Gamescom Opening Night Live 2020 is live and, here at TechRadar, we’re following along with all the action in real time while providing expert commentary and opinion on everything that’s unveiled.
But what are we expecting today? Well, lucky for us Opening Night Live host Geoff Keighley loves a good tease, so we already know a good bit of what we’ll be seeing during the showcase, which will include a gameplay demo of Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart, details on Fall Guys: Season 2, an exclusive new look at Destiny 2: Beyond Light, and much, much more. We’re also expecting there to be some surprises too.
The Opening Night Live stream kicked off at 7pm BST / 2pm ET / 11am PT (or 4am AEST) and lasts two hours, with a 15 minute pre-show ahead of the main event. So grab some snacks ready and settle in, it’s going to be a be an interesting show.
All times in Pacific Daylight Time (PDT)
12:19pm – Another brief trailer, this time for Project Cars 3, due for release August 28 on PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.
12:18pm – Now a short trailer for the next chapter in the Dark Picture Anthology: Little Hope, starring Will Poulter. Conveniently coming out on October 30.
12:15pm – Next up is the trailer for Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition, available October 15 for PC.
12:14pm – Struggling is a new physics based platformer from Frontier, playable now on Switch and PC. The trailer looks horrifying but fun (though we expect it’s super frustrating).
12:11pm – Because there’s not enough Star Wars tonight, here’s a trailer for Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga. Which actually looks pretty good and like it’ll be a lot of fun, even though it doesn’t release until “Spring 2021” now following a recent delay.
12:10pm – Built around a 20 second time loop, Lemnis Gate is an interesting take on an FPS shooter. It’s coming 2021 to PC.
12:08pm – The next trailer is for Mafia: Definitive Edition which is out September 25, 2020 for PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.
12:05pm – A trailer for Override: Super Charged Mech League, which looks a bit like a fighting game version of Transformers.
12:03pm – Now a trailer for Warframe’s Heart of Deimos update. Available now.
12:00pm – Next is a new trailer for indie title 12 Minutes, voiced by Willam Dafoe and starring James McAvoy and Daisy Ridley – who are new additions. The game sees you trying to alter events within 12 minutes to stop a man from breaking into your home and causing chaos.
11:58am – The Sims 4: Journey to Batuu. Yep. The Sims is getting a Star Wars expansion pack. Unsurprisingly given EA has ties with both The Sims franchise and the Star Wars game franchise. You can travel to Batuu and use plenty of Star Wars customizations to nerdify your Sim and their home.
Coming September 8, 2020 to PC.
11:54am – Now for a new Star Wars Squadrons trailer and some commentary from a member of the dev team. The trailer gives us a look at gameplay from early on in the game. Squadrons releases on October 2, 2020.
11:52am – More Gamecom awards:
Best action-adventure game -Watch Dogs: Legion
Best action game – Star Wars Squadrons
Best multiplayer game – Operation Tango
Best indie game – Curious Expedition 2
11:50am – Jerry “The King” Lawler is here to give us a closer look at WWE 2K Battlgrounds. Which still looks like a modern Celebrity Deathmatch. Coming September 18.
11:47am – Time for a first look at Little Nightmares II gameplay. The sequel looks even more spine-chilling than its predecessor, and this time it seems you get a buddy to join you on your terrifying adventure. Expect puppets, headless creatures and slender-man looking gentlemen. We can’t wait to try it out.
Little Nightmares II is coming to PS5, Xbox Series X, Switch and PC on February 11.
11:45am – Time to shine a light on another indie game, called Teardown. This time a pixelated, construction-come-shooter, which sees you aiming to perform “the perfect heist”.
11:43am – Next is a new trailer for Necromunda: Underhive Wars. Coming to PS4, Xbox One and PC on September 8.
11:41am – Captain Tsubasa: Rise of New Champions trailer, which is out tomorrow.
11:40am – Now a trailer for Outriders, the upcoming third-person shooter from People Can Fly. It’s coming to current and next-gen consoles in December 2020.
