June’s Summer Game Fest already feels like ancient history, smothered by the mountain of trailers it threw at us. The season’s actual main event, though, is only now stepping up to the microphone.
Ever since E3 folded, Gamescom has slowly turned into the largest gaming expo on the calendar, and much of that comes down to its public component. Ordinary attendees can walk in the door. (By contrast, Summer Game Fest’s Play Days is restricted to press and creators.) For anyone who lives for reveals, this is the one to watch, and it kicks off with Opening Night Live.
The slate is loaded already. Organizers have locked in a long list of titles for the show, several of them legitimate heavyweights, and that’s before accounting for the surprises the event’s track record all but guarantees. These are the seven we’ve got our eyes on.
Final Fantasy 7 Revelation arrives ahead of schedule
Anyone bracing for the trilogy’s conclusion to disappear for a year following its Summer Game Fest unveiling can breathe easier. Final Fantasy 7 Revelation is booked for Opening Night Live, with director Naoki Hamaguchi there to elaborate on how the saga closes out.
There’s been fan chatter about a playable demo on the floor, but nothing has been confirmed. What would really count as a win is a locked-in 2027 release date.
An 11-year-old Witcher game is getting fresh content
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt launched 11 years ago, and somehow it has DLC arriving next year. Saying that sentence out loud still feels absurd, yet CD Projekt Red has confirmed it will share more on Songs of the Past during Opening Night Live.
Naturally, that prompts the next question: will The Witcher 4 also make an appearance? Odds are against it — though a teaser is never entirely off the table.
Xbox is counting on Fable
Microsoft has just come through a summer marked by sweeping layoffs and studio exits, and the company badly needs something to celebrate. Fable was originally penciled in for this year; it now arrives Feb. 23 instead.
The show finally brings live gameplay, which should clarify exactly where Playground Games’ RPG revival currently sits. Xbox is also hauling in Gears of War: E-Day, Minecraft Dungeons 2, Alien Isolation 2 and others in an attempt to win back goodwill.
Metro escapes its VR detour
The franchise spent a stretch in VR. In February it makes a proper comeback with Metro 2039, carrying its post-apocalyptic gunplay onto modern consoles.
4A Games is heading to Gamescom with a dedicated booth, hands-on demo stations and photo ops. It should rank among the biggest footprints on the show floor.
Persona 4 Revival isn’t getting the attention it warrants
All eyes have drifted toward Persona 6 since its teaser this summer. That’s fair enough. But a remake of one of the franchise’s finest entries carries just as much weight.
Persona 4 Revival appears to be running the Persona 3 Reloaded strategy, updating the original so it sits comfortably alongside Persona 5. A new look lands during Xbox’s yearly Gamescom stream on Aug. 26 — worth marking down.
Daniel Mullins returns, and details are scarce
Since Inscryption in 2021, I’m on board for anything Daniel Mullins puts out. Not that convincing was required. Pony Island 2: Panda Circus already had my attention.
Almost nothing is public about the follow-up to Mullin’s baffling cult favorite, and frankly that feels like the right amount to know. The handful of screenshots out there hint at another strange, genre-warping project stuffed with meta twists. Gamescom should reveal more — whether any of it makes things clearer is a separate matter.
Westeros finally lands a serious budget
The absence of a big-budget Game of Thrones game has always been odd. That gets partly remedied next year.
Game of Thrones: War for Westeros is a real-time strategy title centered on the sprawling battles from the novels and the series, rather than the scheming and bedroom intrigue. Gamescom is where we get our first look at it in motion.
The German expo weathered COVID and a collapse across the events industry, and it enters this year larger than at any point in its history.