Gamescom Opening Night Live 2023 News Rundown

It’s that time again folks! It honestly doesn’t feel like it has been that long since Summer Game Fest started, but now we’re at the end of August and you know what that means. We’ve got another Geoff Keighley special: Opening Night Live 2023! Let’s dive in and see if any of my predictions from Monday were correct, shall we?

The show opened with a live piano performance celebrating Starfield. This was the start of a Starfield segment which included a new trailer, and then a visit from Todd Howard himself. Admittedly, I’ve never quite understood the need for live-action video game trailers. Show gameplay and save those resources to pay folks who worked on the game a better wage.

Alternatively, they could have paid Elton John for the right to use the proper version of “Rocket Man” instead of whatever weird cover they used. Regardless, Todd Howard’s segment came after another wild situation of a random guy running up on stage and trying to get ahold of the mic. You’d think after the Game Awards debacle they’d have beefed up security.

We know that Starfield will be released on September 6^th, and Todd Howard commented that this was his first time at Gamescom. I don’t doubt that, but it does seem odd considering how long he has been in the industry and how integral he has been to Bethesda’s development over the years, for better or worse. While talking about his goals while creating Starfield, the screen on stage showed several character customization options, as well as outfits and various footage.

Todd Howard was intentionally vague on details regarding Starfield’s plot, but we won’t have much longer to wait. It is also coming to Game Pass on day one, in case you can’t afford to pick it up right away, but happen to be a Game Pass subscriber. If you want some in-depth details on Starfield, I’d suggest checking out my Starfield Direct rundown.

Next up was one of the few World Premiere reveals for this showcase. Little Nightmares 3 has officially been announced! Set (at least partially) in a desert/wasteland environment, Little Nightmares 3 features not one, but two protagonists.

Little Nightmares 3 will offer both Single-player and online co-op gameplay, taking place in a location called The Spiral. Both characters will have to explore nightmarish areas with “delusions” and ultimately seek a way out of Nowhere. Little Nightmares 3 will release sometime in 2024. There is also a story-focused podcast called The Sounds of Nightmares that will tell a story across 6 episodes. The first two episodes are out now.

Another exciting update was next, with a brand-new trailer for Black Myth: Wukong, the action RPG take on the Journey to the West that was announced in 2020. Initially set for a release window of 2023, the dev team has now pushed it back into 2024. The trailer starts out interesting, with a headless man singing(?) and playing a Sanxian (Chinese 3-stringed lute) as we see some of Wukong’s journey. I am very excited to see more as we get closer to a release date.

After the Black Myth: Wukong reveal, we got another announcement. Killing Floor 3 got a quick reveal trailer. Not much is known quite yet, but you can wishlist it now. Also, Killing Floor 3 will release on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC via both Steam and Epic.

Age of Empires 4 took the stage next with its Anniversary Edition. The Age of Empires 4 Anniversary Edition is available now on Xbox consoles and Game Pass. There are new controls and automation tools specifically for the console release as well. Personally, a console isn’t where I’d play a game like Age of Empires. However, it makes the game more accessible for a lot of people, so I’m not going to complain.

Next up, Zach Snyder and Geoff Keighley jointly wasted our time with a segment on Zach Snyder’s new film, Rebel Moon. That might sound harsh, but this is Gamescom, I don’t think anyone in that audience really was all that interested in film news. Rebel Moon will be released on Netflix on December 22^nd, and aside from Zach Snyder having absolutely no stage presence, the segment was inoffensive.

I’ll let the trailer speak for itself, rather than going into detail on what Zach Snyder has to say about his film. It personally doesn’t seem spectacular, but there are folks who will enjoy it. The real purpose of this segment was to quickly gloss over the fact that Zach Snyder is collaborating with a development team on a Rebel Moon video game tie-in.

It is set after the films and will be developed by Super Evil Megacorp. Of course, they didn’t have a trailer for it at a gaming event, just a trailer for the film. Yes, I’m still annoyed by that. Rebel Moon Part 1 will release on December 22^nd, 2023 while Part 2 will release on April 19^th, 2024. I still think that it’s a bit messed up that folks paid money for Gamescom Opening Night Live seats, and had to sit through that segment.

Back to gaming, the South Korean developer Pearl Abyss gave new details on Crimson Desert, which has been quiet since 2020. The new trailer showcased combat, exploration, and a bit of fishing. It is very interesting though how the developers have seemed to mash cultures together. There are very clearly European armor designs for some characters and more Asian designs for others.

You can also apparently ride in a hot air balloon, and there was even a glimpse at some of the more mysterious, magical elements of the game. We still don’t have a release date or even a release window yet, but Crimson Desert looks very interesting.

