Gamescom Opening Night Live is happening today! It's August 22, which means we're just about to role into Gamescom 2023, which is happening over in Cologne, Germany. To kick things off, Geoff Keighley is hosting his annual Opening Night Live or ONL event, which starts at 11AM PT / 2PM ET / 7PM BST/ 8PM CEST. There's also a pre-show that starts half an hour before that too.
All that's going on can be found in our Gamescom 2023 schedule
After ONL, Gamescom 2023 itself starts properly. You can check our schedule for everything that's happening this week, and follow our Gamescom 2023 coverage as it happens too.
There are quite a few events other than ONL happening this week, including our very own Future Games Show Gamescom showcase tomorrow at 11AM PT / 2PM ET / 7PM BST/ 8PM CEST. There's also a Cyberpunk stream, Destiny event, and other streams that we'll be keeping you abreast of here.
You can follow this Gamescom live blog all week, as we'll be bringing you news, updates, and previews both here from the home team and from our crew on the ground in Cologne.
So yes, let's kick this all off shall we! In the lead up to ONL and the other Gamescom events, we'll be rounding up all the rumours and info that's out there.
Stick with me - Sam! - and let's give it a rundown shall we?
First up, let's talk about ONL itself. Gamescom: Opening Night Live is the show that kicks off Gamescom entirely. Geoff Keighley is our host, and he'll be running us through a show containing new trailers, gameplay reveals, dev and creator talks, and more.
Interestingly, Keighley himself has been keen to stress not to expect too many major reveals at ONL this year. Back on August 19, he tweeted that although there are "lots of great games on stage", the show is "primarily focused on announced titles".
"Like ONL in past years, this is not a show with surprise announcements or 'one more things'," he added.
We are excited for @gamescom ONL, streaming on Tuesday from Germany!Lots of great games on stage, primarily focused on announced titles - and there are so many. Like ONL in past years, this is not a show with surprise announcements or “one more things.”August 19, 2023
Keighley has also followed that up with a reminder today, saying that "much of tonight’s program has been pre-announced so you know what to expect".
Honestly, with the schedule for new games launching before the end of the year, I'm not sure the GR+ team - or our wallets - could cope with many more new games or release date reveals this side of the holidays.
Show day for @gamescom Opening Night Live.As a reminder, much of tonight’s program has been pre announced so you know what to expect. Lots of great games on stage, leading into a very busy few months for games!Hope you enjoy the show!August 22, 2023
By that he means that a lot of the games that will appear in tonight's ONL event have already been teased on Keighley's own Twitter feed (sorry, I'm not calling it X). They include a great number of highly-anticipated upcoming PS5 games, upcoming Xbox Series X games, and upcoming PC games.
Let's start with Alan Wake 2. We'll be getting a look at Alan Wake's side of the story later today, having learned more about Saga's perspective back at Summer Game Fest. Alan's been stuck in the Dark Place for 13 years, so it's going to be quite a different experience from Bright Falls.
You can read my Alan Wake 2 preview from back in June to learn more about this detective side of Remedy's next game.
Assassin's Creed Mirage is also going to be at ONL. All we know is that we're going to be offered a "new look" at the game, but any more specific details aren't being offered up. We got a hearty look at the game at Ubisoft's June press conference, and with the release date moved up to October 5, I'm kinda hoping we don't see too much today.
Black Myth Wukong is another sure fire for ONL later on. Again, nothing is know about what exactly is going to be shown tonight, but the game does look epic. First revealed back in 2020, it's set for a summer 2024 launch and IGN recently got the first hands-on preview of the game. Lucky devils.
We'll also be seeing fresh Crimson Desert gameplay. It's another game that's been pretty quiet since its original reveal back in 2020, so I'm definitely excited to see more of this medieval fantasy action-RPG.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 only just got revealed and we're going to get more of it later today. At ONL we're getting the world gameplay premiere for the next Call of Duty game, which is always a visually impressive treat.
Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty is also on the ONL docket. We'll be getting a brand new gameplay trailer for the highly anticipated DLC.
Interestingly, developer CD Projekt Red is also hosting a REDStream for the game on Thursday, August 24 at 7AM PT / 10AM ET / 3PM BST / 4PM CEST. Here we due to see the developers "discuss several features that come with the next major update and the Phantom Liberty expansion! Gameplay included."
It's a huge week for Cyberpunk fans!
Lords of the Fallen is getting a new story trailer later on too. It's due to drop on October 13, so we're not far away now!
This just in from Heather, Josh, and Jasmine who have headed over to Gamescom for GamesRadar+! They made it folks!
Shifting tack entirely from the last few games we've talked about, Sonic Superstars is also getting a slot in ONL. We're hoping that we'll get a release date for this stunning-looking adventure, with the rumors suggesting it's somewhere around the Super Mario Wonder date of October 20.
Like I said, I don't think we need anymore game releases that week to be quite honest... But the Blue Blur gotta blue.
Zenless Zone Zero is also making an appearance. The game's been pretty quiet, and we still don't have an idea of the release date, so perhaps that's what we'll see today.
Mortal Kombat 1 is also confirmed for ONL, and Ed Boon has confirmed that there's going to be a gameplay trailer and a reveal of two more fighters and two more Kameos.
Opening Night Live at @gamescom is going to be a fun one for #MortalKombat1Our new GamePlay trailer revealing TWO more fighters & TWO more Kameos will debut. The show starts streaming Tuesday 8pm CET7pm BST2pm ET11am PTpic.twitter.com/XHosRK8YU1August 20, 2023
Geoff's teasing us now
Time to head to a dark place 🔦 pic.twitter.com/KqrE1aZYFJAugust 22, 2023
And here he is earlier with a lil' video just re-re-re-affirming the lack of big surprises
At @gamescom rehearsal! https://t.co/ODrQcj1QM6August 22, 2023