11:37am – Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time is next and will apparently have something called Flashback Tape levels. These levels provide a peak back in time to the ’90s when Cortex was testing on Crash and Coco, before the events of the first Crash game. These levels are described as “devious puzzle rooms” and can be accessed by collect tapes in levels, as an object. However, you can only obtain them if you reach the tape without dying.
11:35am – A new short trailer for Warhammer Age of Sigmar: Stormground . Coming 2021
11:33am – A new World of Warcraft: Shadowlands trailer off the back of the animation. And we finally get a release date: October 27, 2020.
11:25am – World premiere of Blizzard’s Bastion, the first in the publisher’s series of Afterlives animations based around World of Warcraft: Shadowlands.
11:24am – The winner of Gamescom’s best Nintendo Switch game is Little Nightmares II.
11:23am – Sam and Max are back and this time they’re going to be in VR!
11:21am – Bridge Constructor: The Walking Dead. Coming 2021. It’s a physics-based simulation-puzzle game, based around The Walking Dead? Coming to current and next-gen consoles and PC.
11:19am – Christopher Lloyd from Back to the Future is here to promote Surgeon Simulator 2. Yes… your read that right. It wouldn’t be ONL without some bizarre stuff. We also got a world premiere trailer for the chaotic sim, which is out now on Epic Game Store.
11:15am – Oh BioWare, how we missed you. The team is giving us a bit of an update on Dragon Age 4, which we’ve heard very little about until now. According to the team we will get to interact with new characters and places and will focus on “what happens when you don’t have power”. The story will focus on the “people around you” and the friends and family you make.
We definitely know Solas is back, but new characters called Bellara and Davrin are also going the franchise. We also got a look at some in-development artwork for the game. Dragon Age fans, contain yourselves.
11:13am – Now a first look at Doom Eternal‘s first DLC: Ancient Gods part one, coming October 20, 2020. It looks even more gruesome and action-packed than the base game, and a perfect reason to jump back into the Doomslayer’s boots.
11:10am – Next is a trailer for the previously unannounced Unknown 9 Awakening , which seems to focus on a young Indian girl with supernatural powers.
Coming to PC and next-gen consoles, but no release date.
11:05am – We’re kicking off with Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War, which was officially unveiled yesterday. According to the devs we’ll be seeing some veteran Call of Duty characters making a return in this game. In addition, players get more control over their play including choice missions and customization options for your character. These choice missions mean that the game will have multiple endings, dependent on what choice you make. The multiplayer reveal is coming in September.
We’ve also got an exclusive world premiere look at the title, with a cinematic trailer showing a scene from early on in the game showing a meeting of operatives meeting with Ronald Reagan to discuss the Perseus threat.
11:01am – And we’re off! Gamescom Opening Night Live 2020 is officially live.
11:00am – Jurassic Park: Evolution Complete Edition is coming November 3 to Nintendo Switch. If you’re a simulation game fan (and a dino fan) then it’s definitely one to check out.
10:57am – Another look at Dirt 5, showing off new (fun-looking) game modes. One mode sees you racing through big bowling pins while another, called Vampire, seems to involve creeping about in a dark carpark?
Dirt 5 is coming to PS5 and Xbox Series X on October 16, 2021.
10:55am – Now for an interview with Geoff Keighley, discussing what’s coming up. Nothing we don’t know already. He has clarified there will be some “awesome next-gen stuff”, however, apparently Opening Night Live it won’t be “shock and awe” and the show will more focus on updates on games we’ve already seen rather than new announcements. He’s said for gamers to temper their expectations. So, in other words, don’t expect any groundbreaking news.
10:50am – Ford has unveiled its new virtual racing car. The “first-ever vehicle designed in collaboration between an auto maker and gamers”. It’s due to make an appearance in a racing game coming in 2021.
10:49am – Next up is a new trailer for the previously announced Quantum Error. Quantum Error is a “cosmic-shooter” FPS which sees you playing as Captain Jacob Thomas, a firefighter who is sent alongside his partner to investigate the Monad Quantum Research Facility – which has been attacked by an unknown entity. Coming to both PS4 and PS5 in 2021.
