Gamescom is always one of the biggest conventions of the year, and 2022 was no different. While there weren’t any megaton announcements, we were treated to reveals and updates for some truly exciting games like Dead Island 2, Gotham Knights, Hogwarts Legacy, Sonic Frontiers, The Callisto Protocol, and more.
Gamescom 2022 kicked off its multi-day show with Opening Night Live, and it (and IGN!) continued to reveal big news and previews from the showfloor as the days went on. To help ensure you didn’t miss any of the biggest moments from Gamescom 2022, we’ve gathered the best announcements, trailers, and previews below for you to check out in one convenient place.
Dead Island 2 Gets a New Trailer, 8 Years After the Last One – and It’s Out Next Year
After eight long years, Dead Island 2 has finally been re-revealed with a new trailer and the news that it will be released on February 3, 2023. The cinematic trailer starred Jacob, one of the six playable characters in the game, and showed him slaughtering his way through Los Angeles with both a gun and a katana.
In our Dead Island 2 hands-on preview, we said that “while it may have risen from the grave, though, it still has a lot to prove. Dambuster has made a solid first impression, but it comes coupled with a distinct sense of familiarity.”
Sonic Frontiers: New Trailer Reveals More Story, Confirms Release Date
Gamescom Opening Night Live not only confirmed that Sonic Frontiers would be speeding its way to a November 8 release date, but it also shared a new trailer that showcases Sonic running around various environments, some mysterious new characters, and even a glimpse of Amy.
Gotham Knights Gets New Release Date, Will Include Harley Quinn and Clayface As Major Villains
Our upcoming trip to Gotham City was moved up a bit as Opening Night Live revealed that Gotham Knights will now be released on October 21, 2022. The trailer that helped share the news also confirmed Harley Quinn and Clayface will be appearing as major villains alongside Mr. Freeze, the Penguin, and the Court of Owls.
Hogwarts Legacy: New Trailer Shows Off Slytherin, Dark Magic, and Zombies
Following its delay, Hogwarts Legacy received a new trailer at Gamescom Opening Night Live that features a new look at gameplay, students digging into Salazar Slytherin’s past, and a slightly terrifying choice involving the torture curse Crucio.
The Callisto Protocol’s New Gameplay Trailer Is a Gorefest
The Callisto Protocol got a new trailer at Gamescom Opening Night Live and it can really only be described as a gorefest. Alongside seeing enemies being pushed into weird meat grinder-like machines and a deadly spinning giant fan at the end of a long sewer-like waterslide, we also were given a glimpse of the new mutations mechanic. That basically means that some enemies have tentacles coming out of them, and if you don’t kill them quickly enough, they will mutate and become even more powerful.
DualSense Edge Controller Revealed at Gamescom Opening Night Live
Sony has finally announced its answer to Microsoft’s Xbox Elite Controller with the DualSense Edge, a premium-grade PS5 wireless controller that has customizable controls, the ability to save multiple control profiles, changeable stick caps, back buttons, and more.
Street Fighter 6: New Gameplay Mechanics Explained
Learn some of the new gameplay mechanics coming to Street Fighter 6 and more details on Juri and Kimberly.
Forspoken Gameplay Overview Trailer Showcases Combat, Exploration, and Frey’s Magical Abilities
A new Forspoken gameplay overview trailer has been released and it showcases the game’s combat, exploration, and Frey’s magical abilities. Speaking of abilities, Forspoken will include over 100 spells and abilities and it will even grade you on how you are doing with a Devil May Cry-style combo grading system.
Where Winds Meet Is Like Ghost of Tsushima in Medieval China
Developer Everstone Games has unveiled its new open-world RPG, Where the Winds Meet that looks to be very much like Ghost of Tsushima in Medieval China. It is set in the beautiful Ten Kingdoms period at the end of the Southern Tang Dynasty and the main character looks to be a mysterious swordsman who will be tasked with surviving this tumultuous time.
New Lies of P Trailer Shows Geppetto and More at Gamescom Opening Night Live
Souls-like Pinocchio story Lies of P showed off a new gameplay trailer at Opening Night Live, and it gave fans a glimpse of the game’s lying system, Geppetto, and quite possibly Jiminy Cricket.
