Gamescom Opening Night Live didn’t happen at the Koelnmesse in Cologne, Germany this year, but it still showed off a variety of new titles for the PC, PS5 and Xbox Series X. With The Game Awards host Geoff Keighley at the helm, Gamescom Opening Night showed off almost 40 new games. Some of the titles, we’ve known about for months; others debuted here for the first time.
While it would take too long to list every new detail we learned about three dozen games, we can share some of the show’s highlights. If you’d prefer to rewatch the whole thing for yourself, you can check out a recording on YouTube. And if you’re still waiting for more news out of Gamescom, the online convention is underway from now until August 30.
- PS5 release date, price, specs, controller and pre-orders
- Everything we know about Xbox Series X
- Plus: PS5 2TB model just leaked — with a crazy high price tag
Otherwise, here are the biggest reveals from Gamescom so far, from Fall Guys: Season 2 to Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart.
Doom Eternal: The Ancient Gods
Doom Eternal is one of the best games of 2020 so far, featuring varied gameplay and a huge variety of enemies to mow down. This fast-paced first-person shooter will get an expansion on October 20 with the release of Doom Eternal: The Ancient Gods: Part One. The Ancient Gods is available for $20 by itself, or as part of Doom Eternal’s $30 Season Pass, and will be available on every platform that the base game supports. If you haven’t yet had your fill of disemboweling demons, The Ancient Gods will give you a few more hours of single-player madness, as well as some multiplayer features.
Dragon Age 4
Fans have been waiting a long time for Dragon Age 4, given that Dragon Age: Inquisition came out all the way back in 2014. At Gamescom, BioWare showed off a “behind-the-scenes” development video, which gave us a glimpse of how Dragon Age 4 is coming along. We didn’t get any concrete gameplay or plot details, but we did see some gorgeous environment renders, as well as heard a few voice actors in action. Mostly, the video is just a good reminder that Dragon Age 4 is in the works, although the game doesn’t look anywhere near done just yet. We’ll probably have to wait another year, at least.
Fall Guys: Season 2
Fall Guys came out of nowhere to become one of the most popular multiplayer games of summer 2020, and the developers are eager to capitalize on the game’s popularity. This “party royale” game will have a second season of content, this time with a medieval swords-and-sorcery theme. Not only will players have to dodge drawbridges and siege towers, but they’ll also be able to unlock armor, wizard robes and other knightly paraphernalia. Fall Guys: Season 2 doesn’t have a hard release date, but expect to see it sooner rather than later. If you’ve been booting up the game to compete every day anyway, you’ll see it when it comes out.
Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart
The Gamescom Opening Night Live stream listed Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart as its star attraction, and Insomniac’s upcoming action/platformer didn’t disappoint. Ever since Sony first announced Rift Apart in June, the new Ratchet & Clank game has been one of the go-to showcases for what the PS5 can do, from its gorgeous graphics to its rapid loading speeds. In an extended gameplay demo, we saw Ratchet and Clank face off against recurring antagonist Dr. Nefarious, then dive through a series of portals into half-a-dozen fully rendered worlds, chock full of enemies and objects. The game will debut within the PS5’s launch window, but possibly not alongside the console itself.
World of Warcraft: Shadowlands
World of Warcraft has been going strong for almost 16 years, and its next expansion proves that the game still has new ground to cover. In World of Warcraft: Shadowlands, players will explore the titular Shadowlands, which are essentially Azeroth’s afterlife. Depending on what kind of life a person lived, he or she may join one of four factions that vie for control of the realm. It seems that back in Warcraft III, Arthas Menethil blurred the line between life and death with his soul-stealing sword, Frostmourne. Blizzard will release a series of four animated shorts to set the stage for the game, the first of which debuted at Gamescom last night. The game itself will come out on October 27.