Next with the (likely paid) celebrity advertising was Ice T popping up with a teaser for Payday 3. Ice T has his own mission in Payday 3, and you can check it out when the game releases on September 21^st, 2023. The trailer showed off a little gameplay with Ice T’s silky-smooth voiceover backing everything.

Assassin’s Creed Mirage was next on the list, with a new trailer. The trailer is in Arabic and the English subtitles are well done. Assassin’s Creed Mirage will release on October 5^th and will feature full Arabic voice acting, as well as a return to the series’ Middle Eastern roots. I’m curious about this new entry in the franchise.

Now we’re getting into some more update-focused territory. Tekken 8 took the stage next to reveal an all-new mode. This is a new single-player mode that goes alongside the typical story mode. Arcade Quest is a new mode where you can make your own avatar and customize your favorite fighters as you work your way through arcade matches. It looks interesting, and while I’ve already been curious about Tekken 8, this adds icing to the cake. Tekken 8 will be released on PC, Xbox Series X|S, and PlayStation 5 on January 26^th, 2024.

Every event like this has some kind of Call of Duty content to it. This year there’s a whole Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 segment. Modern Warfare 3 is the latest entry in the franchise (coming in November), and Opening Night Live showed off a World Premiere of campaign gameplay. The full game also comes with 16 multiplayer maps from the original Modern Warfare 2, an open-world Zombies mode, as well as a full campaign.

Modern Warfare 3 is the first direct sequel and will answer a lot of questions from the previous game. It will also feature Makarov, a familiar antagonist. Before they got into the trailer, they revealed “Open Combat Missions” which are a “new innovation” that offers multiple approaches depending on player choice, rather than a more linear approach to a mission.

The gameplay shown off was from the very first mission, called “Operation 627”. The first thing I noticed is that while the gameplay looks gorgeous and realistic, that comes at the cost of looking very dark. There is night vision provided, but I can see it being an issue for some folks. I’m not the target audience so I can’t say how impressive the gameplay was, but it was interesting to watch at least.

The next segment was an update on Nightingale, Inflexion Games’ shared-world Survival Crafting game. A new gameplay trailer was showcased, and now we finally know when Nightingale will be coming to Early Access on Steam and Epic. Nightingale’s Early Access period will start on February 22^nd, 2024. The game looks interesting, but only time will tell if it has any long-term appeal.

Granblue Fantasy was next, with a new trailer for Granblue Fantasy Relink. This is an all-new action RPG set in the Granblue Fantasy world. Granblue Fantasy Relink will be released on PC and PlayStation consoles on February 1^st, 2024.

Next up was a segment about Immortals of Aveum. Samuel is going to be going over this in more detail later today, but Opening Night Live revealed the launch trailer for the new action shooter. Immortals of Aveum is available now on PC, PlayStation, and Xbox consoles.

As I predicted in my Gamescom Speculation article, Mihoyo (or Hoyoverse) dropped in to give a triple threat of reveals for their hit games. They started with their upcoming game Zenless Zone Zero, an Urban-Fantasy Action-RPG. The developers dropped a brand-new trailer, showcasing combat, mini-games, and overall gameplay. We still don’t have a release date, but it is shaping up nicely.

Honkai: Star Rail (my latest indulgence) was up next from the Hoyoverse. A new trailer showed off characters such as General Fu Xuan and what seems to be coming next for the game. Additionally, they revealed that Honkai: Star Rail will be undergoing a PlayStation 5 technical test soon, and you can opt-in to help test the PS5 version now.

Last, but most certainly not least from the Hoyoverse was a small Genshin Impact trailer. The new trailer showcased Fontaine, the latest country that you can travel through. The segment also announced the “Melodies of an Endless Journey” concert that will be taking place in 12 international locations (4 in the US) between the end of 2023 and throughout 2024.

Lords of the Fallen has been a curiosity and a topic of skepticism since it was announced. Gamescom Opening Night Live 2023 revealed a new story trailer ahead of its October 13^th release date. I wish I could say I was excited about this one, but it looks average. Lords of the Fallen will be released on PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S on October 13^th.

Now we have a double dose of Sonic the Hedgehog news! To start us off, we got a trailer for Sonic Superstars, which was announced a few months ago. Sonic Superstars will be released on October 17^th and looks like an absolute blast.

To wrap up the Sonic the Hedgehog double header we had a world premiere announcement for new Sonic Frontiers content. The “Final Horizon” update got a trailer that revealed new story content, new playable characters, and new challenges to test your skills. The update will be free on all platforms, released on September 28^th, 2023.

We moved right along into the next segment, a world premiere look at The First Descendant. Nexon’s upcoming looter shooter is holding an open beta from September 19^th to September 25^th. The Open Beta will feature cross-platform play between PC, PlayStation, and Xbox consoles.

