Gamescom 2022: everything we know so far

Gamescom 2022 is upon us, and has already offered up a handful of tantalizing reveals and announcements.

Having kicked off with an opening showcase on August 23, Gamescom 2022 will consist of a mix of digital and in-person events taking place over five days. The physical part of the show is taking place in Cologne, Germany while an extensive digital program will be streamed online, allowing those around the world to tune in.

With the likes of Xbox, SEGA, Warner Bros. and more exhibiting at the convention, it's definitely not one to miss – even if you can't attend in person. Gamescom Opening Night Live, the convention's opening showcase was stuffed with big announcements, reveals, and world premieres for upcoming games. Dead Island 2 was officially unveiled at last, Sonic Frontiers got a release date, Hogwarts Legacy received a somewhat strange trailer, and the release of Gotham Knights was even brought forward. We expect only more announcements to be made as the convention carries on.

Want to know more? Read on for everything we know about Gamescom 2022 so far, including when and where it's happening and which exhibitors have been confirmed as attending.

Gamescom 2022: cut to the chase

• What is it? The world’s largest gaming event
• Where is it? Cologne, Germany but streamed online globally
• When is it? August 24 to August 28, 2022
• Who is attending? Xbox, Ubisoft, SEGA, 2K, Warner Bros and Bandai Namco are among the big names

What is Gamescom?

Gamescom is the world’s largest video game event (in terms of attendee numbers), and it takes place annually (usually in August). In 2019, the show saw 373,000 visitors, with hundreds of exhibitors showcasing their latest gaming, esports, and tech projects.

Gamescom takes place in Cologne, Germany, with gaming fans flocking from all over the globe to try new games before their release. That involves engaging with community activities, like cosplay contests and esports competitions. It’s also a meeting point for the games industry’s retail, trade, and media representatives. 

Usually, the industry’s most prominent publishers are involved, and we often see a lot of gaming news revealed during the show. That could be new game reveals, release date announcements, or trailer drops. 

When and where is Gamescom 2022?

Every year, Gamescom takes place at the Koelnmesse exhibition center in Cologne, Germany. However, Gamescom 2021 had no physical presence due to the coronavirus pandemic and took place entirely online. 

This year, though, Gamescom is back in all its glory, with Gamescom 2022 taking place both digitally and in-person on-site in Cologne across five days, from August 24 to August 28, 2022. The developer conference, Devcom, precedes Gamescom from August 22 to August 23.

Gamescom 2022 schedule: at a glance

As we've mentioned above, the core days of Gamescom 2022 take place between August 24 and August 28, but certain elements of Gamescom (including Opening Night Live and Devcom) take place before these dates. 

Below, you'll find the dates for all elements of Gamescom 2022, with more information on what events are taking place below that.

• August 22 - August 23: Devcom
• August 23: Opening Night Live (more on this below)
• August 24: Gamescom Entertainment Area (open for trade and media)
• August 25 - August 28: Gamescom Entertainment Area (public)
• August 24 - August 26: Gamescom Business Area
• August 25: Gamescom Congress
• August 25 - August 28: Gamescom Event Arena
• August 26 - August 28: Gamescom City Festival

These elements include a handful of events within them. Devcom, for example, consists of a series of events focused on game development, publishing and networking, while the Gamescom Business Area is for professionals only and focuses on industry networking. Gamescom Congress is a conference covering a broad range of topics on the potential of games in society and the economy

The Entertainment Area, meanwhile, is where attendees will be able to play an array of new games, while the Entertainment Event Arena will be occupied by the likes of AMD, Funcom and ESL Gaming, who will be hosting events throughout Gamescom 2022. 

In addition to the main floor events, the Future Games Show will be returning for a special Gamescom edition, with roughly 50 games from publishers including Team17 and 505 Games set to make an appearance at GamesRadar's showcase. The Future Games Show takes place on August 24 at 11am PDT / 2pm EDT / 7pm BST / 8pm CEST (or August 25 at 4am AEST).

There are a couple of other live streams on the cards too. The Awesome Indies Show is to take place at a currently unconfirmed date and time and the Xbox Live Booth stream kicks off on August 25 at 2pm CEST / 8am EST / 5am PST / 1pm BST / 10pm AEST. Those who tune into Xbox’s live show can expect "developer interviews and gameplay from various Xbox Game Studios". For more on what we’re expecting from Xbox at Gamescom, scroll down.

