What was announced at Gamescom?

Gamescom took place last week in Germany, check out all the latest news and trailers from the event. Also, Black Myth: Wukong is huge! How huge? Find out below, along with all the other gaming news of the week. Let’s go!

The top stories from Gamescom

As Gamescom continues to grow into one of the biggest video game conventions in the world, more companies are making their big announcements at the show. We already posted our 10 favorite trailers from Gamescom Opening Night Live, but there were many more announcements. Here are some of the biggest:

• Microsoft studio Bethesda Games will release Indiana Jones and the Great Circle on Xbox and PC on Dec. 9. However, the bigger news is the game will be available for the PlayStation 5 in Spring of 2025, giving Xbox only a few months of exclusivity. Microsoft’s head of gaming Phil Spencer says you can expect more changes like this going forward. 
• People who recognize the name Peter Molyneux likely know him for his early “god games” (Dungeon Keeper, Black & White and Fable), or from his more recent disasters. Molyneux announced his new game Masters of Albion. Fable (a game owned by Microsoft) players will recognize Albion as the setting for that game, but Molyneux says it’s totally okay that he uses the Albion name, as it’s the name of a city in England. Could this be Molyneux’s last chance at redemption in the game industry? Does he deserve it?
• Gamescom has its own awards, and Monster Hunter Wilds won in every category it was nominated. Check out the full list of winners. 
• Monument Valley 3 will release on Dec. 10, and will be a Netflix exclusive game. 
• Amazon announced a new series called Secret Level. Episodes of the show will focus on stories from a variety of video games.

Not every studio could afford to have their trailer shown at Gamescom, which charged around $100,000 for the privilege. So, a bunch of indie developers took to social media to promote their new games. 

Okay, a few more trailers from Gamescom 

The Future Games Show at Gamescom showcased some additional titles that didn’t make it into Opening Night Live. Here are a few of our favorites:

Mars Attracts

Monaco 2

Lost Skies

Wilmot Works It Out

These numbers are not a Black Myth

Black Myth: Wukong had an incredible first week, selling 10 million copies in three days and boasting 3 million concurrent players across all platforms. 

The game is currently second in all-time concurrent players on Steam to PUBG Battlegrounds.This comes after some controversy, as the marketing team for the game banned content creators from talking about COVID-19 and “feminist propaganda.”

The game is so popular in China that PlayStation 5’s are selling out to people who want to experience the game. The game is based on the ancient Chinese mythology novel “Journey to the West.”

Side Quests (more stories worth reading)

📷 We are now on Instagram. Follow us there, if that’s your thing. 

⚖️ Government legislation and regulation is coming for video games in the U.S.

🤖 A prominent accessibility advocate that inspired change within game studios never actually existed. 

📱 Animal Crossing mobile is shutting down in November, and re-launching as a paid game. 

🤭 Valve finally officially announced Deadlock.

📊 A new report says 75% of video game players in Europe are adults, with an average age of 31. 

🖥️ Final Fantasy 16 will release on PC Sept. 17, and its director says it’s likely future Final Fantasy games will launch day one on PC. 

🏀 The iconic Backyard Sports franchise is coming back. 

🎵 Roblox strikes a deal with Distrokid, a distribution platform for indie musicians. However, musicians won’t make any money from the deal. 

⚙️ The new Xbox Series X|S with bigger hard drives will launch in October.

🏈 EA Sports College Football 25 overtakes Helldivers 2 as the best-selling U.S. game of 2024. Related: Circana reports 10% uplift in US game spending, but admits "this will continue to be a difficult year."

⏲️ Xbox says Standard tier subscribers to Game Pass will be forced to wait "up to 12 months+" for its first-party games.

♨️ Steam reviews will now reflect if a game was “primarily” played on the Steam Deck. 

🏆 Check out everything announced at the 2024 Pokémon World Championships.

🪐 A sequel to Journey to the Savage Planet is coming in 2025. 

🖼️ The Nintendo Museum will open on October 2 in Kyoto, Japan.

👍🏻 Epic says their free game giveaways have been "magical" for user acquisition.

New Releases this week:

Check out our article on 15 new games to play in August.

8/26: World of Warcraft: The War Within (PC)
8/29: Shadow of the Ninja - Reborn (PlayStation, Xbox, Switch and PC)
8/29: Squirrel With A Gun (PC)
8/29: Visions of Mana (PlayStation, Xbox and PC)
8/30: Star Wars Outlaws (PlayStation, Xbox and PC)

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