Big games industry events just wouldn’t feel the same without possible coffee drinker Geoff Keighley taking to a big stage to give us a peek at a bunch of different upcoming releases, and the Gamescom Opening Night Live showcase was no exception.
Despite being filled with an array of titles we’d seen before, such as The Callisto Protocol, and ones we hadn’t, like a rebooted Lords of the Fallen, the presentation ended up garnering a bit of a mixed reception from many fans.
This reaction is perhaps best symbolised by the personal highlight of Geoff’s BFF Hideo Kojima randomly showing up simply to announce his new podcast.
What caught your attention during Opening Night Live?
The Metal Gear Solid and Death Stranding director’s impromptu cameo occurred midway through the show, with Kojima-san revealing that he will be starring in a Spotify-exclusive podcast called Brain Structure, which will be offered in both English and Japanese.
Naturally, this unexpected twist could only be followed up by something just as off-the-wall, hence the reveal of a partnership between Pokemon and car manufacturer Mini not long afterwards, which saw Pikachu be compared to an automobile.
These stranger segments of the show, which you can watch in full below, were preceded by a bunch of more normal reveals and trailers, which kicked off with the announcement of survival MMO DUNE Awakening, a trailer showing off a new and highly customizable PlayStation DualSense Edge controller, and some more gameplay from the former PUBG tie-in horror title The Callisto Protocol.
Other big names on the setlist included a new trailer for the controversial Hogwarts Legacy, a Randy Pitchford cameo to promote New Tales From The Borderlands, and a fresh trailer for Sonic Frontiers; the latter two of which are set to arrive later this year.
As ever, the indie market had a pretty strong showing, with Return To Monkey Island, Goat Simulator 3, and Moonbreaker (a new game from Subnautica developer Unknown Worlds) all turning heads.
Also in the lineup were another look at Gotham Knights, and a trailer for Dead Island 2 to close out the show.
Regardless of what you’re hyped for from Gamescom Opening Night Live’s list of showcases, make sure to follow us for more coverage of big games industry events like Summer Games Fest, plus any Xbox or PlayStation showcases.
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