Gamescom 2022 has kicked off in Colonge, Germany and brought with it a new slew of video game announcements. New games were announced, we got new looks at upcoming titles that were already announced, PlayStation unveiled a new controller, and much more.
Much of the news came via Geoff Keighley’s Opening Night Live presentation, with some publishers also making announcements around the same time. For those of you who have yet to catch up, here’s a recap of the biggest video game news that happened:
- Moving Out 2 announced
- Return to Monkey Island release date announced
- Dead Island 2 finally has a release date
- PlayStation announces new PS5 Dualsense Edge controller
- Sonic Frontiers gets a release date
- New Tales from the Borderlands officially revealed
- Gotham Knights gets new trailer, earlier release date
- A new look at The Callisto Protocol
- Atlas Fallen announced from the developers of The Surge
- The Lords of the Fallen announced
- Dune is getting a survival MMO, Dune: Awakening
- Hogwarts Legacy gets a new trailer
- Everywhere is incredibly intruiging
- Wyrdsong announced by former Fallout developers
- Lies of P is a Pinocchio game inspired by Dark Souls
- Killer Klowns from Outer Space is getting a video game adaptation
- The Finals announced by former Battlefield developers
- Where Winds Meet is a new Chinese action-RPG
- Scars Above is a new sci-fi action shooter
- Quantic Dream reveals Under the Waves
- Moonbreaker is a new miniatures game from the Subnautica team
- Homeworld 3 debuts new trailer
- Friends Vs. Friends is a colourful new competitive shooter with a twist
- Stranded: Alien Dawn is a new sci-fi survival strategy game
- The Outlast Trials announced with multiplayer survival horror
- A new look at The Expanse: A Telltale Series
- Hideo Kojima has a podcast now
Moving Out 2 announced
One of Australia’s recent video game phenomenons was Moving Out, a chaotic local multiplayer game where you attempt to move furniture in and out of properties while trying not to cause too much damage (or, you know, cause as much damage as possible). A Moving Out sequel was announced as part of Opening Night Live.
Moving Out 2 will feature whole new worlds and challenges. The announcement trailer featured a picturesque holiday destination, a space station, a whole array of bizarre contraptions and machines designed to make your life that much harder.
Read: How ‘Moving Out’ entertains us while the world stays in
Moving Out 2 is being published by Team 17, and will launch in 2023 for PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PC via Steam, and
Return to Monkey Island release date announced
The long-awaited next chapter in the seminal adventure game series, Monkey Island, had a release date announced. Return to Monkey Island will release on 19 September 2022, which is by no small coincidence, International Talk Like a Pirate Day. Designed by series creator Ron Gilbert with the involvement of key Monkey Island developer Dave Grossman, Return to Monkey Island is a direct continuation of Ron Gilbert’s interpretation of the world, and features the return of Dominic Armato, the voice of series protagonist Guybrush Threepwood.
A new trailer was debuted at the Gamescom 2022 Opening Night Live, featuring a new look at the game’s locations, art style, and the return of Monkey Island salesman Stan S. Stanman.
Preorder details were also shared; doing so will get you ‘Free Horse Armor’ which has absolutely not practical in-game use – a jab at the infamous horse armor of The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, one of the earliest examples of paid content for video games.
Return to Monkey Island is being published by Devolver Digital, and will release on 19 September 2022 on PC and
Dead Island 2 finally has a release date
Zombie action game Dead Island 2 has long been in development hell, first announced in 2014 and being passed around multiple studios since. A new trailer featuring a release date for the game finally debuted at Opening Night Live at Gamescom 2022. Dead Island 2 will finally (probably?) arrive on 3 February 2023.
The game is being developed by Deep Silver studio, Dambuster, and will see you fight to reclaim Los Angeles from hoards of zombies with a brutal combat system, if previews are to be believed.
Dead Island 2 will be available on PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, and PC via Epic Games Store.
