Gamescom 2023: Opening Night Live - everything announced during two hour showcase event

Rebecca Braybrook
·6-min read
Gamescom had over thirty announcements in Opening Night Live
Gamescom had over thirty announcements in Opening Night Live

Gamescom 2023 is officially underway and kicked off last night (August 22) with Opening Night Live. The main showcase for the event was broadcast across YouTube and Twitch with two hours of announcements and trailers for upcoming games.

The event kicked off with its usual pre-show which displayed a host of new trailers for some games. Fans were given a new look of Starfield, Mortal Kombat 1 and Alan Wake 2, with something for everyone included in the show.

There was lots on display during Opening Night Live - here’s everything that was announced:

Gamescom is set to go live here this week
Gamescom is set to go live here this week

Gamescom: Opening Night Live announcements

Opening Night Live kicked off with a performance by Starfield composer Inon Zur. The performance was then followed by a live-action trailer that teased some of the new adventures that fans can expect from the game when it launches on September 6.

Starfield director Todd Howard joined presenter Geoff Keighley onstage to talk about the latest game by Bethesda, in their first new universe in over 25 years. Howard showed off some more of the game in action just weeks ahead of the games launch.

The creators behind Little Nightmares have announced the release of Little Nightmares 3 with a new trailer that showcased the co-op gameplay. Two characters were seen exploring a brand new world full of spooky surprises.

The team had an additional surprise with fans, alongside the announcement of Little Nightmares III, they announced a new podcast series called The Sounds of Nightmares, which is now available on a host of streaming platforms.

A new gameplay trailer for Black Myth: Wukong began with a headless human playing an instrument before embarking on an action-packed trailer. The game had a soulslike feel and fans were also treated to a hands-on preview earlier this week.

Gamescom Opening Night Live 3 had a gory announcement trailer for Killing Floor 3. The intense trailer showcased some intense enemies, as well as revealing that the game will be coming to PS5, Xbox Series X|S and PC.

Age of Empires IV is now available to players on Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One and Xbox Game Pass. The new Anniversary Edition has been released on console with new native inputs for controllers and a console tutorial for players.

The wait is over for fans anticipating more from Pearl Abyss’ Crimson Desert. A lengthy gameplay trailer was announced which gives players a new look at what to expect from the game, including combat features, daily tasks and petting dogs.

Diablo 4 will be getting a second season called Season of Blood on October 17, 2023. Players will be played alongside a vampire hunter companion called Erys.

A new Payday 3 trailer was introduced by Ice-T and showed off the Port Jersey Heist, where the rapper voices one of the characters. The game is just a month away from launch on September 21.

Alan Wake 2 is just a couple of months away from releasing, dropping on consoles on October 17, 2023. A new trailer gave a look at The Dark Place which is a dream reality inside Alan’s own mind.

Assassin’s Creed: Mirage has just had its release brought forward to October 5, 2023 after a huge number of sales. A new gameplay trailer was showcased, which revealed more about ninth-century Baghdad and looked more at the main character Basim, who also appeared in Assassin’s Creed Valhalla.

The publisher behind Untitled Goose Game has announced Thank Goodness You’re Here, which is a quirky hand-drawn art style game. In the wacky trailer, fans were seen some chaotic moments including someone’s pants falling down and someone bouncing off someone else’s butt.

Narrative-driven action-adventure game Dustborn has been announced by Quantic Dream. The game has been described as about “hope, love, friendships, robots… and the power of words” and players will be building relationships with their crew as they travel across the country.

A new gameplay trailer was released for Mortal Kombat 1 which revealed that Sindel and General Shao will be joining the game, with Mataro and Shujinko being added as Kameo characters.

A new gameplay trailer was revealed for Cyberpunk 2077’s DLC Phantom Liberty. However CD Projekt Red has also confirmed that no matter if they have the DLC, players will get access to a 2.0 update which will bring a host of improvements to the game.

The trailer gave fans a new look at Phantom Liberty before its release on September 26.

SEGA have finally announced that Sonic Superstars will be released on October 17, 2023. A new gameplay trailer showed off co-op that can be enjoyed with up to four players.

Sonic Frontiers is getting a free update later this year called The Final Horizon, which will add a new story and playable characters to the game.

Bandai Namco have officially announced the release date for Tekken 8. The game will release on PS5, Xbox Series X|S and PC on January 26, 2024, with fans being given a new look at the game’s single-player mode.

Call of Duty fans were given an extended look at the new Modern Warfare 3 gameplay and a look at the game’s first level, Operation 627. Fans were left delighted after it was revealed that players will be sent to Verdansk, which is the setting of the original Warzone game.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 is set to be released on November 10, 2023.

Opening Night Live saw the release of a new trailer for Nightingale, the Victorian, fantasy-themed survival game. It was also confirmed that the game will have its Early Access date pushed back from this year to February 22, 2024.

Granblue Fantasy: Relink has an official release date for February 1, 2024 on PS5, PS4 and PC. The action RPG has faced a slight delay by developers Cygames, but this gives fans plenty of time to get excited for the game.

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