But that's not all that's on offer this year. For the metalheads among you, there will be a free Metal Hellsinger Concert, featuring the likes of Trivium's Hatt Heafy and Arch Enemy's Alissa White-Glüz, taking place on August 25 at 7pm CEST / 6pm BST / 1pm EDT / 10am PDT (or August 26 at 3am AEST). 

What is Opening Night Live?

Gamescom has its own gaming news conference called Opening Night Live, which officially kicks off the event. 

This year's showcase took place on August 23 and served up a whole bunch of world premieres and announcements. It lasted for over two hours and featured over 30 games.

Hogwarts Legacy was one of the stars of the show and received a weird new trailer. A big free update for Age of Empires 4 was announced, and The Callisto Protocol got a fittingly gruesome trailer. A release date for Sonic Frontiers was announced, before the show rounded off with an official unveiling of the long-anticipated Dead Island 2.

Attendees and predictions

Plenty of publishers and developers have confirmed (or denied) their attendance for Gamescom 2022, giving us a good idea of who we will hear from and what they might be bringing to the show. 

Microsoft has already confirmed (via IGN) that it’ll be in attendance. As far as what it’ll be bringing to the show, Microsoft said in a press release, “We’re excited to confirm that Xbox will be back on the show floor at Gamescom 2022 in Cologne, Germany. Fans in Europe and around the world can expect updates on some announced games coming to Xbox in the next 12 months.”

We got a pretty good selection of games at the Xbox and Bethesda showcase in June, including highly-anticipated titles like Redfall, Forza Motorsport and Starfield. But it doesn't look like any of those titles will be appearing at Gamescom, with Xbox since revealing its lineup to include Pentiment, Age of Empires 4, Microsoft Flight Sim and Grounded.

Ubisoft is another big name that’s confirmed it’ll be attending Gamescom, though it’s yet to reveal exactly what it plans to show. Interestingly, Ubisoft has also committed to a dedicated Ubisoft Forward showcase in September which isn’t all that long after Gamescom. With Skull and Bones now back out in the world we wouldn't be shocked to see that make an appearance but the rest of Ubisoft's lineup is hard to guess. A little more clarity around Assassin's Creed Infinity would be welcome. 

Warner Bros, Sega, 505 Games, Koch Media, 2K Games and Bandai Namco are among the other big names that are confirmed to be attending Gamescom 2022. 

In fact, the event organizer has confirmed that over 500 companies have registered to take part in this year’s show, with this number including developers, publishers and those who have signed up to be part of the merchandising area. Check out the full list, below:

As far as no shows, there are some big names in this area too. Sony and Nintendo have both confirmed that they will not be in attendance. Activision Blizzard, EA and Take-Two Interactive have confirmed that they won't be there either.

What happened at Gamescom 2021?

Gamescom 2021 Opening Night Live did a great job introducing us to a slew of new trailers for some of the most anticipated games coming soon, also packing surprise announcements we're looking forward to. Host Geoff Keighley put a big emphasis on "holiday" releases, and he wasn't wrong. We received release dates for games coming out around the November/December time period, as well as a slew of titles slated for early 2022. 

Opening Night Live gave us a CG reveal trailer for the Saints Row reboot, a new gameplay trailer for Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga and DokeV, a preview trailer for Death Stranding: Director’s Cut, a demo for Call of Duty: Vanguard, a release date for Halo Infinite, and it announced Marvel Midnight Suns.

The Xbox/Bethesda showcase was a bit less exciting, devoid of any updates on anticipated titles like Elder Scrolls 6, and Fable. While the Xbox showcase had its thunder largely stolen by Opening Night Live, it still had its highlights, including Dying Light 2 footage, deep dive on a rather peculiar Age of Empires 4 mode, and gameplay footage for Forza Horizon 5.

Other highlights from Gamescom 2021's conferences included a world premiere trailer for Warhammer 40,000: Chaos Gate - Daemonhunters, world-exclusive gameplay for Life is Strange: True Colors, and the debut of Jurassic World Aftermath Part 2 for Oculus Quest 2.

Make sure to check out our Gamescom 2021: the best games of the show guide for all the biggest announcements from last year's show.

• Upcoming games 2022: all the upcoming game releases for console and PC