FOR BUSINESS | gamescom: 23.–27.08.2023 ONL: 22.08.2023

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Review 1st day gamescom 2020

gamescom: Opening Night Live 2020 features numerous deep dives and world premieres

We have compiled all the highlights presented by Geoff Keighly for you.

Den Anfang macht Call of Duty Black Ops Kalter Krieg von Activision

Call of Duty Black Ops Cold War von Activision

A deep dive into the history of 'Call of Duty Black Ops Cold War' gave first insights into the campaign. In the centre: President Ronald Reagan and the assassin Perseus. The game from publisher Activision Blizzard is the direct continuation of the first part of the Black Ops series. In an interview with Geoff Keighly, Dan Vondrak from developer Raven Software spoke about the new Cold War campaign, multiple endings and the new character editor.

In the indie game 'Unknown9: Awakening' by Reflector Entertainment, the little Indian girl Haroona has to fight for her survival in a changing world. The developer announces the game as a "third-person narrative-driven action adventure". The debut trailer with impressive visuals made the anticipation rise. 'Unknown9: Awakening' will be released in 2021 for PC as well as PlayStation 5 and the Xbox Series X.

Doom Eternal from publisher Bethesda was one of the last games to be released just before the Corona crisis. Now the first add-on follows with 'The Ancient Gods': The developers at id software are sending the Slayer into battle against gigantic demons once again, the bombastic trailer gives you a glimpse of new environments and new enemies. Doom Eternal: 'The Ancient Gods' will be released on 20 October 2020 for PC, Xbox One and PS4. The expansion is part of the Season Pass for Doom Eternal.

Surprising insight into Dragon Age 4

To the surprise of many fans, BioWare announced their first votes for the new Dragon Age. The four minute teaser about the game allowed a look behind the scenes, with concept drawings, as well as motion capture and dubbing.

Surgeon 2 Christopher Lloyd alias Doc Brown

Heiß erwartet: Die neue World of Warcraft-Erweiterung ‚Shadowlands‘

Blizzard announced a release date for the next World of Warcraft expansion as part of the stream: On October 27, 2020, the new add-on will be released. Then the four realms of the Shadow Land and the new max-level area "The Pit" will be available for players. Rewards and endgame content will differ depending on the faction the player joins. The beta is already available.

World of Warcraft Shadowlands

'Crash Bandicoot 4: It's about Time' will be released on October 2. N. Sanity Beach is where Crash's adventure began and this is where it begins in Crash 4, but there have been many changes since players first met Crash at N. Sanity Beach many years ago - during the Opening Night Light, Activision showed more gameplay material on the platformer. Lou Studdert from developer Toys 4 Bob teased out the new flashback levels and how they will revolutionize the game.

With mask and impulse rifle into the battle: The first gameplay trailer for 'Outriders' let the audience dive into the opponent diversity of the "People can Fly" shooter for the first time. The Square Enix co-op shooter will be released in 2021 for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X and Stadia.

It continued with WWE 2K Battlegrounds with comic-style visuals and supernatural abilities. First ingame scenes with various WWE legends were also shown. Among others: the Undertaker. The wrestling video game, developed by Sabre Interactive and published by 2K Sports, is a spin-off of WWE 2K20. Release date is September 18, 2020.

Small nightmares, great destruction

Following new material on the arcade soccer game 'Captain Tsubasa: Rise of New Champions' (now available for PC, Play Station 4 and Nintendo Switch), publisher Bandai Namco also showed a trailer for Little Nightmares II, the successor to the dark adventure game that was launched as an indie hit in 2017, 2020 Six and Mono sends Six and Mono on another journey and confronts them with a number of new threats.

'Nekromunda: Underhive Wars' is the perfect game for fans of classic tabletop games. The video game offshoot of the world-famous "board game" takes players to the depths of Necromunda, where they fight in tactical battles with hostile gangs for power, wealth, honor and survival. The turn-based tactical game will be released by developer Rogue Factor and publisher Focus Home Interactive on September 7, 2020.

The new game 'Teardown' by Tuxedo Labs is about tearing down a world built of pixel blocks so that the way is paved for the perfect raid. The great destruction is scheduled for release in 2020 - the trailer shown at gamescom: Opening Night Live promised great fun for fans of block and puzzle games.

Star Wars: Squadrons

Electronic Arts (EA) presented three titles from the Star Wars universe: On October 2nd the space adventure 'Star Wars: Squadrons' will be released. The mixture of shooter and flight simulation is in the tradition of the film series with bombastic graphics and effective space battles. The story is set shortly after the destruction of Alderaan by the Death Star. Players can choose whether they want to sit in the cockpit as pilots of the Empire or rebel pilots.

Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga

The film adaptation for the whole family is newly released in the form of 'Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga'. With humor and a lot of love for details EA sets brick on brick. The Skywalker Saga will be released on PC and consoles already on September 08th.

Star Wars: Journey to Batuu

And also the Sims 4 will get a Star Wars expansion: Also on September 8th the add-on 'Star Wars: Journey to Batuu Gameplay Pack' will be released for PC, PS4 and Xbox One. The expansion takes place on the planet Batuu on the edge of the Outer Rim territory. As newcomers to Batuu, the Sims discover authentic environments and soundscapes from the Star Wars universe, including the Millennium Falcon and the interstellar hits of DJ R-3X at Oga's Cantina.

Large variety of genres

Large variety of genres

The MMO shooter 'Warframe' by Digital Extremes and Panic Button Games presented itself with a fancy trailer for the new content update 'Heart of Daemos' (released on August 25th). The new Open World offers among other things constantly changing tunnels dug by worms and giant flies as a means of transport. Even the ship of the players is changing due to a parasitic organism that has settled down in a room there a while ago and now screws around with the warframes.

