Gamescom 2021's First Confirmed Companies Include Xbox, Bethesda, And EA

Gamescom has announced the first batch of companies confirmed for the annual gaming convention, with 19 names coming to the online events scheduled for August 25-27.

Big names coming to the event include Xbox and Bandai Namco--both of whom also appeared at E3 2021 in June--as well as E3 holdouts Activision and Electronic Arts. The list also includes Bethesda Softworks separately from Xbox despite the two having merged, implying a separate presence for the Deathloop publisher during the show. The full list of participants is below.

• 505 Games
• Activision
• Aerosoft
• Assemble Entertainment
• astragon Entertainment
• BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment
• Bethesda Softworks
• Electronic Arts
• GAMEVIL COM2US Europe
• Headup
• Indie Arena Booth
• Koch Media
• NExT Studios (Tencent Games)
• SEGA Europe
• Team17
• Thunderful Games
• Ubisoft
• Wargaming
• Xbox

The Indie Arena Booth listed above is a list of "80 curated top indie titles" that will feature in virtual booths during Indie Arena Booth Online, an event within the full Gamescom experience. The full IAB Online list will be made available later this month.

Gamescom 2021 will begin with Gamescom Opening Night Live, hosted by Geoff Keighley, on August 24. Gamescom Opening Night Live 2020 was an online-only showcase--also hosted by Keighley--set on a virtual stage and viewed by over 2 million people worldwide.