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Everything announced at Gamescom Opening Night Live 2023

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Geoff Keighley presents at Gamescom Opening Night Live.
Geoff Keighley
This story is part of the Digital Trends Summer Gaming Marathon series

Gamescom, one of the largest video game expos in the world, takes place this week in Germany. To kick things off, Geoff Keighley held another Gamescom Opening Night Live showcase to give us an update on what’s in store from the gaming industry, with a slight focus on already announced titles and games by European studios. Keighley and influencer Jasmin Gnu hosted the main event following a pre-show hosted by Kyle Bosman.

While the show was long and slow-paced, we did get plenty of new looks at upcoming games like Mortal Kombat 1, Assassin’s Creed Mirage, Alan Wake 2, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III, and Tekken 8. Director Zack Snyder even swung by to debut a trailer for Rebel Moon during the show. It’s a lot to keep track of, but we’ve rounded up everything announced at Gamescom Opening Night Live 2023 and its pre-show right here.

gamescom Opening Night Live 2023: Tuesday, August 22 (OFFICIAL LIVESTREAM)

Bethesda gave a final deep dive into Starfield

Starfield – Live Action Trailer

Ahead of its launch next month, Starfield had a big presence to kick off Gamescom Opening Night Live. To start, composer Inon Zur performed a piece of music from the game, which was followed by the debut of a live-action trailer.

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After a brief interruption by a couple of pranksters who stormed the stage to yell about Grand Theft Auto 6, Bethesda’s Todd Howard came on stage and discussed why the studio wanted to make a sci-fi game with the studio’s trademark player freedom. Starfield launches for PC and Xbox Series X/S on September 6.

Zack Snyder reveals Rebel Moon teaser and video game

Rebel Moon | Official Teaser Trailer | Netflix

Director Zack Snyder came on stage at Gamescom Opening Night Live to debut the first teaser trailer for his upcoming Netflix movie Rebel Moon. This sci-fi film already looks visually stunning, with even this somewhat brief trailer containing some visually exciting set pieces.

Before he showed the trailer, Snyder confirmed that a Rebel Moon game is in development by Super Evil Megacorp for Netflix Games. Rebel Moon Part 1: A Child of Fire comes to Netflix on December 22. while Part 2: The Scargiver comes out on April 19, 2024.

Tekken 8 launches on January 26, 2024

Tekken 8 World Premiere Trailer | gamescom Opening Night Live 2023 #ONL

Following a leak, we got confirmation during Gamescom Opening Night Live that Tekken 8 will release on January 26, 2024. That makes it one of the first significant game launches of next year and gives pro players ample time to learn it ahead of EVO 2024. This date was revealed at the end of an exciting new trailer that showed off a new mode called Arcade Quest, where players make Avatars and play matches in an Arcade setting. Tekken 8 releases for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S on January 26, 2024.

Sonic Superstars comes out this October

Sonic Superstars - Multiplayer Trailer

Keighley helped reveal Sonic Superstars at Summer Game Fest this year, and the game returned at Gamescom Opening Night Live to show off its release date. That came alongside a new trailer, which highlighted all four new characters, co-op play, and a battle mod. It all capped off with the reveal that Sonic Superstars will release across PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, and Nintendo Switch on October 17, further cementing that month as one of the busiest of the year for games.

Gameplay improvements coming to Cyberpunk 2077

Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty — New Ways to Play

On September 26, CD Projekt Red will release Phantom Liberty, the first expansion for Cyberpunk 2077. The Polish developer is using the release of this expansion to bring many improvements to the game, including a revamped police system, vehicle combat, better combat AI, a redesigned perk system, an increased level cap, and more.

You don’t need to buy the expansion to get many of these improvements, though, as Update 2.0 will bring these new features to the base game on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S on September 26 as well. Unfortunately, that means last-gen players are out of luck when it comes to getting the improved version of Cyberpunk 2077.