Another return update came from a new trailer for Under the Waves, from Parallel Studio and a division of Quantic Dream called Spotlight. This was previously announced at another showcase and will be released on August 29^th for PC, PlayStation, and Xbox consoles.

The next update came in the form of an interview for Fort Solis, featuring Troy Baker, Roger Clark, and Julia Brown, some acting talent for the game. I won’t spoil things ahead of the review we plan to get up later this week, but the reception hasn’t been all that positive on Steam. Fort Solis is available now on PC and PlayStation consoles. The trailer looks intense, so it might be something to check out if you’re interested.

Focus Entertainment announced a new game associated with Mudrunners. Expedition: A Mudrunner Game lets you explore and scout out areas. You can go off-road, then use things like a camera drone to get a bird’s eye view of things. Expedition will be released in 2024 for PC and consoles.

The Crew: Motorfest was next on the list with a brand-new trailer. Ubisoft’s open-world driving game will be released on September 14^th, and the new trailer showed off some of the cars and locales you’ll get to experience when it releases. You can play The Crew: Motorfest on PC, PlayStation, and Xbox consoles on September 14^th.

CD Projekt Red has been relatively quiet recently, but with the Phantom Liberty DLC for Cyberpunk 2077 coming out in September, they came to Gamescom with a new trailer. With this new trailer, CD Projekt Red also revealed a wide variety of mechanics that are being overhauled with the new update and expansion. There are new weapons, redesigns to Cyberware functionality, redesigned perks, a relic skill tree, new vehicles, vehicular combat, revamped police, new quests, and a whole lot more.

Hopefully, these redesigns will bring Cyberpunk 2077 back to what it was originally intended to be. Regardless, this might be time to revisit the game when the Phantom Liberty expansion launches on September 26^th. They also announced that a lot of the redesigned mechanics and overhauls will be patched into the base game as well.

A new faction has been announced for the Sci-Fi/Fantasy strategy game known as Stormgate. The Infernal Host has been announced and is an evil faction that will do anything to win, even sacrificing their own. More information is coming later this year.

Eleventh Hour Games also provided an update on their ARPG Last Epoch. A new class is coming to the game called the Runemaster. According to the developer, the Runemaster can invoke one of 40 different abilities with a single button press. The Runemaster will be available in-game on September 7^th and offers a variety of playstyle options.

Next on the list was the return of Marvel Snap, which won the Best Mobile Game award at the Game Awards for 2022. Marvel Snap is now available on Steam and has been overhauled so that the UI and everything runs and plays well on the platform. They also released a brand-new cinematic trailer to celebrate the PC release.

Bandai Namco popped in for a short segment, revealing a launch trailer for Armored Core VI: Fires of Rubicon. The From Software mech title will be released on August 25^th, 2023, for PC, PlayStation, and Xbox consoles. I haven’t really played one since the early days of the franchise, but I know a lot of folks are excited.

Warhaven popped up next, with a brand-new trailer. This time, the developers focused more on the story and cinematic elements of the game. You can play Warhaven for free starting on September 21^st, 2023. It is currently only going to be on PC, but I could see that changing if the game gets popular enough to warrant a larger audience.

Another highly anticipated game popped up next. NetherRealm Studios has been doing a lot of marketing for Mortal Kombat 1 ahead of its release on September 19th and they haven’t stopped here. Shao Kahn, Sindel, and Raiden are at the center of the Gamescom trailer. As with other characters, their stories have changed, and Shao Kahn is now a general rather than a tyrant. Though, we might see that change over time. It is also interesting to see Sindel (normally under his thumb) as the one in control this time in their dynamic.

With a tonal shift in terms of content, we move next to Ara: History Untold. This Turn-Based Strategy game involves leading a nation through alternative history. It looks like an interesting take on the Civilization formula and will be released in 2024.

Diablo IV took the stage next, showcasing the next in-game season which will be coming in October. The Season of Blood will begin on October 17^th. It is based on Diablo IV’s version of vampirism, just in time for Halloween. This new season will come with vampiric powers for your character as you join forces with the vampire hunter Eris.

The last world premiere (but penultimate segment) was for Dustborn, a game about love, friendship, and robots. This narrative-focused RPG showcases the power of words in a world of misinformation. Dustborn will release in Early 2024 for PC, PlayStation, and Xbox consoles.

Last, but certainly not least, we got another trailer for Alan Wake 2. Alan is trapped in The Dark Place, a nightmarish dimension that has trapped him ever since the events of the first game. Alan Wake 2 will be released on October 27^th, 2023, and will integrate elements of live action seamlessly throughout Alan’s segments of the game.

With that final segment, Opening Night Live 2023 came to an end. Admittedly it was less of an exciting showcase than previous years, but it did have a few interesting reveals. Hopefully, The Game Awards has some info on the missing games from this year’s showcase.