Gamescom Opening Night Live 2021: Where to watch and 5 biggest game announcements to expect

The Cologne, Germany-based gaming trade show, Gamescom, will push through this year, although it will take on a slightly different format due to the ongoing pandemic. Luckily, fans worldwide will be able to watch the announcements simultaneously through online streams. Gamescom is also bringing back the Opening Night Live to kick off the two-day fair.

Gamescom 2021: Where to watch

Gamescom 2021 will officially run from Wednesday, Aug. 25 to Friday, Aug. 27. But like most video game trade shows, the biggest announcements are packed on the first day.

To kick off the Gamescom festivities this year, Geoff Keighley is coming back to host the Opening Night Light on Wednesday. Natascha Becker from Germany’s gaming magazine GameStar will co-host the show with Keighley, per Gamescom’s announcement.

There will be a 30-minute pre-show scheduled at 7:30 p.m. CEST / 1:30 p.m. ET / 10:30 a.m. PT. It will be followed by a two-hour main event where a lineup of major game announcements and trailer presentations are expected starting at 8 p.m. CEST / 2 p.m. ET / 11 a.m. PT.

Gaming fans do not have to keep searching for links where Gamescom Opening Night Live will stream as Keighly already provided four channels to watch the event. A live stream will be available on YouTube, Twitch, Twitter, and Facebook through the links listed in the tweet below.

Gamescom 2021: Biggest announcements to expect

The confirmed announcements lined up for Gamescom's Opening Night Live is a mix of upcoming AAA games, major content updates, and highly anticipated indie titles.

Last month, Kojima Productions announced it will release a “Death Stranding: Director’s Cut.” While most of the upcoming items and updated mechanics have been revealed, the studio has yet to reveal the story behind the extended part of the game. This could be the focus of the game’s announcement at Gamescom’s Opening Night Live.

Keighley also confirmed in several Twitter posts that upcoming games “Far Cry 6” and the next-gen gameplay preview of “Call of Duty: Vanguard'' will be part of Gamescom’s opening day. These are some of the biggest titles confirmed to launch this fall with release dates Oct. 7 and Nov. 5, respectively.

The release date of “Splitgate” became uncertain recently as 1047 Games decided to keep the free-to-play multiplayer in beta indefinitely. But the game is confirmed to be part of the Gamescom Opening Night Live, and hopefully, the developers will use this venue to offer a bit more clarity on the game’s timeline. Keighley also confirmed that miHoYo has some “special news” prepared for “Genshin Impact” fans at the event.

Photo by Marco Verch from Flickr licensed under Creative Commons