This October id Software co-founder John Romero will take a break from developing a new shooter and correcting Sandy Petersen to headline the 2026 Gamescom Asia x Thailand Game Show. The convention will return to Bangkok’s Queen Sirikit National Convention Centre for the second year running, and is set to be “20% bigger” than the 2025 event.
Romero will present a keynote titled ‘Why We Still Make Games’ during the business component of the event. According to the announcement, Romero will “reflect on a lifetime of building games, overcoming setbacks and navigating decades of industry change”.
It’ll be an interesting opportunity to hear Romero talk about the industry’s ongoing woes. Last year Romero Games had an in-progress project canceled by its publisher, leaving the team with “$50 million worth of a game” it will now “take pieces out of” to use on a smaller scale project.
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“We survived the cancellation of our huge game,” Romero said at the time, noting that the studio had 110 staff working on the project at the time.
In addition to Romero, speakers representing AdHoc Studio (Dispatch), Roblox, Tencent and Godot will speak at the show, with exhibitors ranging Nintendo, Bandai Namco, Capcom, Sega, The Pokemon Company and many more.
“Last year we proved that Bangkok is ready to host a world-class gaming event at scale,” said Koelnmesse Asia-Pacific general manager Prakash Ramajillu. “This year we are raising that bar in every direction—more space, more brands, more experiences, and one of the most iconic figures in gaming history taking the stage. The response from the industry has been extraordinary, and we are only just getting started.”
Gamescom Asia x Thailand Game Show runs from October 29 to November 1. More details and tickets here.
