Similar to E3, Gamescom is an annual event held in Cologne, Germany that celebrates all things video games. Starting on August 20 and running through the 24, several publishers offer visitors an opportunity to try out their latest projects on the showroom floor. Companies like Nintendo, Microsoft, and Google, however, like to kick off the show a day earlier by holding some press conferences of their own, and these are moments that you usually don’t want to miss.
Gamescom differs from E3 in that it doesn’t usually offer a ton of AAA game announcements, but it’s still a great opportunity to see upcoming games in action and learn more about gaming hardware arriving in the future. If you want to catch up on all the presentations, you can learn about the biggest gaming announcements that came from the show below.
Nintendo Indie World Showcase
August 19 at 6 A.M. PT/9 A.M. ET
Nintendo was the first major publisher to reveal new information during Gamescom. The video presentation ran for 20 minutes and focused on indie games coming to the Nintendo Switch. We did a separate round-up on all the games announced during the Indie World Showcase, with some of the biggest titles being Risk of Rain 2, Eastward, Superhot, The Touryst, and the Hotline Miami collection.
Industry analyst Daniel Ahmad correctly predicted one of the games would be an Xbox and Microsoft exclusive during the presentation. This turned out to be Ori and the Blind Forest, which released several years ago to critical acclaim and currently has a sequel in production.
The Nintendo Indie World Showcase at Gamescom can be rewatched on YouTube.
Inside Xbox
August 19 at 8 A.M. PT/11 A.M. ET
Microsoft brought a ton of news to its Gamescom presentation this year, with fresh looks and information on several of its AAA games. During the Inside Xbox event, we learned more about the X019 celebration and news related to the Xbox Game Pass program. We also saw trailers, gameplay, and information on the following:
- PvP mode Ghost War from Ghost Recon Breakpoint
- Metro Exodus’ The Two Colonels DLC (due out tomorrow)
- Blair Witch Insanity story trailer and arrival to Game Pass on release on August 30
- Release trailer of free-to-play loot shooter Vigor
- PUBG PS4 and Xbox One cross-play
- A first look at Horde Mode in Gears 5 and Gears Pop!, a mobile tactics game coming to iOS, Android, and Windows 10
Alongside the games, Microsoft also unveiled two new accessories: Xbox One controllers sporting a grey camo design called Night Ops and another dubbed Sport Blue.
Inside Xbox’s Gamescom presentation can be watched again on YouTube.
Google Stadia Connect
August 19 at 10 A.M. PT/1 P.M. ET
Google has already gone in-depth with its game-streaming service Stadia, detailing the requirements for internet speeds as well as the features it will have. During its Stadia Connect presentation at Gamescom, the focus was taken off of the service itself and onto the game it will launch with.
We reported on the all the titles announced for Stadia at Gamescom, with titles Cyberpunk 2077, Watch Dogs Legion, Darksiders Genesis, and the platform’s timed exclusive Orcs Must Die! 3 being the biggest highlights. Another exclusive for Stadia named Gylt was shown later during Gamescom Opening Night Live.
Though the focus was placed on the games, it would’ve been a great opportunity to show how well Stadia can run games that demand low latency. Mortal Kombat 11 and Samurai Shodown will be coming to the service, and a live match between professional players would have served as a great proof of concept before the service launches later this year. We’d also like to see a glimpse of the exclusive projects Google is preparing for Stadia after its launch.
The Google Stadia Connect at Gamescom can be watched again on YouTube.
Gamescom Opening Night Live
August 19 at 11 A.M. PT/2 P.M. ET
Geoff Keighley closed off the day by hosting Gamescom Opening Night Live, showcasing two hours worth of games from several publishers, including ones that didn’t host their own press conferences.
Games shown during the Gamescom Opening Night Live included Gears 5, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, Death Stranding, Destiny 2: Shadowkeep, Need for Speed: Heat, Comanche, Little Nightmares 2, and Predator: Hunting Grounds. More developers and publishers collaborated with Keighley and this included the likes of 2K Games, Bandai Namco, Capcom, Epic Games, Google, Deep Silver, Private Division, Sega, Square Enix, Sony, THQ Nordic, Ubisoft, and Microsoft.
During the event, major news came from Sony via Twitter revealing the game studio has acquired Insomniac Games, the popular studio behind Marvel’s Spider-man, Sunset Overdrive, Spyro the Dragon, and Ratchet & Clank.
Gamescom Opening Night Live can be watched on YouTube.
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