Subnautica Devs Announce Moonbreaker, a Warhammer-Like Strategy Game (Including the Model Painting)
Subnautica developer Unknown Worlds has announced Moonbreaker, a digital tabletop strategy game that has a universe that’s been co-created with Mistborn and Wheel of Time novelist Brandon Sanderson. Furthermore, the game is built around miniatures and it encourages players to paint them to their heart’s content as they would in real life. Moonbreaker will enter Early Access on September 29, 2022.
In our preview, we said that it mixes exciting Hearthstone strategy with chilled Warhammer painting.
New Tales From the Borderlands Officially Announced
New Tales From the Borderlands received its full reveal at Gamescom Opening Night Live and it was confirmed that it will be launching on October 21, 2022. This new story will follow three new characters – Anu, Octavio, and Fran – alongside familiar faces from the wider Borderlands universe.
High on Life Gets an Exclusive New Trailer at Gamescom Opening Night Live
High on Life, which is being developed by Rick and Morty co-creator Justin Roiland’s Squanch Games, received a new trailer that gave a look at the first-person shooter that sees the game’s weapons talking to you as you progress through the story. The trailer also featured a boss fight against a clone named 9-Torg.
After getting our hands-on High on Life, we realized there was much more to this shooter than we saw at Opening Night Live. In our High on LIfe preview, we said, “If these 25 minutes included enough jokes, neat touches, references, and combat ideas for me to write this much about, how will it feel once I’m hours into the game? If it keeps up that pace, High on Life will be far from a shooter with a jokey veneer – it could be something truly new.”
Wo Long: How Team Ninja’s New Soulslike Differs from Nioh
Team Ninja’s highly anticipated Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty finally got a gameplay trailer and IGN sat down with producer Fumihiko Yasuda and development producer Masaaki Yamagiwa to discuss the game and how it differs from Nioh.
No Rats, No Game” – How A Plague Tales’ Rat Swarm Was Created
Alongside a look at how A Plague Tales’ Rat Swarm was created, we were also treated to a new gameplay trailer for A Plague Tale: Requiem ahead of its October 18, 2022, release date.
Hideo Kojima Is Starting a Podcast Called Brain Structure
Beginning on September 8, Hideo Kojima will be launching his very own podcast on Spotify called Brain Structure, which will be a “deep dive into his brain and shed light on his creative process.” Episodes will be released each Thursday and the show will be available in both Japanese and English.
Return to Monkey Island Gets a September 2022 Release Date
Return to Monkey Island will be released on Nintendo Switch and PC on September 19, which just so happens to also be International Talk Like a Pirate Day. The release date announcement was joined by a trailer that featured, among other things, a horse armor joke.
Dune: Awakening Is a New Open World Survival MMO
Funcom revealed Dune Awakening at Gamescom’s Opening Night Live, an open-world survival MMO that is set on Arrakis and teased giant spice-harvesting vehicles, giant sand worms, and sand worm riding.
AEW Fight Forever – A Much Needed Alternative to the Mainstream
AEW Fight Forever just may be a return to the “Golden Age of wrestling games,” as it plays exactly like WWF No Mercy. While that has us very excited, it also stung us with “little rocks and pebbles of things that hold up less well to a modern standard.”
Warhammer 40,000: Darktide Is the Shooter 40K Deserves
Following our 30-minute, four-player co-op session of Warhammer 40,000: Darktide, we’ve proclaimed that that game “may be the rarest of rares: a genuinely good 40k FPS.”
Park Beyond Hands-On: A Park Simulator That Lets You Build The Impossible
Following a new trailer at Opening Night Live, we had the chance to try out Park Beyond, a new game that aims to let you build the impossible in the world of theme parks. In addition to building larger-than-life rides, Park Beyond also puts you in control of managing the park. This combo has us hopeful for its release in 2023.
Pentiment Is the Latest Pleasant Surprise From Xbox’s Most Prolific New Studio
Pentiment, which is set to be released on November 15, 2022, is the latest pleasant surprise from Obsidian Entertainment. It follows a medieval artist named Andreas Maler who is looking to become a master artist but unfortunately gets caught up in a murder mystery when his friend is accused of killing someone.
In our Pentiment hands-on demo, we said that “Just 30 minutes left me with plenty of opinions on the circumstances that led to the nobleman’s murder – I can’t wait to spend hours with these grim, quirky villagers and find out what other secret crimes they, and I, might artfully commit.”
