Another year, another Gamescom, and another Geoff Keighley-hosted Opening Night Live event stacked with fresh looks at upcoming games, the odd new announcement or two and some welcome surprises.
In case you happened to not be in Cologne, Germany or awake at 4AM AEST today, we’ve done the latter for you and watched it all unfold live from the comfort of our desks so we can bring you a run down of everything that went down.
Check a look:
Everything Announced At Gamescom Opening Night Live 2023
Remember Starfield?
The show opened with a very intimate performance of the Starfield theme. Well, as intimate as watching a guy play the Starfield theme on a little piano in Germany via livestream. This was followed by a flashy live-action teaser for the game with a Hollywood-style cover of Rocket Man playing over the top.
Another Stage Crasher
Yikes. Geoff was just telling us about how he’s playing Starfield and we aren’t. We all want GTA 6, my guy.
Okay, Back To Starfield
Somehow, Todd Howard has never been to Gamescom before. I went last year, it was lovely. Hope he’s having a nice time. They built a 300-seat theatre to show people the beginning of the game – which releases very soon.
Little Nightmares 3 Is Coming And It Has Co-op!
A brand-new announcement for a sequel I’m super excited about, it has a distinctly different and more desert-punk kinda vibe and I’m here for it. The game can be played in single player or online co-op which is cool. It’s coming in 2024… oh, and it’s being developed by Supermassive Games this time??
Black Myth: Wukong Is Still Happening
These trailers always look impossibly good and– is that a headless guy playing an instrument? Dope. Anyway, yeah, “Monkey King soulslike” with gorgeous visuals is sure to be a winner. It really does look killer.
Killing Floor 3 Got Announced
With a very violent Build-a-Specimen.
Age of Empires IV On Xbox Will Give Me A Reason To Finally Play Age of Empires IV
I’d well and truly fallen off the franchise by the time this game rolled around but I reckon it’s time to give it another go. It looks nice, and the Age of Empires II Anniversary Edition was ace. Also, it’s out right now! Woo!!
Zack Snyder Was Here To Plug His Movie
Man really knows how to work a room. Not a stage, though. There’s a Rebel Moon video game coming, which will expand the universe of the films and feature co-op play and all that jazz. The films look pretty cool, too. Part 1 is out on December 22nd and Part 2 is out April 19th next year.
Crimson Desert Lets You Steal Carts GTA-Style
The folks at Pearl Abyss have put together a new trailer to remind everyone this game still exists. It has tons of explosions and wooden structures falling down. Honestly, just so many fallen wooden structures and explosions and exploded wooden structures.
Also, who needs GTA 6 when you fantasy hero can kick folks off of their carts and ride off with them? This game looks too gorgeous and gameplay-rich to be real, surely?
Ice T Must Have Needed A Payday Of His Own
The man has his own heist mission in Payday 3, because he’s a self-proclaimed heist expert or something. It’s a shipping container showdown and actually looks pretty cool.
I Feel Like I Know Too Much About Assassin’s Creed Mirage At This Point
Look, I’m super keen for this one, but maybe leave some mystery for the release? This particular trailer is more flash than substance, at least. And it has full Arabic voice work, which is neat. October 5th is very soon!
Harada-San Is Here!
The director of Tekken 8 brought along a brand-new trailer for the game, which confirms that recently-leaked release date of January 26th next year. There’s also a new single-player mode called Arcade Quest which looks like a fun celebration of the franchise’s roots and apparently has some sort of machine learning/AI features in parts?
Have Some Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 Campaign Gameplay
16 remade multiplayer maps from the original Modern Warfare 2, an open-world Zombies mode set in-universe and a huge campaign are just some of the things you can expect from this game outside of tweens breathing into their Turtle Beach headset microphones.
There are also new “Open Combat Missions” in the campaign that give players more freedom in how they play through certain missions in an open and reactive way. You can even use Killstreaks! Here’s a look at the first level of the game’s campaign:
I Really Want To Play Nightingale (And I Can Next Year)
It’s finally nearly time to play this thing, with Early Access kicking off on February 22nd, 2024. Sure, there are plenty of early access survival games already but I dig the vibe here.
Granblue Fantasy: Relink Is My Dream Anime-As-Hell RPG
This thing’s been coming out for ages, and I can’t wait to get my hands on it. Apparently folks at Gamescom are able to do just that, which I’m a little jealous about. It’s coming on February 1st, 2024 which is exciting and there are a couple of no-doubt-pricey special editions for me to waste cash on.
Gina Torres! And Immortals of Aveum, I Guess
We just published our review for this game, and James reckons it’s absolutely worth paying attention to. So go read that here if you’re on the fence about getting stuck into Ascendant Studios and EA Originals’ flashy single-player magic-slinging FPS.
Zenless Zone Zero Looks Zuper Zexy
The acronym for this game might be “ZZZ” but it looks anything but tired. This next project from miHoYo is apparently progressing nicely, and the new trailer dropped at Gamescom ONL looks super stylish and super anime.
Honkai Star Rail, Too!
