Games Convention Online decides to go trade only

Games Convention Online in Leipzig, Germany will not be open to the public this year, as event organizers decided this week to make it a business forum. A Leipziger Messe spokesperson stated that the "number of registered public exhibitors was insufficient" to satisfy the interest of visitors "whose past experiences bring them with high expectations to Leipzig." Overall, the convention is allegedly "bigger" this year, with 30 companies planning to attend -- three more than last year.

Games Convention Online, which had 43,000 attendees in 2009 during its inaugural year, was Leipzig's way of staying on the gaming map after Europe's über convention moved to Cologne, Germany and became the wildly successful GamesCom. This year's business-only Game Convention Online will be held in July. Members of the public interested in playing games can head over to GamesCom in Cologne when it returns this August.