{IMAGE_2}SPIEL Essen, the world’s largest tabletop game show, set a new attendance record in 2025 after increasing the footprint of the show by adding a seventh hall this year (see “Spiel Essen Adds a Hall”). Total attendance was 220,000, according to show organizers, finally exceeding the previous attendance record set in 2019. It’s also a big increase over last year’s show, which drew 204,000 (see “SPIEL Essen Sells Out”).
The show was sold out all four days, at levels that were below the maximum allowed capacity for the halls, an intentional strategy that is coupled with wide aisles and logically structured halls to provide smooth flow. “It doesn’t help any of us if we cram people into the halls,” show organizer Merz Verlag Managing Director Carol Rapp said of the strategy. “We want traffic to flow in the aisles while at the same time allowing as many people as possible to visit us.”
Some 948 companies from 50 countries exhibited at the show, in line with previous years. Over 1700 new game releases were showcased. The show also added a stage on the floor to bring activities into higher traffic areas.
A new record for the largest simultaneous CATAN – Connect game of all time, hosted by the publisher in connection with the 30th anniversary of the game, was set at the show, with 1,170 simultaneous players.
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