This week marked Europe’s biggest gaming event, Gamescom, where developers, publishers, journalists, and fans alike joined up to go hands-on with games coming down the pipeline. From the smallest, most creative indies to the largest AAA thrillers, this year’s event was packed with gaming goodness. As most major gaming events nowadays do, this year’s Gamescom started off with industry hype man Geoff Keighley kicking off the event with a jam-packed Opening Night Live show from Cologne, Germany that featured 35+ games over the course of two hours on Tuesday evening. Opening Night Live highlighted a plethora of diverse titles with new footage of previously announced games and world premieres coupled together. Let’s take a look!
Surprises: Following the successful reboot of Dune with the 2021 film, we’ve seen an interest for more games utilizing the IP with the most recent being the Spring 2022 release of strategy game Dune: Spice Wars. It seems there are more to come though as Keighley sent excitement through the crowd with a world premiere trailer of a new survival MMO in the same universe in Dune: Awakening. The surprises didn’t stop there though. Later on in the show, we got a look at Moonbreaker, a brand-new IP from the creative minds behind award-winning game Subnautica and one of the most legendary fantasy writers of all-time in Brandon Sanderson. And as if those surprises weren’t enough, there was a third that really caught everyone off-guard – 1988 sci-fi horror movie Killer Klowns From Outer Space is getting a video game adaptation. Bet you didn’t have that one on your Gamescom Bingo card!
New Footage: Alongside the surprise world premieres, Gamescom’s ONL show also gave us new looks at a handful of exciting AAA titles. Some of which included: Hogwarts Legacy, Gotham Knights, Sonic Frontiers, The Callisto Protocol, and Genshin Impact’s Version 3.0 update.
Most Anticipated: In terms of awards from this year’s event none stood taller than Neowiz’s Lies of P, a dark, souls-like action RPG based on the classic tale of Pinocchio. It netted multiple awards including “Best Action Adventure Game” and “Best Role Playing Game” and was announced as a Day One title addition for Xbox’s Game Pass subscription service. Next in line was Metal: Hellsinger, a rhythm FPS where your ability to shoot is tied to your ability to stay on beat – pretty much demon slaying with a heavy metal, rhythmic twist. The last game in the top 3 most anticipated list is a game that only won a single award, but finished as the runner-up for quite a few: Plot Twist’s The Last Case of Benedict Fox. First revealed at the Xbox & Bethesda Games Showcase this Summer, this metroidvania platformer is getting planted even further in the minds of gamers as more details are revealed.
By The Numbers: After a short COVID-driven hiatus from hosting in-person events, Gamescom returned with a bang this year, welcoming over 265,000 visitors from over 100 countries. Keighley’s Opening Night Live event also drew in over 12 million views. I think it’s pretty safe to say that Gamescom is very much back as another annual gaming event for gamers worldwide to get excited about.
In addition to the many games mentioned above, the event was home to many, many more. If you’re interested in checking them out, find the full Gamescom Opening Night Live show here, as well as the Gamescom website here. Last, but not least, one of our OTN community members Brian was in attendance showing off Mira and the Legend of the Djinns, a game he is working on as sound designer and composer – be sure to check it out here as well.
Image from: Gamescom