The new trailer gives us a look at some creepy gameplay but apparently the game is still a work-in-progress, so it may not actually look like this on release.
10:46am – Internet personality Kyle Bosman is presenting the pre-show. Which apparently will be a lot of trailers. First up is a new Scarlet Nexus trailer – the action RPG coming to current and next-gen consoles.
10:45am – The Opening Night Live pre-show is live, which means there’s only 15 minutes left until the main show kicks off.
10:30am – Geoff Keighley is excited, but are you? Remember, if you want to watch the action live alongside this live blog, then check out our handy guide on how to watch Gamescom Opening Night Live 2020.
10:00am – There’s just one hour to go until Opening Night Live kicks off (and just 45 minutes until the pre-show starts).
9:30am – Don’t get yours hopes up for the revealing of an Xbox Series X or PS5 price. While there have been rumors that we would get confirmation of both next-gen consoles’ price tags in August, we very much doubt that we’ll get any price confirmations during Opening Night Live. Both Sony and Microsoft will want to wait until their own event to reveal pricing and pre-order information. That means we’ll likely be waiting until September for PS5 and Xbox Series X pricing.
But we will still get our fill of next-gen content during today’s stream. We’ll get a look at Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart gameplay, giving us our best look yet at the PS5 in action, while we’re set to hear more about upcoming PS5 and Xbox Series X games like Call of Duty: Black Ops – Cold War. We’re also hoping for announcements of currently unconfirmed next-gen titles.
9:00am – This is only the second year that Opening Night Live has taken place, with Keighley premiering the event ahead of Gamescom 2019.
As promised, Opening Night Live 2019 was packed with a wide mix of world premiere content and announcements, including an attempt by Hideo Kojima to explain Death Stranding ahead of its release later that year. We also got a Little Nightmares II reveal, a new Gears 5 trailer, a release date for The Witcher III on Nintendo Switch, and news that Devil May Cry 5 and Blair Witch Project are both coming to Xbox Games Pass.
While that show took place as a physical event, this year’s Opening Night Live is entirely digital. But we’re still expecting the same level (if not more) of announcements.
8:30am – Not one to shy away from Twitter, Keighley has also shared a list of some of the publishers we’ll be getting content debuts from during Opening Night Live.
8:00am – So what are we expecting today? Well, thanks to teases by Keighley on Twitter, we already have an idea of what we can expect from Opening Night Live.
So far we know that we’ll finally see a proper gameplay demo of Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart, as well as an exclusive new look at Destiny 2: Beyond Light, a new trailer for Mafia: Definitive Edition, a sneak peek at Fall Guys: Season 2, a world premiere new look at Star Wars: Squadrons and a gameplay world premiere of LEGO StarWars: The Skywalker Saga.
But that’s not all, we’ll also be getting more information on World of Warcraft: Shadowlands, Little Nightmares II, Doom Eternal – Ancient Gods DLC, Call of Duty: Black Ops – Cold War, Medal of Honor: Above & Beyond, Turrican, Chorus, Scarlet Nexus, a new The Sims 4 game pack, Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time and Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition. Phew. It’s going to be a busy show.
Also expect some tidbits on upcoming Xbox Series X and PS5 games – and maybe even a surprise or two.
7:00am – Welcome to TechRadar’s Gamescom Opening Night Live 2020 live blog! We’ll be following along with the Opening Night Live stream in real time, providing expert commentary and opinions on everything that’s announced.
But what is Opening Night Live? Gamescom Opening Night Live is a showcase that officially kicks off the huge European gaming convention and is hosted by The Game Awards’ Geoff Keighley. This is only the second year the showcase is taking place and, unlike last year, this year’s event will be a “fully digital show” – you know, because of the pandemic.
But the show must go on, and we’re still expecting world premiere trailers, exclusive first looks and big announcements during the Opening Night Live stream – along with some surprises.
If you want to watch the stream along reading this live blog then check out our handy guide on how to watch Gamescom Opening Night Live 2020.