We saw Alan Wake II from the titular character’s perspective

Alan Wake World Premiere Trailer | gamescom Opening Night Live 2023 #ONL

To end the show, Sam Lake came on stage to show off Alan Wake II. Specifically, we finally got to see the game in action from Alan’s perspective, where The Dark Place is a demented version of New York. We also learned that the game will heavily incorporate live-action scenes into the experience. It certainly looks like this will be Remedy’s scariest and most mind-bending game yet. Alan Wake II launches on October 27.

Everything else

  • Little Nightmares III launches in 2024 and will support two-player online co-op.
  • The Sounds of Nightmares is a Little Nightmares podcast that begins today.
  • Black Myth: Wukong finally reappeared after its viral reveal a couple of years ago with a new trailer.
  • Killing Floor III was announced with a new trailer showing how its enemies are made.
  • Age of Empires IV is available now for Xbox Series X/S.
  • Crimson Desert got a fresh gameplay trailer.
  • Ice-T showed off a special Payday 3 heist he is a part of.
  • Assassin’s Creed Mirage got a new trailer showing off its Baghdad setting.
  • Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III got an extended gameplay focused on its open-ended story missions.
  • Nightingale hits early access on Steam and Epic Games Store on February 22, 2024.
  • Granbrue Fantasy: Relink will now launch on February 1, 2024.
  • Immortals of Aveum, out today, got a quick launch trailer.
  • Zenless Zone Zero got a new trailer.
  • Honkai Star Rail will hold a PS5 tech test on August 23.
  • We got a trailer showing off new Genshin Impact content.
  • Lords of the Fallen got a new story-focused trailer.
  • Sonic Frontiers free Final Horizon update launches on September 28.
  • The First Descendant got a cinematic trailer ahead of its next beta.
  • Quantic Dream-published indie Under the Waves received a launch trailer.
  • Multiple Xbox Game Pass sizzle reels showed off upcoming day-one releases.
  • Troy Baker, Roger Clark, and Julia Brown came on stage to discuss Fort Solis, which is available now.
  • Saber Interactive and Focus Entertainment announced Expeditions, a successor to Snowrunner and Mudrunner.
  • The Crew Motorfest received a new trailer and will have a five-hour free trial ahead of launch.
  • Stormgate got a new trailer that showed off a new faction.
  • Last Epoch: Runes of Power got a new trailer.
  • Marvel Snap has exited early access on PC.
  • Armored Core VI: Fires of Rubicon got a new trailer ahead of its release later this week.
  • Nexon released a new cinematic trailer for Warhaven.
  • Mortal Kombat 1 got a new trailer revealing Shao Kahn and Sindel as new fighters and Shujinko and Motaro as Kameos.
  • Ara: History Untold got a new trailer.
  • Diablo IV Season of Blood received a teaser trailer ahead of its release this October.
  • Dustborn was revealed with an early 2024 release window.
  • Publisher Panic revealed Thank Goodness You’re Here.

Pre-show announcements

  • Streets of Rogue 2 got its first gameplay trailer and was pushed back to 2024.
  • Mandragora was revealed and comes out in 2024.
  • Lysfanga: The Time Shift Warrior received a new trailer and early 2024 release window.
  • Endzone 2 was announced and will launch next Spring.
  • Bulletstorm VR got a new trailer.
  • A new trailer gave an overview of Fae Farm ahead of its September launch.
  • The 7th Guest’s VR remake launches on October 19.
  • A gameplay trailer for indie horror game Post Trauma revealed a spring 2024 release window.
  • Warhammer Age of Sigmar: Realms of Ruin got a new trailer and November 17 release date.
  • The Delta Force series is coming back with a new game available across PC, console, and mobile.
  • Homeworld 3 received a new trailer ahead of its February 2024 launch.

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Tomas Franzese
Gaming Staff Writer
Tomas Franzese is a Staff Writer at Digital Trends, where he reports on and reviews the latest releases and exciting…
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