Skip to main content

Everything announced at Gamescom Opening Night Live 2023

Geoff Keighley presents at Gamescom Opening Night Live.
Geoff Keighley
Summer Gaming Marathon Feature Image
This story is part of our Summer Gaming Marathon series.

Gamescom, one of the largest video game expos in the world, takes place this week in Germany. To kick things off, Geoff Keighley held another Gamescom Opening Night Live showcase to give us an update on what’s in store from the gaming industry, with a slight focus on already announced titles and games by European studios. Keighley and influencer Jasmin Gnu hosted the main event following a pre-show hosted by Kyle Bosman.

While the show was long and slow-paced, we did get plenty of new looks at upcoming games like Mortal Kombat 1, Assassin’s Creed Mirage, Alan Wake 2, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III, and Tekken 8. Director Zack Snyder even swung by to debut a trailer for Rebel Moon during the show. It’s a lot to keep track of, but we’ve rounded up everything announced at Gamescom Opening Night Live 2023 and its pre-show right here.

gamescom Opening Night Live 2023: Tuesday, August 22 (OFFICIAL LIVESTREAM)

Bethesda gave a final deep dive into Starfield

Starfield – Live Action Trailer

Ahead of its launch next month, Starfield had a big presence to kick off Gamescom Opening Night Live. To start, composer Inon Zur performed a piece of music from the game, which was followed by the debut of a live-action trailer.

Recommended Videos

After a brief interruption by a couple of pranksters who stormed the stage to yell about Grand Theft Auto 6, Bethesda’s Todd Howard came on stage and discussed why the studio wanted to make a sci-fi game with the studio’s trademark player freedom. Starfield launches for PC and Xbox Series X/S on September 6.

Zack Snyder reveals Rebel Moon teaser and video game

Rebel Moon | Official Teaser Trailer | Netflix

Director Zack Snyder came on stage at Gamescom Opening Night Live to debut the first teaser trailer for his upcoming Netflix movie Rebel Moon. This sci-fi film already looks visually stunning, with even this somewhat brief trailer containing some visually exciting set pieces.

Before he showed the trailer, Snyder confirmed that a Rebel Moon game is in development by Super Evil Megacorp for Netflix Games. Rebel Moon Part 1: A Child of Fire comes to Netflix on December 22. while Part 2: The Scargiver comes out on April 19, 2024.

Tekken 8 launches on January 26, 2024

Tekken 8 World Premiere Trailer | gamescom Opening Night Live 2023 #ONL

Following a leak, we got confirmation during Gamescom Opening Night Live that Tekken 8 will release on January 26, 2024. That makes it one of the first significant game launches of next year and gives pro players ample time to learn it ahead of EVO 2024. This date was revealed at the end of an exciting new trailer that showed off a new mode called Arcade Quest, where players make Avatars and play matches in an Arcade setting. Tekken 8 releases for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S on January 26, 2024.

Sonic Superstars comes out this October

Sonic Superstars - Multiplayer Trailer

Keighley helped reveal Sonic Superstars at Summer Game Fest this year, and the game returned at Gamescom Opening Night Live to show off its release date. That came alongside a new trailer, which highlighted all four new characters, co-op play, and a battle mod. It all capped off with the reveal that Sonic Superstars will release across PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, and Nintendo Switch on October 17, further cementing that month as one of the busiest of the year for games.

Gameplay improvements coming to Cyberpunk 2077

Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty — New Ways to Play

On September 26, CD Projekt Red will release Phantom Liberty, the first expansion for Cyberpunk 2077. The Polish developer is using the release of this expansion to bring many improvements to the game, including a revamped police system, vehicle combat, better combat AI, a redesigned perk system, an increased level cap, and more.

You don’t need to buy the expansion to get many of these improvements, though, as Update 2.0 will bring these new features to the base game on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S on September 26 as well. Unfortunately, that means last-gen players are out of luck when it comes to getting the improved version of Cyberpunk 2077.

We saw Alan Wake II from the titular character’s perspective

Alan Wake World Premiere Trailer | gamescom Opening Night Live 2023 #ONL

To end the show, Sam Lake came on stage to show off Alan Wake II. Specifically, we finally got to see the game in action from Alan’s perspective, where The Dark Place is a demented version of New York. We also learned that the game will heavily incorporate live-action scenes into the experience. It certainly looks like this will be Remedy’s scariest and most mind-bending game yet. Alan Wake II launches on October 27.