Another miHoYo joint, this time one that’s already out on a couple platforms but PlayStation fans will soon be able to try it out for themselves with a PS5 Technical Test taking sign-ups starting today!
Aaaaand Genshin Impact
Wow, these guys just won’t quit. They also brought with them a new trailer for Genshin showing off the new Fontaine region.
Confirmed, Lords Of The Fallen Will Have A Story
Those folks at Hexworks and CI Games brought along a new Story Trailer for their new take on Lords of the Fallen, which looks heaps more interesting than the first go around.
Sonic Superstars (And Every Other Game) Is Coming In October
A brand-new trailer for a super exciting Sonic the Hedgehog release. With four-player co-op, character customisation and all kinds of quirky new features I can’t wait to get my hands on this, and that wait won’t be very long at all – the game’s out on October 17th. Just in case October wasn’t already stacked enough.
More Sonic Frontiers Is Just What the Dr Robotnik Ordered
It’s called The Final Horizon and although we only got a short CG teaser I can’t wait. It’s a free update coming on September 28th and will feature new story, new playable characters and new challenges. Yay!
The First Descendant Looks A Bit Cool
It’s giving Live Service RPG Shooter in a big way, but I dig the sci-fi anime bullshittery of it all. Bunny girl power suits? Sold. There’s a cross-play open beta happening in October if you’re keen.
Cuttin’ A Rug Here Under The Sea Waves
This Quantic Dream-published undersea thriller experience still seems worth looking into. The ocean is scary, man. It’s out soon too on August 29th.
Fort Solis Is Out Now, Features Walking
Troy Baker, Roger Clark and Julia Brown hit the stage to talk about Fort Solis, which just launched and is… okay? We have a review live for the game, and it’s definitely worth a look-in if you’re into slow burn narrative sci-fi stuff but keep your expectations tempered.
That’s Not Going To Buff Out
From the folks that brought you Mudrunner and Snowrunner comes Expeditions: A Mudrunner Game. It’s wild how in-depth and gorgeous these games look. I’m tempted to give this one a go.
The Crew Motorfest Is Making A Car Lover Out Of Me
More cars, except these ones aren’t getting stuck in mud. We’ve had a few chances to check this game out and it continues to be an impressive taken on the whole open world car culture celebration driving game schtick. Keep your eye on this game when it launches on September 14th, especially because there’ll be a free five-hour trial.
Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty Might Finally Convince Me To Finish Cyberpunk 2077
Talk about a turnaround. This expansion looks sick, and it heralds a bunch of improvements to the game along with the new area and content to play through. There’s even vehicle combat! Gnarly. A bunch of the enhancements will be coming to everyone for free on current-gen consoles and PC as Version 2.0 of the game.
Stormgate Is Bringing Classic RTS Back
This looks like one for the fans of old-school Warcraft and Starcraft. Apparently the Chainsmokers are consulting on the soundtrack, which is random.
Phil Spencer Is Here!
Big Phil rocked up to accept the Green Studio of the Year Award for Xbox’s work in having a green logo sustainability. Nice.
The Last Epoch Isn’t New But It Looks Cool
I hadn’t heard of this game, but it’s in early access right now apparently and looks pretty dense and rewarding for ARPG fans. A new class was introduced, but I guess all of the game’s classes are new if you haven’t played it before. Maybe you will after seeing this:
Marvel Snap While You Work
The incredibly-addictive digital card game that I can’t get enough of has made things worse by releasing a native PC version that’s available now on Steam. I’ve been playing the game on PC through Steam for a while and it was already great, so I’m not sure how different this is but I will report back (I won’t, because I’ll be playing Marvel Snap).
Armored Core VI Is Nearly Upon Us
Super enthused for this, despite how badly the PS2 games kicked my arse. Comes out this week!
Warhaven Has Really Good Swords
I was on board until Geoff said it was a melee multiplayer PvP game. I’m not good at those. It’s coming September 21st.
These Mortals Sure Do Love Kombatting
Big Ed Boon hit the stage to debut a brand-new trailer for the game and although I don’t know enough to know why some of the reveals here might be super exciting, I’m led to believe that they are. Oh! I know Raiden. Check it:
Ara: History Untold Will Let You Do The Telling
If I could control and shape an alternate history, I would simply do everything right, instead of the way that people in history did it.
Hope You’re Not Sick Of Diablo IV Yet
There’re more seasons of content coming, naturally. Season of Blood is coming in October and is appropriately very vampire-themed.
Hope, Love, Friendship And Robots Come Together In Dustborn
This looks great, and it’s coming next year.
Thank Goodness You’re Here!
No, that’s not directed at you. It’s the title of a game that I think I definitely want to play or at least have played at me. Just watch:
Alan Wake 2 Will Feature Alan Wake
Sam Lake showed off some new Alan Wake II gameplay, which shows off how the studio is doing the thing it loves and mixing mediums together, especially live action footage. This game is going to be the tits when it launches on October 27th. Take a look for yourself:
The Game Awards Will Return
Thursday, December 7th. See you there.