PlayStation announces new PS5 DualSense Edge controller
Rumours of a ‘pro’ version of the PlayStation 5 controller have long been circulating since Xbox paved the way with their premium and feature-packed Xbox Elite Controller, which is now in its second iteration. Now, the curtain has been lifted, with the company officiall unveiling the DualSense Edge controller for PS5.
Although it keeps the formfactor of the PS5’s standard DualSense controller, the Edge features a number of bonus features, including lever buttons on the back of the controller, the ability to adjust analog stick deadzones, alter the travel distance of the triggers, save multiple controller profiles, change out the analog stick caps, and more.
The features should hopefully please those who require a little more finesse when playing console games, especially for those who are particually invested in competitive shooter games.
No release date or pricepoints have been announced for the PS5 DualSense Edge controller at the time of writing.
Sonic Frontiers gets a release date
The curious new Sonic the Hedgehog game, Sonic Frontiers, had its releae date officially revealed during Gamescom 2022, after a several unfortunate leaks. Sonic Frontiers will release on 8 November 2022, and the game received a new story-focussed trailer to mark the occaision.
The gist is that Sonic has a discovered a whole new world, which justifies the game’s new free-roaming sections. While the game received some criticism about its supposed new directions in early previews, the story trailer reveals the variety of gameplay experiences contained in it – side-scrolling action features, as do a variety of more colourful locals, which should hopefully quell those upset about the idea of spending too much time in the grassy plains that have featured heavily up to this point.
Sonic Frontiers will be released on PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PC, and
New Tales from the Borderlands officially revealed
A brand new entry in the Borderlands narrative adventure series, Tales from the Borderlands is coming. New Tales from the Borderlands will continue the legacy started by Telltale Games, focusing on some of the periphery characters of the wider Borderlands universe, rather than action-packed journeys of Vault Hunters.
A brief look at the game revealed that Rhys, the protagonist from the original Tales of the Borderlands (do we call that one ‘Old Tales from the Borderlands’ now?) has a small part to play in this new story, but ultimately the game focusses on three new protagonists: Fran, Anu and Octavio.
Fran is a frozen yoghurt store owner who gets around in a rocket-powered hoverchair, and already is ingrained in Borderlands lore. Anu is a scientist, and her brother Octavio is a street-smart kid, who provides comic relief.
New Tales from the Borderlands will launch on 21 October 2022 for PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PC via Steam and the Epic Games Store, and
Gotham Knights gets new trailer, earlier release date
In a bizarre turn of events, upcoming DC Comics action game Gotham Knights has recieved a new release date – but instead of being delayed to 2023 like just about every other video game, Gotham Knights will actually be released earlier than expected. It’ll now release on 21 October 2022.
A new trailer was revealed during Gamescom 2022, which showcased the game’s enemies – including Mr Freeze, Clayface, and Harley Quinn with a whole new look.
You’ll take on these foes as one of four different Batman heroes, who are picking up the pieces after the his death. Nightwing, Red Hood, Robin, and Batgirl will all sport different fighting styles, and have the ability to team up for higher-powered attacks.
Gotham Knights will release on 21 October 2022 for PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC.
A new look at The Callisto Protocol
The team at Striking Distance Studios, which is made up of a number of key figures behind the Dead Space franchise, revealed another look at their spiritual successor to the sci-fi horror series, The Callisto Protocol.
A new trailer foucsed on various melee and ranged combat abilities, as well as a new ‘mutations’ mechanic, which sees enemies quickly transform into more vicious opponents if you don’t take advantage of the brief window to stop them from doing so.
The game looks positively terrifying, and given the prestige of the people behind it, it’s one we’re certainly keeping an eye on.
The Callisto Protocol will release on 2 December 2022 on PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, and PC.
