Gamescom 2020: How To Watch This Weekend

Gamescom has begun, and it looks much different than it typically does. The annual gaming convention is still set to deliver game news, announcements, and reveals over the coming days. Gamescom officially kicked off with the Opening Night Live stream, which has now concluded. It brought news on Fall Guys Season 2, PS5's Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart, and a number of other games. There's still more to come from Gamescom over the next few days, so stay tuned to our Gamescom hub for all of GameSpot's coverage.

Gamescom 2020 Start Date And Schedule

• Start date: Thursday, August 27
• End date: Sunday, August 30

Gamescom is scheduled to take place between August 27-30. Its schedule includes two special events to begin and end the proceedings. August 27 saw Geoff Keighley host the Opening Night Live at 11 AM PT; you can rewatch it above. On August 30, Gamescom will end with a Best of Show presentation.

How To Watch Gamescom 2020

Since the event is streaming, you'll be able to watch it all online. Gamescom is also being treated as the culmination of Keighley's Summer Game Fest event, which has aired on The Game Awards account.

What To Expect From Gamescom 2020

Typically, Gamescom is full of publishers sharing additional details about games announced at E3, and occasionally making new brand-new announcements. It's also often a highlight for European publishers, including Cyberpunk 2077 studio CD Projekt Red.

Keighley promised over 35 games as part of its Opening Night Live showcase, with news and new footage from upcoming games. As expected, that gave us a better look at a number of games we already knew about--including Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War--as well as a few new reveals. You can check out the full Gamescom 2020 lineup to see which companies are participating in Gamescom in some capacity.

Most of the games shown during Gamescom Opening Night Live were previously announced titles; going in, Keighley tried to set expectations that there wouldn't be a ton of Earth-shattering news. There was nothing regarding PS5 or Xbox Series X hardware (save for a bit of insight into how Ratchet & Clank will use the DualSense controller), and much to fans' chagrin, no sign of From Software's Elden Ring.

With only months left before the launch of PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X, there are still a lot of questions surrounding both platforms. Neither Sony nor Microsoft have promised any hardware reveals during Gamescom, but it's possible that either or both could host another event in the near future. Nintendo, meanwhile, surprised everyone by dropping a Nintendo Direct Mini event focused on third-party games on August 26.