Gamescom 2019: What To Expect

Europe’s equivalent to North America’s E3, Gamescom 2019 is all set to begin this week in Cologne, Germany from August 20 to 24. The event will see announcements on brand new IP’s as well as updates to existing ones as the video game community awaits with bated breath. Just like E3, a lot of those reveals have been leaked across the internet over the past few weeks, giving us some insight on what the developers have been working on.

Some companies are holding special events and conferences the day before on August 19, usually to spruce up the products a bit before the convention attendees get their hands on them to try out. The major difference between E3 and Gamescom is that it tends to keep the AAA titles to a minimum and allows more smaller, unknown indie games to shine during the event. Still, it’s a great way for gamers to get a good idea of how the rest of the year will be for them, and in 2020 as well. So without further ado, here are some of the major announcements we can expect from Gamescom 2019.

Nintendo Unveils More Indie Titles for the Switch

Nintendo will be the first company to show off new games on August 19 for the Switch, but it won’t be like other Nintendo Directs. Dubbed the Nintendo Indie World Showcase, the company will be announcing a bevy of new games, mostly third party, for their system. Most of these titles will probably launch later this year, in fact, some will more than likely be shadow dropped that very day.

The one game that has been making the rounds in the rumor mill has been Ori and the Blind Forest, which has been a huge success particularly for Microsoft. This seems like an obvious one for Nintendo to get their hands on which will only make the Switch library that much more enticing. Other than this, don’t expect too much from Nintendo this week.

The Nintendo Indie World Showcase will begin on August 19 at 6 AM PST/9 AM EST. You can watch it when it goes live here.

Microsoft Shows Off More Gameplay for Already Established Titles

Of all the companies attending Gamescom 2019, Microsoft is set to reveal the most from their AAA lineup. The company will be using their monthly Inside Xbox event to present more gameplay footage and trailers for basically everything and anything they’ve been working on. This includes Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Breakpoint, Destiny 2 Shadowkeep, Blair Witch, Vigor, and of course Gears 5.

In addition, Microsoft will also talk about its upcoming X019 event later this year, and reveal more titles being added to the Xbox Game Pass Program. We don’t expect anything earth shattering to be announced, but it’s always worth checking in to see if the company wants to shake things up.

The Inside Xbox will begin on August 19 at 8 AM PST/11 AM EST. You can watch it when it goes live here.

Google Announces More Games for the Stadia

We’ve already gone over Google and the Stadia Connect event that was announced a couple of weeks ago, but now we have a better idea of what to look forward to. The company will be looking to reveal more titles that will be featured on their service. Google has been absolutely silent on what those games will be, but expect that list to be updated this week when they host the second ever Stadia Connect.

We don’t see Google going over the actual technology any more than they already have, and since attendees will be able to demo the Stadia themselves we’re sure to have more information from that throughout the week.

The Stadia Connect will begin on August 19 at 10 AM PST/1 PM EST. You can watch it when it goes live here.

Opening Night Will Feature Numerous Reveals From Many Companies

As if all of this wasn’t enough, Gamescom 2019 will even have its own special ceremony to officially kick things off. Hosted by none other than Geoff Keighly, Opening Night’s presentation will detail a plethora of game announcements and amendments to current ones. A who’s who of developers and companies have already been confirmed by Keighly himself, and the card is stacked to say the least with over 25 games and 2 hours of content planned for all to see.

We can expect to see many announcements such as more information on Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, the Gears 5 Campaign reveal, the Need for Speed Heat gameplay reveal, the Borderlands 3 End Game reveal, and some more information from Hideo Kojima about Death Stranding. Some developers are also planning to show up for the ceremony and disclose their own tidbits of reveals including Sega, Square Enix, Ubisoft, Capcom, and many more.

The Opening Night will begin on August 19 at 11 AM PST/2 PM EST. You can watch it when it goes live here.