Atlas Fallen announced from the developers of The Surge
Deck 13, best known as the developers of Lords of the Fallen and The Surge – both interesting takes on the Dark Souls genre – have revealed their next game. It’s called Atlas Fallen, and it’s a fantasy action RPG that takes place in a sand-covered world populated with enormous creature.
Interestingly, the combat system in Atlas Fallen will apparently quite different from the methodical ones of their previous games, with a focus on being more agile, fast-paced, and flashy, though still requiring some level of skill and timing to perform perfectly.
Atlas Fallen will be available in 2023 on PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC.
The Lords of the Fallen announced
The Lords of the Fallen was announced at Gamescom 2022, touted as a spiritual successor to Lords of the Fallen (wow, that’s not confusing at all). That game was still steeped in dark fantasy, but was a little more accessible for those not quite ready to take on the FromSoftware brand of things.
The Lords of the Fallen will feature online co-operative multiplayer, as well as the ability to invade the games of other players as an antagonist. While the announcment trailer didn’t feature any actual footage of the game, it did feature a Danzig track, so consider us interested.
The Lords of the Fallen is currently planned for sometime in 2023 on PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC via Steam.
Dune is getting a survival MMO, Dune: Awakening
The revival of Dune in cinemas certainly has injected new interest in the franchise. There’s already the strategy game Dune: Spice Wars, and now a survival MMO called Dune: Awakening has been announced at Gamescom 2022.
Developed by Funcom (Conan: Exiles), the game will apparently throw thousands of players in a shared instance of the planet Arrakis, encouraging them to build bases and survive, to eventually form alliances, harvest resources like spice, and survive the trecherous world – sandworms aplenty here.
Though it had a rocky launch, Funcom eventually turned Conan: Exiles into something loved by many, so there’s hope that a lot of the lessons learned in that game can be transposed to Dune: Awakening.
Dune: Awakening currently has no planned release date, although you can sign up for the beta. It’s planned for PS5, Xbox Series X, and PC.
Hogwarts Legacy gets a new trailer
A new trailer for Hogwarts Legacy, the upcoming open-world action adventure set in the Harry Potter universe was revealed at Gamescom 2022, and it explores the darker side of the wizarding universe. It appears that Hogwarts founder Salazar Slytherin will be a key part of the game’s narrative, as will the spider Aragog and several nasty creatures.
The trailer also revealed that students in the game will be able to perform forbidden curses in the game and torture folks, which is pretty wild.
Hogwarts Legacy naturally comes with a lot of baggage, given the much-publicised prejudices of Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling, so it’s worth considering that if this game does pique your interest.
Hogwarts Legacy is due out on 10 February 2023, and will launch on PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, and PC. A
Everywhere is incredibly intriguing
In one of the more puzzling announcements of Gamescom 2022, developer Build a Rocket Boy announced Everywhere, described a a ‘multi-world game experience that blurs the line between reality and the digital world’. Build a Rocket Boy was formed by Leslie Benzies, the former head of Rockstar North (Grand Theft Auto, Red Dead Redemption, etc)
The teaser trailer showed multiple cartoonish indoor and outdoor environments as well as driving, running, jumping shooting, before pulling out and showing a realistic human character looking on in horror. Everywhere certainly looks like this will have some layers to it, and we’re intruigued.
Wyrdsong announced by former Fallout developers
A teaser for a brand new game call Wyrdsong was announced at Gamescom 2022. It’s being developed by Something Wicked Games, a studio made up of veteran developers who previously worked on titles such as Fallout 3, Fallout: New Vegas, Dragon Age: Inquisition, Fallout 4, and The Outer Worlds.
It’s being described as an ‘occult historical fantasy RPG’, set in a fictionalised version of Portugal during the middle ages. It’s being led by Fallout and Elder Scrolls veteran Jeff Gardiner, but we don’t know much else about it.
Given the pedigree of the developers involved, we should have a pretty good idea about how Wyrdsong might end up playing.
Wyrdsong does not currently have a release date or confirmed platforms.
