As August begins and the second half of 2021 continues to move forward, there are no shortage of game releases and announcements on the horizon. Even though there have been a number of titles delayed with others such as Horizon Forbidden West rumored to be pushed back until 2022, many other studios are poised to give updates on future releases. One of the best places for those announcements to happen seems to be at Gamescom 2021.
In a recent Tweet by Jeff Keighley, the date and start times for Gamescom's Opening Night Live presentation were revealed. According to Keighley, the festivities kick off three weeks from today on Wednesday, August 25. The start times for the digital showcase are 11 am PT/2 pm ET/8 pm CET. It seems the presentation gives gamers a look at titles releasing in the remainder of 2021, while also providing a glimpse at games coming further down the line. Some of the high-profile companies at Gamescom include Xbox, Activision, and Ubisoft, with 19 companies participating in all. With this many developers involved, it was revealed that the presentation is expected to last two hours.
While the lineup of games for the two hour showcase wasn't revealed, with so many developers participating, some big announcements seem inevitable. With Halo Infinite set to launch later this year for Xbox consoles and PC, the event could provide the developers at 343 Industries with a chance to give a new look at the game's campaign. In addition, Ubisoft could give players an update on the status of the delayed Rainbow Six: Extraction. The convention isn't just a showcase for triple-A games, the organizers plan to reveal a number of the smaller projects from indie developers as well.
This upcoming event continues the trend of digital-only gaming conventions. The event organizers originally planned to use a "hybrid" convention structure for Gamescom 2021, utilizing online livestreams to showcase games and announcements along with offering gamers a chance to play games at a physical location. Unfortunately, this was scrapped in favor of a digital-only event, as many of the convention's partners couldn't commit to an in-person show.
Since the global pandemic forced the gaming industry to adjust the way it normally operates, many events have consisted of digital shows instead of physical conventions such as The Game Awards 2020 and E3 2021. While a lack of fans at these events is an obvious disappointment, it seems as though it has become the new normal by this point. Despite the digital-only format of Gamescom 2021, with so many games to look forward to over the coming months, it seems likely that there will be some exciting announcements to come out of the event.
Gamescom 2021 is set to take place between August 25 - August 27.