Gamescom 2022 officially starts on August 24 and runs till August 28. This is the first time Gamescom will be in-person since 2019 as it was an online-only event for the past two years. To kick off the show, Geoff Keighley hosted a special presentation, known as Gamescom Opening Night Live, featuring over thirty games over the course of its two-hour runtime.

During Gamescom Opening Night Live, Avalanche Software gave fans a new look at Hogwarts Legacy. The trailer opens with a Slytherin student named Sebastian Sallow showing interest in knowing more about Salazar Slytherin and the Dark Arts. The video shows some characters from Hogwarts Legacy discussing the pros and cons of using dark magic, which seems to be key to the central plot.

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Sebastian Sallow and the main character cast Crucio, and the pair end up in a fight against a horde of skeletons. They utilize offensive and defensive spells in the battle, and it seems like the decision to delve into the Dark Arts will form the backbone of Sallow's quest line in Hogwarts Legacy.

The video ends with more information on pre-order bonuses and early access to the game. Fans who pre-order Hogwarts Legacy’s digital deluxe edition will get the Dark Arts Pack, the Onyx Hippogriff mount, and the Dark Arts Garrison Hat. The Dark Arts Pack similarly consists of more cosmetic items. Furthermore, players will be able to play Hogwarts Legacy 72 hours before its launch on February 10. Such early access practices appear to be getting more common these days as more developers are allowing fans to play the respective game a few days early by paying extra.

Hogwarts Legacy was scheduled to launch later this year but was recently delayed by a few months. The developer had denied reports of any delay earlier in 2022 but ultimately had to push the release date to deliver the best possible gameplay experience. It should be noted that the Switch version currently doesn’t have a set release date.

Gamescom Opening Night Live had several other exciting announcements. It featured information on Goat Simulator 3, The Callisto Protocol, and Sonic Frontiers among others. Some new games were also announced at the event including Dune Awakening and New Tales from the Borderlands. Additionally, Sony revealed a new PS5 controller called DualSense Edge featuring several customization options. Overall Gamescom Opening Night Live was packed with announcements and exciting reveals spanning a variety of genres.

Hogwarts Legacy releases on February 10, 2023, on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S, with a Switch version also in development.

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