Summer Game Fest was in June. It already feels like a lifetime ago, buried under the avalanche of trailers it dumped on us. But the season’s real headliner is about to walk on stage.
Gamescom has quietly become the biggest gaming expo on the calendar since E3 died, and a big reason is the public side of it. Regular people get in. (Summer Game Fest’s Play Days event is press and creators only.) If game reveals are your thing, this is the show, and Opening Night Live is where it starts.
The lineup is already stacked. Gamescom has confirmed a pile of games heading to the show, including several genuine heavy hitters, and that’s before the surprises that history says are coming. Here are the seven we’re watching hardest.
Final Fantasy 7 Revelation shows up sooner than expected
If you assumed the trilogy’s finale would vanish for a year after its Summer Game Fest reveal, relax. Final Fantasy 7 Revelation is taking the Opening Night Live stage, with director Naoki Hamaguchi on hand to say more about how this thing wraps up.
Fans have speculated there could be a playable demo on the show floor, though nobody’s confirmed that. A firm 2027 date would be the real prize.
A decade-old Witcher game is getting new content
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt came out 11 years ago and it’s getting surprise DLC next year. That still doesn’t sound real when you say it out loud, but CD Projekt Red confirmed it’ll reveal more about Songs of the Past at Opening Night Live.
Which raises the obvious follow-up: does The Witcher 4 get a look too? Probably not. But never rule out a teaser.
Xbox needs Fable to land
Microsoft is coming off a summer defined by mass layoffs and studio departures, and it needs a win. Fable was supposed to arrive this year. Instead it lands Feb. 23.
We’ll finally see live gameplay at the show, which should tell us where Playground Games’ RPG revival actually stands. Xbox is also bringing Gears of War: E-Day, Minecraft Dungeons 2, Alien Isolation 2 and more as it tries to win the room back.
Metro comes back from VR exile
The series took a detour into VR. Now it’s returning properly in February with Metro 2039, bringing its post-apocalyptic shooting to modern consoles.
4A Games is bringing the game to Gamescom with a dedicated booth, hands-on demo stations and photo ops. Expect it to be one of the largest presences on the floor.
Persona 4 Revival deserves more attention than it’s getting
Everyone’s looking at Persona 6 after its teaser this summer. Fine. But the remake of one of the series’ best games is just as big a deal.
Persona 4 Revival looks to be following the Persona 3 Reloaded playbook, modernizing the original to bring it in line with Persona 5. A fresh look arrives during Xbox’s annual Gamescom stream on Aug. 26. Put it in your calendar.
Daniel Mullins is back, and we know almost nothing
After 2021’s Inscryption, I’ll play whatever Daniel Mullins makes. Though I didn’t need the push. Pony Island 2: Panda Circus had me regardless.
We know next to nothing about the sequel to Mullin’s mystifying cult classic, and honestly that’s the correct amount. The screenshots that exist are enough to signal another weird, genre-bending thing with meta twists built in. Gamescom will tell us more. Whether that clarifies anything is another question.
Westeros finally gets a real budget
It’s strange that a big budget Game of Thrones game has never happened. Next year that gets partially fixed.
Game of Thrones: War for Westeros is a real-time strategy game built around the large-scale battles from the books and show rather than the backstabbing and bedroom politics. Gamescom is where we finally see it move.
The German show survived COVID and an events-industry meltdown, and it’s walking into this year bigger than it’s ever been.