In the interactive thriller 'Twelve Minutes' by creator Luis Antonio, players have to make new decisions again and again to influence the plot. Acting legends such as James McAvoy and Willem Dafoe are also involved. The game is scheduled for release by Annapurna Interactive in 2020.

The 'Godfall', which the developer Counterplay calls "looter-slasher", offers action-packed close combat in third person, a co-op mode for 2-3 players and single players as well as legendary weapons and armor. Godfall will be released together with Playstation 5 and will also be available for PC. Publisher is Gearbox.

It continued with another world premiere including in-engine footage. 'Override 2: Super Mech League' is a beat-me-up with robots fighting each other with frying pans and bubbles of chewing gum. Beta registration is now open, the release is planned for Christmas 2020.

The family calls and even more world premieres

2K and Hangar 13 celebrated the premiere of a new story trailer for 'Mafia: Definitive Edition' at the official gamescom: Opening Night Live. The second detailed story trailer shows how the protagonist Tommy Angelo learns the important lesson that loyalty to the family, despite the costs involved, can give him a level of wealth and power he could only dream of as a taxi driver.

'Lemnis Gate' by developer Ratloop Games Canada extends the popular first-person shooter genre with a new strategic aspect: Past, present and future collide directly with each other. Players use the power of time to outwit and outwit their opponents in turn-based time loops. Players have 25 seconds to carry out an action, whether it is fighting an opponent, controlling a character or preparing their next move. The game will be released in early 2021 for PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.

Next world premiere: 'Chorus' is a new space shooter from Hamburg-based developer Fishlabs. In the single player title, players slip into the role of Nara, who is on the hunt for a dark cult with her space fighter Forsaken. In doing so, she even breaks through the boundaries of reality. The game from publisher Deep Silver will be released in 2021 for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X and Google Stadia.

The game Fall Guys has only been causing a furore in the community for a month. At gamescom: Opening Night Live, developer Mediatonic showed a trailer for Season 2 for the first time: This takes players back to the Middle Ages - with castles, dragons and knights. The new mini-games, which are available in Fall Guys in Season 2, are designed accordingly. The unlocking of the new season should take place in a few weeks.

'Wasteland 3' for Windows, Xbox One and Playstation 4 will be released on 28 August and the cult RPG was presented in a final trailer at gamescom: Opening Night Live before the start. The game from developer inXile Entertainment offers exactly what fans of the series expect: challenging fights, a crazy story, crazy characters, morally hopeless situations and lots of humour.

The developers at Respawn Entertainment have also come up with something special for the new 'Medal of Honor: Above and Beyond'. War experience completely in VR - not for the faint hearted, but technically very far ahead, as Geoff Keighley pointed out in an interview with Game Director Peter Hirschmann. In addition to the campaign, which will be fully playable in virtual reality, other modes will be included exclusively for the Oculus VR glasses. Hirschmann said that the aim is to tell a tragic anti-war story and be as close to the story as no other World War II shooter has ever been before.

And another world premiere at gamescom: Opening Night Live. The comic adventure 'Spellbreak' by developer Proletariat will be released for free on 3 September for PC, Xbox One, PS4 and Nintendo Switch. Spellbreak' is set to deliver a AAA fantasy battle royal gaming experience, peppered with magical battles and powerful spells. Players select a class in the game, unleash powerful combos and fight their way up to become the ultimate battle mage.

A German legend also returned during the opening show: On the 30th birthday of 'Turrican', the explosive Metroidvania platformer of Factor 5, the series is finally back. The classic for C64 and Amiga from 1990 attracted attention back then with its technical perfection and extraordinary graphics. A varied gaming experience, the high intelligence of the opponents, many expandable weapons as well as the very precise and well thought-out controls set new standards. One can be curious how the new edition will look like.

Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart

gamescom_20_Ratchet-and-Clank_Chris-Smith_Mark-Daly_Insomniac-Games

The worthy conclusion of the show was the seven-minute trailer of "Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart" by Insomniac Games with exclusive gameplay on the PS5. The trailer impressively demonstrated the possibilities of next-gen consoles - from reflections on the floor to particle effects and smooth switching between worlds. Chris Smith of Insomniac Games and Game Director Mark Daly confirmed once again that there will be no classic loading times in Rift Apart. The game will be released with the Playstation.

gamescom awards 2020 - First winners announced

Geoff Keighley

The first winners of the gamescom awards 2020 have been announced. During the gamescom: Opening Night Live, hosted by Geoff Keighley, the gamescom awards were presented in four genre and three platform categories.

The Ubisoft title "Watch Dogs Legion" won in the category Best Action Adventure Game, Electronic Arts can be happy about the award of its title "Star Wars: Squadrons" as Best Action Game and "Curious Expedition 2" by Maschinen-Mensch was awarded as Best Indie Game.

In the category Platform, "Tell Me Why" was also awarded Best Microsoft Xbox Game, "Little Nightmares 2" Best Nintendo Switch Game and "Cyberpunk 2077" Best Sony PlayStation Game.

All winning titles in the category groups Genre and Platform have the chance to be awarded the main prize Best of gamescom by the gamescom award jury. During gamescom, the international jury will also decide on the categories Best Announcement, Best Lineup, Best Presentation/Trailer and will award the HEART OF GAMING Award as a special prize of the jury.

All other genre and platform categories, the gamescom global Awards and the Consumer Awards will be announced on Sunday, August 30, 2020, starting at 8:00 p.m. (CEST) during gamescom: Best Of Show.