Microsoft has announced its plans for the upcoming Gamescom 2022 (opens in new tab) show taking place later this month in Cologne, Germany. This year’s event will be Microsoft’s first in-person showing at Gamescom since 2019, but for the benefit of those who can’t attend (which, let’s be honest, is most of us) it will also offer a livestreamed presentation (opens in new tab) that will include interviews and gameplay from multiple studios and games.
The Xbox Booth at Gamescom livestream will begin at 5 am PT/8 am ET on August 25 (it’s in Europe, remember) and run until 11 am PT/2 pm ET. Along with the English-language broadcast, the event will also be available in German, French, Polish, Italian, Spanish (Latin American & Castilian), Brazilian Portuguese, Japanese, Korean, and Chinese (Simplified), along with ASL, BSL and DGS interpretation, and English Audio Descriptions.
A detailed schedule will be released closer to Gamescom, but this is “a taste of what to expect”:
There’s definitely some interesting stuff in there. Pentiment, a 16th-century narrative adventure in development at Obsidian, is probably at the top of my list, but Lies of P—the Pinnochio Bloodborne-alike—looks darkly promising too, and of course everyone is waiting for a closer look at Minecraft Legends, the RTS Minecraft spinoff. The indie platformer Planet of Lana, due out later this year, is another one I have high hopes for.
For those who can attend Gamescom in person, Microsoft will have a range of games publicly playable (including Lies of P and Planet of Lana), as well as an opportunity to have your picture take with, among other creatures, the VASCO robot from Starfield and a five-meter-wide Broodmother spider from Grounded, if that’s what you’re into. Here’s when you can get in:
- Thursday, August 25 – 10:00am – 8:00pm CEST
- Friday, August 26 – 10:00am – 8:00pm CEST
- Saturday, August 27 – 9:00am – 8:00 pm CEST
- Sunday, August 28 – 9:00am – 8:00pm CEST
Gamescom 2022 will get underway in earnest with Geoff Keighley’s Opening Night Live show, which will begin at 11 am PT/2 pm ET on August 23. The Future Games Show (opens in new tab), hosted by our good pals at GamesRadar, will run at the same time on August 24 with a showcase of 50 games from a range of different developers.