Gamescom 2020 is coming up next week, and its Opening Night Live show kick-off is set to feature more than 20 games across its two-hour runtime. More than 80 publishers and developers are already lined up to reveal more about their games during the three days of Gamescom, ranging from giants like Activision Blizzard and Electronic Arts to indie developers like Surgeon Simulator creator Bossa Studios.
Like so many other events this year, the fate of Gamescom was unclear until relatively recently due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Gamecom’s organizers assured fans earlier this year that a show was definitely happening in 2020, but what form that show would take was still undecided. Eventually, the German government cracked down on large in-person gatherings, and Gamescom 2020 was officially declared an all-digital event.
That digital show is finally happening next week, beginning on Thursday, August 27th. Gamescom Opening Night Live host Geoff Keighley appeared in a short video on Twitter today to give a few more details about the convention’s opening ceremony. According to Keighley, Opening Night Live will be a two-hour presentation this year, featuring more than 20 games including big-name titles, indie games, and presumably everything in-between. Though Keighley didn’t go into any more specifics, he did say that he’ll start revealing more concrete details about what games will be making appearances on Opening Night Live starting tomorrow, August 21st.
Given that the Xbox Series X and PlayStation 5 are set to release within about three months from now – and E3 left a hole in 2020’s massive trade show schedule – this year’s Gamescom should be a big one. Last year’s event featured announcements about heavy hitters like Monster Hunter World: Iceborne, Borderlands 3, The Witcher 3 Switch port, Destiny 2, Marvel’s Avengers, and Death Stranding, among others. Those are big shoes for Gamescom 2020 to fill, but the list of confirmed partners suggests that this year’s event will make a good attempt to outdo the 2019 edition. There are certainly enough upcoming next-gen games to fill a show with exciting announcements; the real question is whether a spate of recent game delays will also leave Gamescom without enough releases this year to discuss.
Gamescom hasn’t historically played host to big console announcements, but this year has been anything but typical. It’s possible that Sony and Microsoft will be making reveals there, though the big questions of next-gen price and release date are likely to remain mysteries for now. In any case, Gamescom Opening Night Live 2020 promises plenty of reveals for what next-gen players will be testing out their new consoles with for the next year and beyond.
