Gamescom 2024 Opening Night Live has come and gone, leaving us with a heap of trailers to chew through on big games, small games, and short movies about games. Your big tentpole franchises are here—including a new game in the Borderlands series—but there were a few surprises, especially for those who never expected to see Peter Molyneux emerge from the shadows to announce a new game.
We’ve compiled a list of the best trailers from Gamescom 2024. Be sure to check back in the following days for more gameplay drops for titles coming this year and next.
Borderlands 4 Opens Gamescom 2024 With a Bang
The Borderlands movie hasn’t been so hot at the box office, but Gearbox isn’t letting a theatrical dud stop its big looter-shooter franchise. The trailer leaves us very little to save for the old psycho mask popping up at the end of a spectacle of planet-level annihilation. We expect to see more from the game before we can tell if that patented sense of infantile humor is still there.
Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 Involves You Taking Shots and Taking Names
The sixth Black Ops title is sticking to the underhanded nature its title implies. There’s shooting, of course, but the trailer involved as much taking photos as it did taking lives.
Civilization VII Is Already Asking You for Just One More Turn
The Civ series wasn’t going to sit on an even number forever. Civilization VII’s first teaser doesn’t show us much insight into new features, but the stunning cityscapes, ships, tanks, rockets, and nukes on display are already begging players to hit the end turn button.
Surprise, Surprise, Batman in VR Actually Looks Pretty Fun
Batman: Arkham Shadows’ first gameplay trailer makes it seem like the Arkham games might translate well to VR. Batman has gadgets galore at his disposal in stealth or fights, but eventually, he’s forced to throw down with his fists in the typical flailing VR style.
Starfield Reveals Less-Cutesy Mako for Free DLC
If you detested all the walking around barren planets in Bethesda’s Starfield, the company has a new remedy for your sore feet. The REV 8 is an all-terrain vehicle with a really loose suspension that reminds me of the Mako from Mass Effect or the Warthog from Halo. It has big tires, booster rockets, and room for your typical Bethesda companion.
Dune: Awakening is Full of Sun, Sand, Shooting, and More Sand
The first gameplay trailer for Dune Awakening wasn’t as high-octane as you might expect from a big survival multiplayer third-person shooter. Instead, there’s a lot of walking, climbing, and driving involved before you can get to the action. Once in it, you’ll have powers and tech ripped straight from the books, like the hunter-seeker drone.
Path of Exile 2 Now Has a Date for Early Access
The sequel to the long-lived Diablo clone Path of Exile finally has a date when players can try out its systems. The trailer has some extra gameplay for those looking for more than enemy character models, but it mainly involves characters running away from fire. That’s fair because it’s pretty much exactly how I play these kinds of games. Perhaps one day, I won’t have to rely on the doge roll for everything, but today is not that day.
Secret Level by Love Death and Robots Creator Offers Short Films for Biggest Game Franchises
As much fun as game trailers are, some publishers would appreciate it if their game franchises got a little more special CG treatment. Secret Level, by some of the team that brought you Love Death and Robots, is doing shorts for game franchises as varied as Pac-Man, Dungeons & Dragons, and Warhammer 40,000. There are 15 shorts in all, and they’re coming to Prime Video on Dec. 10.
Reanimal is Here to Make You Feel Small and Scared
Tarsier, the studio that brought us the Little Nightmares games, is back with a co-op horror game that seems sure to make us freak out despite the company. Also, that sheep, that damn sheep, will never let me hear “Baa Ram Ewe” the same way ever again.
Fatal Fury‘s Terry is Coming to Street Fighter 6
Terry Bogard and his signature red trucker hat from Fatal Fury are coming to Capcom’s headlining fighting game and kicking some serious butt.
Peter Molyneux is Back, and He’s Trying to Bring Back that Fable and Black and White Magic
Peter Molyneux is back, and he told the crowd at Gamescom 2024 that he’s ready to make actual games again. Masters of Albion is his new self-funded project that brings in past designers who worked with him on previous games like Black and White. By first appearances, the game is a city builder mixed with light third-person action, tower defense, and… cooking.
Monument Valley 3 is Already Shaping Up to a Damn Cute Puzzle Game
The Netflix-exclusive Monument Valley is coming this December, but I can’t wait to get it on my phone already. It’s charming in all the right ways, and it’s what I’ll need most when the stress of the holidays rolls around.
Marvel Rivals Has a Release Date While Teasing Dr. Doom Campaign
Marvel’s big team shooter (that bears a striking resemblance to Overwatch) finally has a release date. Still, if that wasn’t enough, the trailer is full of action for Captain America and his wayward once-comrade Winter Soldier. At the very end, the game teases the first season of the game that will center around the megalomaniacal plots of Dr. Doom. The game is going live Dec. 6.
Mafia: The Old Country Takes You to the Beginning
Indiana Jones and the Great Circle
Will be Here on Dec. 9, then on PS5 Next Spring
The same studio responsible for the latest Wolfenstein games brought a new trailer to Gamescom 2024 for its Indiana Jones game, which finally gave me a better sense of what to expect. There’s scaling and swinging in the third person, then punching and whipping in the first person. It almost reminds me of Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay. Most importantly, the trailer confirms the game’s coming to PS5 next year in Spring. It should be available on Xbox and Game Pass on Dec. 9.
