SPIEL Essen 2026 – Day 0: Press Conference & Novelty Show

Good morning everyone! It’s actually Thursday as a write this since Wednesday was so packed for me that I opted for some early morning blogging (it’s 5:45 AM as I write this) rather than to add to my already considerable lack of sleep going into SPIEL this year. But I had a great start! It was all over in a flash and I actually have to go through the pics and audio clips I recorded to reconstruct what happened. So tag along and have fun! Press Conference Since the SPIEL team was once again so kind to provide me a press pass, my morning started heading not to the Messe halls but to the Grugahalle. You might be wondering “the what?” and you wouldn’t be the only one. The Grugahalle is a locally well-known convert and event venue that is situated right next to the conventions halls of the Messe Essen, but most people going to SPIEL will likely never have noticed it. At least a few people I talked had the same reaction as me, which was a sort of “hey, look, there is a build next to…