Everything else

  • Little Nightmares III launches in 2024 and will support two-player online co-op.
  • The Sounds of Nightmares is a Little Nightmares podcast that begins today.
  • Black Myth: Wukong finally reappeared after its viral reveal a couple of years ago with a new trailer.
  • Killing Floor III was announced with a new trailer showing how its enemies are made.
  • Age of Empires IV is available now for Xbox Series X/S.
  • Crimson Desert got a fresh gameplay trailer.
  • Ice-T showed off a special Payday 3 heist he is a part of.
  • Assassin’s Creed Mirage got a new trailer showing off its Baghdad setting.
  • Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III got an extended gameplay focused on its open-ended story missions.
  • Nightingale hits early access on Steam and Epic Games Store on February 22, 2024.
  • Granbrue Fantasy: Relink will now launch on February 1, 2024.
  • Immortals of Aveum, out today, got a quick launch trailer.
  • Zenless Zone Zero got a new trailer.
  • Honkai Star Rail will hold a PS5 tech test on August 23.
  • We got a trailer showing off new Genshin Impact content.
  • Lords of the Fallen got a new story-focused trailer.
  • Sonic Frontiers free Final Horizon update launches on September 28.
  • The First Descendant got a cinematic trailer ahead of its next beta.
  • Quantic Dream-published indie Under the Waves received a launch trailer.
  • Multiple Xbox Game Pass sizzle reels showed off upcoming day-one releases.
  • Troy Baker, Roger Clark, and Julia Brown came on stage to discuss Fort Solis, which is available now.
  • Saber Interactive and Focus Entertainment announced Expeditions, a successor to Snowrunner and Mudrunner.
  • The Crew Motorfest received a new trailer and will have a five-hour free trial ahead of launch.
  • Stormgate got a new trailer that showed off a new faction.
  • Last Epoch: Runes of Power got a new trailer.
  • Marvel Snap has exited early access on PC.
  • Armored Core VI: Fires of Rubicon got a new trailer ahead of its release later this week.
  • Nexon released a new cinematic trailer for Warhaven.
  • Mortal Kombat 1 got a new trailer revealing Shao Kahn and Sindel as new fighters and Shujinko and Motaro as Kameos.
  • Ara: History Untold got a new trailer.
  • Diablo IV Season of Blood received a teaser trailer ahead of its release this October.
  • Dustborn was revealed with an early 2024 release window.
  • Publisher Panic revealed Thank Goodness You’re Here.

Pre-show announcements

  • Streets of Rogue 2 got its first gameplay trailer and was pushed back to 2024.
  • Mandragora was revealed and comes out in 2024.
  • Lysfanga: The Time Shift Warrior received a new trailer and early 2024 release window.
  • Endzone 2 was announced and will launch next Spring.
  • Bulletstorm VR got a new trailer.
  • A new trailer gave an overview of Fae Farm ahead of its September launch.
  • The 7th Guest’s VR remake launches on October 19.
  • A gameplay trailer for indie horror game Post Trauma revealed a spring 2024 release window.
  • Warhammer Age of Sigmar: Realms of Ruin got a new trailer and November 17 release date.
  • The Delta Force series is coming back with a new game available across PC, console, and mobile.
  • Homeworld 3 received a new trailer ahead of its February 2024 launch.
Tomas Franzese
As a Gaming Staff Writer at Digital Trends, Tomas Franzese reports on and reviews the latest releases and exciting…
New Atari 50 DLC shows the Intellivision acquisition is already paying off
An Atari 2600+ sits on a table.

Digital Eclipse's Atari 50: The Anniversary Celebration is an excellent and comprehensive look back at the company's now classic video game lineup, with games to play and extra content to interact with. So far, it's gotten one DLC: The Wider World of Atari, that added even more titles. Now, it's about to get its second, thanks to an acquisition it made earlier this year.

Atari announced The First Console War on Friday, and it's about, as you can guess, the company's first console war with the Intellivision, although it'll touch on a specific element of it. In the 1980s, Mattel was publishing games on the Intellivision. At some point, it decided to release versions of these console exclusives for its main competitor, the Atari 2600, under the M Network label. There are 19 of these games coming to Atari 50 with The First Console War, which is set to launch on November 8 for PC, Nintendo Switch, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, PlayStation 5, and PlayStation 4 Atari 50 owners.

Read more
Is Monster Hunter Wilds cross-platform?
Two hunters ride mounts in Monster Hunter Wilds.

Of all the genres that we think need to be on the list of cross-platform games, hunting games like Monster Hunter Wilds have to be near the top. These are a rather unique style of game compared to the likes of Fallout 76, Genshin Impact, or Stardew Valley. Each of those has cooperative or competitive elements to them that are enhanced by cross-platform support, but nothing like what Monster Hunter Wilds has going on. The game will allow you to call in NPCs to help you on the hunt, but these games are best when you get a group of real friends together and embark on an epic quest to slay a giant beast, scavenge it for parts, and return to camp victorious. Monster Hunter Rise eventually got cross-platform support once it was ported off the Switch, but will Monster Hunter Wilds launch with this feature? Here's what you need to know about cross-platform support in one of our most anticipated upcoming games.
Is Monster Hunter Wilds cross-platform?

Monster Hunter Wilds will only have partial cross-platform support. The good news is that the part that it will have is crossplay, meaning that you and friends on either PS5, Xbox Series X/S, or PC can all hunt together with no issues. This feature can be disabled if you wish, but will be enabled by default to make sure desperate hunters can always find some aid when in need.

Read more
Fortnite Chapter 2 Remix teams up with Snoop Dogg, Eminem, and more
Snoop Dogg in Fortnite.

Fortnite’s new season, Chapter 2 Remix, is getting a star-studded event that will run through November. The music-focused event will see the battle royale partnering with Snoop Dogg, Eminem, and more artists to remix the game’s map each week.

The new announcement is the next phase of Epic’s goal to turn Fortnite into the “ultimate hub for social entertainment experiences,” as a representative from Epic explained during a press event. The game has had several musical collaborations previously, including the Guitar Hero-like Fortnite Festival mode that launched last year. This update brings that idea to the next level by partnering with four musical superstars.

Read more