Ryan Laley, the solo indie developer behind upcoming asymmetrical horror game Mimic, has shared a video confirming his gamescom was “cut short” after he and other developers had their laptops stolen.
A teary Laley took to X/Twitter to share a video explaining why his “gamescom is over early,” saying that “all our laptops have been stolen” after he and others had their booths “raided” overnight. Bringing Mimic to the Cologne, Germany gaming event meant getting the opportunity to show it off to a new audience of potential partners and eager gamers alike, but stolen gear would bring that dream to an end.
“As an indie, solo dev, this s**t’s expensive and hard to do all by yourself,” he said. “And to have this happen is beyond frustrating – it’s heartbreaking.”
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 went on, saying the gamescom theft was reported to the proper security teams and authorities. Despite the effort he and others were putting in, he noted, “I don’t expect it, obviously, to be found or returned.”
“I don’t know what I’m going to do now,” he added. “I can’t do my job. We’ll post updates if I get any updates, but effectively, gamescom is over for me.”
gamescom kicked off when Opening Night Live (ONL) aired Tuesday, August 25, letting developers loose for the rest of the week to show what they bring to the table. At the time of this story’s publication, there are still more than two days left in the show, making Laley’s loss an especially painful one. Thankfully, his story and video gained enough traction to reach the eyes of developers looking to help.
The Witcher 3 and Cyberpunk 2077 team at CD Projekt Red quickly chimed in, apologizing to Laley for the circumstances he’d been thrust into. They admitted they wouldn’t be able to “help right this second,” but they did promise to “send a few things” his way.
“No choom should have to start from zero,” its post said.
Gaming industry expert and Don’t Scream developer Joe Henson (a.k.a. Indie Game Joe) went as far as to post a video message reply offering his support. It’s an offer that Laley seems to have accepted.
Thank you for the support everyone. Long crazy day.
I’m still around this weekend if you want to catch up at Gamescom. I’ll be boothless but still in my Mimic shirt (a fresh one DW) so come say hi if you see me 🙂
Looking forward to meeting other Devs and trying out their… pic.twitter.com/b0gro1BL0Y
— Mimic | Ryan Laley (@RyanLaley) August 28, 2026
Thank you everyone for outpouring of love and support today! You are the reason why I love this industry
❤️
— Mimic | Ryan Laley (@RyanLaley) August 28, 2026
“Thank you everyone so much for your support and love,” he said in a follow-up post. “I’m trying to say thanks to everyone, but honestly, my fingers aren’t fast enough. Huge shout-out and thanks to @IndieGameJoe, who kindly donated the money to replace my stolen hardware. He truly is a champion for the little guys, and [I’m] so thankful for his support towards all of us indies!”
Laley returned with an additional post later, thanking everyone again for their support. Although he will no longer have his booth, he still encouraged anyone interested in Mimic to find him at gamescom.
“Words can’t describe how much I’m grateful for everyone’s support,” he said. “I’m a mentor and trainer in Unreal Engine, I train a lot of people up and go to a lot of universities, talk to a lot of students who want to get into games, and one of the things I always say to them is how friendly and warm and supportive of each other it is. Today is just evident of that. Proof that you guys are amazing.”
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.
These were machines we were using to demo iam8bit Presents titles Petal Runner and Escape Academy 2 to…
— iam8bit @ gamescom hall 5.2 stand C051 (@iam8bit) August 28, 2026
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
Unfortunately, Laley was far from the only person affected by thieves at gamescom. Publisher and pop-culture collectible company iam8bit shared its own message reporting stolen goods at gamescom, saying that it had two laptops taken overnight. It added that, “on top of disrupting our very busy appointment schedule, this theft has potentially put unfinished builds of these games at risk of being leaked.”
Tessera Studios, which is working on the game show-inspired The Zibbo Show, also published a video announcing it had been “robbed at gamescom.” They called the damage it’s caused the team “pretty huge.”
For now, gamescom organizers have yet to publicly comment on the reports of theft at the event. IGN has reached out for comment.
Michael Cripe is a freelance writer with IGN. He’s best known for his work at sites like The Pitch, The Escapist, and OnlySP. Be sure to give him a follow on Bluesky (@mikecripe.bsky.social) and Twitter (@MikeCripe).
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