Microsoft has introduced plans to return to gamescom this yr with what it says is its greatest sales space ever at the German video games present.
Gamescom 2024, which runs from August 21-25, will see Xbox maker Microsoft showcase the likes of Obsidian’s Avowed, Bethesda’s The Elder Scrolls On-line and Fallout 76, and Blizzard’s Diablo 4 enlargement Vessel of Hatred and World of Warcraft enlargement The Warfare Inside. It’s Blizzard’s first gamescom following Microsoft’s $69 billion aquisition of Activision Blizzard final yr.
The Xbox group is heading BACK to @gamescom
Go to us at our greatest sales space but August 21-25! #Xboxgamescom pic.twitter.com/5lO8uvfsQJ
— Xbox (@Xbox) June 20, 2024
Right here’s the listing of video games Microsoft stated it’s bringing to gamescom 2024 (this listing just isn’t complete — count on extra bulletins at the present):
Sony and Nintendo, in the meantime, have confirmed they’re skipping gamescom 2024. Sony informed Eurogamer it has no plans for the present, and Nintendo confirmed the same again in April.
While Sony’s resolution was anticipated (it hasn’t attended gamescom in years), Nintendo’s resolution got here as one thing of a shock given it has turned up at gamescom in recent times. However given the Nintendo Swap successor console isn’t due out till 2025, a quieter 2024 is sensible.
Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo outlined what to anticipate from PlayStation, Xbox, and Nintendo Swap respectively throughout every firm’s summer time showcase: Sony’s bought Astro Bot, Lego Horizon Adventures, and Harmony due out in 2024; Microsoft has Avowed, Diablo 4: Vessel of Hatred, and World of Warcraft: The Warfare Inside; and Nintendo has The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Knowledge, Mario & Luigi: Brothership, and, creeping into early 2025, Donkey Kong Nation Returns HD.
On the {hardware} entrance, Microsoft has a brand new sequence of upgrades for each the Xbox Collection X and S, together with an all-digital Collection X, all of which will likely be accessible this vacation. Sony is reportedly set to launch a PS5 Professional mannequin later this yr, too.
Microsoft’s confirmed attendance at gamescom 2024 comes amid deep cuts at its gaming enterprise, which have seen some 1,900 workers let go and the closure of Redfall developer Arkane Austin and Hello-Fi Rush developer Tango Gameworks, amongst different studios. Xbox boss Phil Spencer, who will no-doubt be at gamescom 2024 to indicate off the firm’s video games, informed IGN lately: “I’ve to run a sustainable enterprise inside the firm and develop, and which means typically I’ve to make arduous selections that frankly should not selections I like, however selections that someone must go make.”
Wesley is the UK Information Editor for IGN. Discover him on Twitter at @wyp100. You may attain Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.