Lies of P is a Pinocchio game inspired by Dark Souls
The winner for the most bizarre concept and game name at Gamescom 2022 is Lies of P, an action RPG inspired by Dark Souls, and also the tale of Pinocchio. First revealed a year ago, a new trailer revealed in-game footage as Pinocchio wields weapons and his mechanical body in a Victorian, steampunk nightmare town.
Weirdness aside, it looks pretty interesting – Souls fans have been clamouring for a followup to Bloodborne, FromSoftware’s own Victorian take on the genre – so this should hopefully sate some of those desires.
Lies of P will be released on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, and will be available on the Xbox Game Pass subscription service.
Killer Klowns from Outer Space is getting a video game adaptation
Remember the cult 1980s horror film, Killer Klowns from Outer Space? Where aliens who look like clowns invade earth? No? Well, that movie is getting a video game adaptation, and it’s an asymetrical, 3v7 online multiplayer game that pits killer klowns against humans, much like other horror games Dead by Daylight and Friday the 13th: The Game.
Killer Klowns from Outer Space: The Game is being developed by Columbian studio Tetravision and published by Good Shephard Entertainment. The directors of the original film, the Chiodo Brothers, serve as executive producers on the game.
Killer Klowns from Outer Space: The Game is slated for a early 2023 release on PC via Steam, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
The Finals announced by former Battlefield developers
A new game from Embark Studios, which is comprised of former developers who worked on the Battlefield franchise was announced at Gamescom 2022. It’s called The Finals, and it’s a cooperative, free-to-play first-person shooter with a game show-like hook.
Judging by the Steam description for The Finals, the game will feature the environmental destruction that was a defining feature of Battlefield.
It’s being published by Nexon, and playtesting will begin on PC via Steam in the near future.
Where Winds Meet is a new Chinese action-RPG
Where Winds Meet is a new open-world fantasy action game, set in historical China during the Northern Song Dynasty. A trailer revealed in-game footage of the protagonist demonstrating the wuxia-style movements and combat popularised in Chinese historical fiction – we’re talking running on water and up walls, acrobatic swordplay, and flowing martial arts moves.
If you’ve played Ghost of Tsushima, Where Winds Meet looks to echo a lot of stylistic similarities, with lots of lush natural environments and grass blowing in the wind, but also in its more supernatural elements, which Tsushima explored in its expansion content.
Where Winds Meet is being developed by Everstone Games, and will reportedly feature branching story paths and jobs for your protagonist. It’ll be released on PC, but no date has been announced.
Scars Above is a new sci-fi action shooter
Prime Matter (System Shock remake, Gungrave G.O.R.E.) and Mad Head Games have revealed Scars Above at Gamescom 2022, which is described as a ‘challenging sci-fi third-person action-adventure shooter’, set on an alien world. Descriptions of the game emphasise its difficulty and the reward that comes with overcoming that.
What little gameplay is shown in the trailer reminds us of Returnal and Remnant: From the Ashes, but we’ll have to wait to find out more.
Scars Above will be available on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S, though no date has been announced.
Quantic Dream reveals Under the Waves
Quantic Dream, the studio responsible for narrative games like Heavy Rain and Detroit: Become Human, led by the problematic David Cage, has announced that it’s publishing a new game called Under the Deep. Developed by Parallel Studio, the game will revolve around deep-sea divers, grief, the isolation of the ocean, and overall feels very introspective.
The description reads: ‘Set in the depths of the North Sea in the techno-futuristic 1970s, professional diver Stan is struggling to overcome a life-changing loss and embrace a new future. The isolation of the deep sea is a fitting manifestation of his state of mind, and as Stan retreads further into his self-imposed solitude, he starts to experience strange events far beneath the waves. He will eventually have to make a difficult choice… stay lost in the depths forever, or break free to the surface and to the rest of his life.’
Under the Waves will be released sometime in 2023 on PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, and PC via Steam and the Epic Game Store.