In Atlas Fallen You Play as a Sand Thanos Whose Mission is to Punch a God
After 20 minutes, Atlas Fallen has given us a lot of hope for a game that basically lets you play as a sand Thanos whose mission is to punch a god. In our behind closed door demo, we came away with the impression that “Atlas Fallen shows flashes of Monster Hunter, Control, and the Horizon series, while also introducing some intriguing new ideas of its own.”
The Dark Pictures: The Devil In Me Is the Goriest Game in the Series
The Dark Pictures: The Devil In Me is not only the final installment in season one of Supermassive Games’ Dark Pictures Anthology, but it also looks to be the goriest entry yet.
In our hands-on preview of The Dark Pictures: The Devil In Me, we said that the game’s “playfulness, combined with a truly horrifying real-life backdrop, and a willingness to try some new gameplay ideas has me excited to check in for another stay when The Devil in Me releases on November 18.”
Wreckreation Knows You Want Another Burnout, So It’ll Let You Build It (and Thousands of Other Things)
Wreckreation is an upcoming open-world racing game that is so focused on customization and player choice that it will allow you to build another Burnout alongside thousands of other things if you so choose.
Planet of Lana Feels Like a Playdead Game That Doesn’t Hate You
Planet of Lana is a game that will feel familiar to those who’ve played Playdead’s Limo and Inside, but it features a “much more beautiful, naturalistic, and crucially hopeful viewpoint” than those wonderful games.
Killer Klowns from Outer Space Is Becoming a 3v7 Multiplayer Game
The 1988 film Killer Klowns from Outer Space is becoming a 3v7 asymmetric multiplayer game that will see humans facing off against a team of titular alien Klowns. There will also be character classes, a randomly generated map, and more. Killer Klowns from Outer Space is set to be released in early 2023.
Dredge Is a Relaxing Fisherman Simulator Hiding a Very Sinister Heart
At first glance, Dredge may seem like a relaxing fisherman simulator, however, there is much more going on behind the scenes that hid a very sinister heart. In our preview, we said that “It’s a magical set-up – the kind of compelling, acquisitive management game that can accidentally hold attention for hours, but intrinsically tied to a much stranger storyline, that promises to lead us into truly unknown waters.”
Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes Gets a New Gameplay Trailer After a Year of Waiting
The Suikoden spiritual successor Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes has received a new gameplay trailer more than a year after the last one. The new footage showed off a small selection of the game’s 100+ characters, story moments, and the gorgeous artstyle in action.
Ex-GTA Boss Reveals More About His New Open-World Game at Gamescom Opening Night Live
Former Rockstar North president Leslie Benzies and his studio Build a Rocket Boy have revealed more about Everywhere, an open-world game that is being described as blending together gameplay, adventure, creativity, and discovery in a multi-world gaming experience.
Vikings on Trampolines Is a “Blast” That’s Taken Two Decades to Make
Owlboy developer D-Pad Studios have been working on Vikings on Trampolines for 20 years, and our first hands-on demo gave us hope that it may have been worth it as it looks to be “a blast in the right environment.”
The Expanse: A Telltale Series First Gameplay Revealed at Gamescom Opening Night Live
Fans of The Expanse were treated to the first gameplay footage of The Expanse: A Telltale Series at Opening Night Live that shared a look at the new narrative adventure that will even let players traverse the vast space in zero-g.
Gord Is Aiming to Cross The Witcher with Rimworld (and the Signs are Good)
Gord is a new game from ex-CD Projekt developers that takes place in a grim, pastoral fantasy world inspired by Slavic folklore. While this draws comparison from The Witcher games, developer Covenant also said that Rimworld has been another huge inspiration.
Nobody Saves the World Announces DLC Expansion, Frozen Hearth
Nobody Saves the World is getting a new expansion called Frozen Hearth on September 13, and it looks to add new areas, challenges, and forms to shapeshift into.
The Lords of the Fallen Is a Reboot of the 2014 Souls-Like
The Lords of the Fallen is a reboot of the 2014 dark fantasy action RPG Souls-like that takes place over a thousand years after the first game in a world that is said to be “more than five times larger” than the original.
Adam Bankhurst is a news writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @AdamBankhurst and on Twitch.