While we were all sleeping soundly in Australia, a deluge of video game news has erupting from Gamescom: one of the world’s premier events in the gaming landscape, held in Köln, Germany. Big publishers, like Xbox and Bethesda, as well as smaller players (like Netflix) came together to drop a ton of new info about games we’re looking forward to in the coming months and years.
Here, we’ve pulled together all the biggest and most exciting news from the three-day event. It’ll be running until Friday evening, so we’ll make sure to keep this page updated each day!
Table of contents
- Things You Missed at Gamescom
- 1. ‘Starfield: Shattered Space’ Launches in September
- 2. ‘Monster Hunter Wilds’ Will Not Cater to Arachnaphobes
- 3. We Finally Saw ‘Dune: Awakening’ Gameplay
- 4. ‘Borderlands 4’ Is Real, and it’s Launching Next Year
- 5. ‘Monument Valley 3’ is Coming Exclusively to Netflix
- 6. ‘Call of Duty: Black Ops 6’ is Taking Us Back to the ’90s
- There’s More to Come
Things You Missed at Gamescom
1. ‘Starfield: Shattered Space’ Launches in September
Aiming to solve one of the bigger complaints players had when Starfield launched, Bethesda added a rover-like vehicle for Starborn to use to explore planets with. The new transport, called the REV-8, was made available for download for free on the 21st August, which is a nice gesture of goodwill toward a sometimes fanatical player base that felt a bit let down by the Skyrim-developer’s latest release.
But wait, there’s more! The space RPG’s first paid story expansion, Shattered Space, is launching sooner than we anticipated: 30th September, 2024. The DLC will focus on the mysterious ‘House Va’Ruun’ which barely appeared in the main game, and looks to bring a new, darker tone to the game.
For many players, Starfield didn’t quite live up to the hype when it launched in 2023, but with Shattered Space the team at Bethesda will be looking to deliver something more memorable and interesting. If the expansion can hit the highs of Skyrim’s Dragonborn or Fallout 4‘s Far Harbor DLCs, we could be in for something meaty.
2. ‘Monster Hunter Wilds’ Will Not Cater to Arachnaphobes
While we’re waiting for Capcom to give us a release date for the next iteration of its aptly-named monster hunting series, we’ll take anything we can get, honestly. Thankfully, what they’ve given is a pretty awesome look at how combat and downtime will work in the game, showcasing two new monsters: one, a dancing spider creature ripped straight from my nightmares, and the other a more traditional dragon-like beast (an Elder Dragon, if I had to guess).
The trailer also showed off a new hub area where our hunter can spend time between hunts, upgrading gear, relaxing with other players, or even cooking a nice well-done steak. So tasty!
I’ve been trying to go in as unspoiled as I can with Monster Hunter Wilds, but if Monster Hunter Worlds and Rise are anything to go by, we’re going to have something special on our hands when it launches in 2025.
3. We Finally Saw ‘Dune: Awakening’ Gameplay
If you’ve ever wanted to call a Sand Worm down (or up) on your enemies, Dune: Awakening is going to knock your socks off. The co-op survival MMO pits you and your friends against other players, house agents, and the terrors of Arrakis in a never-ending quest for spice.
The combat looks considerably smoother than in most other survival games, and the ability to harvest blood from your enemies to purify into water is a genius touch. Base building looks intuitive, and being able to build a your own Ornithopter and explore Arrakis seems like an incredible way to spend time with my buds.
The game definitely pulls from the developer Funcom’s previous title, Conan: Exiles, which by all measures is a pretty fantastic game. Dune: Awakening is coming to PC in early 2025, with PS5 and Xbox launches coming later.
4. ‘Borderlands 4’ Is Real, and it’s Launching Next Year
After the movie bombed, Borderlands‘ creator Randy Pitchford hinted that more Borderlands was on the way. We didn’t have to wait long, with the next installment of the looter-shooter announced for release in 2025.
Gearbox didn’t actually show off any gameplay, instead giving us a look at a large moon suspended in some kind of crystal. It honestly doesn’t look much like any Borderlands game I’ve played, but we’re pretty confident there’s gonna be a trillion guns to try out when the game launches.
According to the trailer’s description on YouTube, “players will assume the role of a legendary Vault Hunter as they blast their way through hordes of enemies in search of new treasures to loot on an all-new planet”. Sounds like Borderlands to us!
5. ‘Monument Valley 3’ is Coming Exclusively to Netflix
Announced in 2019, perspective puzzler Monument Valley 3 has been quiet for some time. But now we know it’s coming out on 10 December this year, and will be exclusive to Netflix. If you already subscribe to the streaming service you’ll get access to the game on your iOS or Android device later this year, which is nice.
If you haven’t played the first two games (which I highly recommend), they’ll be launching on the streaming services’ games platform in September and October, so you can get brain training in ahead of the threequels release.
6. ‘Call of Duty: Black Ops 6’ is Taking Us Back to the ’90s
Specifically, the next major release in the Call of Duty series will be tackling the end of the Cold War, and seems to be giving you some options in how you engage with each level. During the mission shown of at Gamescom, the player is tasked with getting access to a number of VIP’s eye-scans, and showcases a few ways in which you might accomplish that.
It’s actually one of the most robust ‘trailers’ we got on day one of the event, and was almost entirely gameplay. Response to the trailer has been very positive, which makes sense because, honestly, it looks very, very fun. With any luck, Black Ops 6‘s campaign will go some way to deliver something fresh to the franchise, which has started feel a bit stale in recent years.
It comes out on 25 October, so you don’t have to wait long to find out.
There’s More to Come
There’s a lot more coming with Gamescom running between the 21-23 of August, so we’ll keep updating this story throughout the next few days to make sure you know all the best games launching soon!
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