Moonbreaker is a new miniatures game from the Subnautica team
Inspired by tabletop gaming and miniature RPGs, Moonbreaker is a turn-based sci-fi strategy game from Unknown Worlds (Subnautica) that looks and plays like a physical tabletop campaign. You’ll be able to paint your figures before you put them into play, and author Brandon Sanderson (Mistborn) is involved in the worldbuilding.
Moonbreaker looks to full of character and colour, despite the characters in the game remaining perfectly static, as if they were real miniatures. According to the developer, the goal is to ‘capture the feel of a physical miniatures game without the real-world downsides.’
Moonbreaker will be available on Steam, beginning with an early access phase, and the game currently has a playtest running.
Homeworld 3 debuts new trailer
A new trailer for Homeworld 3, the newest game in the classic PC strategy series, was shown during Opening Night Live at Gamescom 2022. Published by Gearbox, the trailer showed off the unique, 3D space strategy that series is known for, explaining how that creates unique tactical opportunities. It’s definitely looking pretty good.
Homeworld 3 is slated to be released in the first half of 2023, and will be available on PC via Steam and the Epic Games Store.
Friends Vs. Friends is a colourful new competitive shooter with a twist
Publisher Raw Fury announced a new game from developer Brainwash Gang. It’s called Friends Vs. Friends, and features a colourful neon art style and anthropomorphic animal characters, who go head-to-head in first-person combat.
The twist of Friends Vs. Friends comes in the form of magical cards, which can do a variety of things – give you guns, turn you into a giant, give your bullets special properties, expose your rival’s brain… the list goes on.
It looks like a lot of fun, and the mix of pop music and cartoonish gore has definitely captured our attention.
Stranded: Alien Dawn is a new sci-fi survival strategy game
Stranded: Alien Dawn is a new survival strategy game from Haemimont Games (Surviving Mars). In the game, you take charge of ensuring the survival of a marooned group of spacefarers who have crashed-landed on an alien planet. You’ll have to build shelter and keep your survivors fed, as well as protect them from the unknown threats on this new planet.
Surviving Mars was great, so Stranded: Alien Dawn should also be interesting to see. It’s launching on PC via Steam in Early Access in October 2022.
The Outlast Trials announced with multiplayer survival horror
Red Barrels, the developers of the terrifying Outlast series, are back with a horror experience that you can play with other people, if you so choose. The announcement trailer gives us a look at the tone of the game, which is, as you expect, suitably terrifying.
Not much information was given, but here’s the official game description: ‘Set in the era of the Cold War, human guinea pigs are involuntarily recruited by the good folks at the Murkoff Corporation to test advanced methods of brainwashing and mind control. In a world of distrust, fear, and violence, your morals will be challenged, your endurance tested, and your sanity crushed. All in the name of progress, science, and profit.’
No release date has been announced for The Outlast Trials, but we know it’s coming to PC via Steam at the very least, and a closed beta will be held from 28 October – 1 November 2022
A new look at The Expanse: A Telltale Series
Gamescom 2022 featured a closer look at The Expanse: A Telltale Series, the video game adaptation of the television series. Though the current iteration of Telltale Games is not the same as the one that brought us games like The Walker Dead and The Wolf Among Us, The Expanse is being co-developed with Deck 9 (Life Is Strange: True Colors), who have plenty of narrative adventure experience.
The Expanse: A Telltale Series is slated for Summer 2023 (Northern Hemisphere) on PC and consoles.
Hideo Kojima has a podcast now
Famed food and movie enjoyer, and sometimes video game designer Hideo Kojima (Death Stranding, Metal Gear Solid) got to take the spotlight at Opening Night Live at Gamescom 2022 to announce that he has a podcast now. It’s on Spotify.
Yep, that’s it. Thanks, Geoff Keighley.
This article is continually being updated as Gamescom 2022 continues. Check back regularly for more updates.
