical guidelines.
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.
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…— gamescom (@gamescom) August 29, 2026
I’m sorry, but that response doesn’t sit right with me. We’re talking about one of the biggest gaming events in the world, and developers aren’t attending Gamescom for free. Gamescom’s own website shows just how quickly those costs can add up. Home of Indies packages start at €1,999, while an Indie Arena Booth package starts at $6,400 for nine square meters. And that’s just getting into the event with a booth.
Now add airfare, hotels, meals, transportation, equipment, shipping, marketing materials, and everything else that comes with sending people and hardware to Cologne for nearly a week. For larger publishers, that’s the cost of doing business. For an indie developer or a small studio trying to get eyes on their game, that can be a substantial amount of money.
So, after developers spend all that money to attend Gamescom, telling them that they could have paid even more money for individual booth security doesn’t exactly inspire confidence. Especially when we’re not talking about someone leaving a laptop sitting on a table while thousands of attendees are walking around during the day.
To make matters worse, Tessera Studios says its equipment was inside a locked cabinet that was forced open. Laley has said exhibitors were told the business area had 24-hour security and restricted access outside operating hours. iam8bit specifically mentioned that its equipment disappeared despite Koelnmesse security being present. At that point, I don’t think the first response should be reminding developers that additional security was available for purchase.
With that all said, I’d love to know how someone was able to get into these areas after hours, break into secured storage, take multiple laptops and other pieces of hardware from several exhibitors, and apparently walk away without anyone noticing. Because what exactly is the security already there supposed to be protecting?
I understand that Gamescom is massive. Hundreds of thousands of people attend the event, and expecting security to watch every laptop, backpack, Steam Deck, and piece of equipment every second isn’t realistic. But once the show floor closes and access to these areas is supposed to be restricted, exhibitors should have some reasonable expectation that their equipment will still be there the next morning.
And that’s really the issue I have with Gamescom’s response. Yes, exhibitors should insure expensive equipment, and everyone attending a massive convention should take precautions. But telling developers they could have purchased additional security after equipment was stolen from supposedly secured areas feels way too much like shifting responsibility onto the people who were robbed.
In other words, all Gamescom has basically said was “It sucks to be you” and essentially giving those affected, the middle finger. For an event this massive, that brings in hundreds of thousands of visitors, and upwards to multiple millions from renting out floor space, sponsorships, partnerships and more, their reply is considerably less than I would have expected from them.
The Gaming Community Steps Up
As frustrating as this entire situation has been, there has at least been some good to come out of it. Several people and companies in the gaming industry have reached out to help the developers who were affected, showing exactly why the gaming community can be pretty amazing when someone needs help.
Ryan Laley revealed that Indie Game Joe had donated enough money to replace his stolen hardware. Laley thanked him for stepping up, calling him “a champion for the little guys,” while also thanking everyone who had reached out to support him following the theft.
Hey Ryan, I am so sorry man. Stealing from an indie dev booth at Gamescom is the lowest of the low. I am so upset and angry for you
I’d love to help fund replacement equipment and support however I can. We'll get this sorted for you❤️ https://t.co/o0J1b6fc2p pic.twitter.com/wfAjRBa4i4
— Indie Game Joe (@IndieGameJoe) August 28, 2026
And it didn’t stop there. The official Cyberpunk 2077 account also reached out to Laley and offered to help replace some of the stolen equipment, saying it would check the “Arasaka hardware archives” to see what it could send his way. It was obviously written with a little Cyberpunk 2077 flavor, but the offer itself was very real.
That’s the part of this story that I actually love seeing. These developers came to Gamescom to show off games they’ve spent years working on, only to have the hardware they needed to do that stolen from underneath them. Yet instead of leaving them to figure everything out on their own, other developers, companies, and members of the gaming community started asking what they could do to help.
It’s great to see the gaming community rally around these developers, but it also shouldn’t be the community’s responsibility to become the safety net when something like this happens. The support is amazing, and the people stepping up deserve all the praise they’re getting, but these thefts still happened inside an event where exhibitors had every reason to believe their equipment was being protected.
Gamescom Still Has Some Questions to Answer
Gamescom says security is one of its highest priorities and that the reported thefts are being investigated by police. Hopefully, some of this equipment gets recovered, and it’s fantastic to see people throughout the gaming industry already stepping up to help those affected get back on their feet. Even still, that doesn’t let Gamescom off the hook. Gamescom still needs to take a serious look at how this happened in the first place. These developers already paid to be there, and they shouldn’t also have to hire someone to stand next to their booth overnight just to make sure their laptops are still there in the morning.
We’ll keep checking in on this situation to see if Gamescom changes its response, especially now that it feels like the entire gaming industry is breathing down its neck over how this was handled.
And with PAX West 2026 taking place nor than a week after Gamescom 2026, hopefully Reedpop is taking note of what’s happened and is taking the appropriate steps to ensure we don’t see a repeat.
