Xbox kicked off Gamescom a little early, but the show got its proper start with Opening Night Live hosted — as always — by Geoff Keighley. It was a lengthy event clocking in at a hefty two hours, but there was a lot on show, from surprising crossovers to big names like Halo, Horizon Forbidden West, and Death Stranding.

If you weren’t able catch the event, here’s all the biggest announcements and best trailers.

Firaxis is making a Marvel game

One of the biggest surprises was news that XCOM developer Firaxis is dabbling in the Marvel universe with Midnight Suns. It’s described as a tactical RPG — surprise, surprise — and will include a brand-new customizable superhero designed specifically for the game. The studio will show off a gameplay trailer on September 1st, and the game itself is expected to launch next March.

Halo gets a release date and a special edition console

This one actually leaked out a bit before the show, but it’s big news nonetheless: Halo Infinite is finally launching on December 8th. The game was originally expected to launch last year, serving as a big showcase for the Xbox Series X, but those plans were delayed in part due to the pandemic. The new trailer, meanwhile, focuses on the story for the game’s multiplayer component. And while the game will be out this year, it’ll be missing a few pieces; namely campaign co-op and the creative Forge mode.

Oh, and if you still need an Xbox Series X to play it on, Microsoft is making a special edition console and controller just for Halo.

Image: Sony

Horizon Forbidden West is delayed to 2022

One of PlayStation’s biggest exclusives has been delayed, with Sony confirming that Horizon Forbidden West will now be coming to the PS4 and PS5 on February 22nd, 2022. There’s some good news, at least: the original game just got a 60fps patch for PS5.

A whole lot of Star Wars (and Lego)

Perhaps the most adorable trailer was for The Skywalker Saga, the latest Lego Star Wars game, which covers all nine of the main films. It looks cute and extensive — and is dropping next spring.

Persona 5 comes to… Super Monkey Ball

The upcoming Super Monkey Ball Banana Mania is becoming something akin to Fortnite or Super Smash Bros., adding all kinds of unexpected characters to its roster. Previously that included Kiryu from Yakuza, and now Sega has announced that Persona 5’s Morgana will be a DLC character as well. Banana Mania is out on October 5th, but Morgana won’t arrive until November 2nd.

Saints Row gets a reboot

Open-world action series Saints Row is getting rebooted with a new game due out next year. It’s called simply Saints Row, and based on what we’ve seen, it looks just as wild as its predecessors. The game is slated to come to a huge range of platforms (PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X / S, and PC) when it’s out on February 25th.

Jett is launching in October

Jett, the long-awaited follow-up to early iPhone hit Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EP, finally has a release date. The game will be out on October 5th — and it looks gorgeous in the latest trailer.

Amazon’s New World is getting an open beta

Amazon’s MMO New World has been getting a surprising amount of positive feedback based on its closed beta. And soon the game will be much more accessible: Amazon announced that an open beta will kick off on September 9th.

Another look at Death Stranding: Director’s Cut

It may not really be a director’s cut, but the enhanced version of Death Stranding still looks interesting, expanding on some of the ideas from Hideo Kojima’s 2019 hit while adding next-gen improvements. The latest trailer gets into the nitty-gritty of what’s new.

A glimpse at Call of Duty: Vanguard gameplay

Sledgehammer officially revealed Call of Duty: Vanguard last week, and today the studio showed off a good chunk of gameplay to give viewers a taste of its more grounded WWII action. You can watch all nine minutes of it above. Vanguard is slated to launch on November 5th.

April joins the cast of Shredder’s Revenge

The delightfully retro Shredder’s Revenge looks to channel classic arcade-era Ninja Turtles beat ‘em ups. And at Gamescom, a new character was revealed: joining the four turtles is April O’Neil. The game is due on the Switch and PC next year.

Cult of the Lamb looks wild

Look, I’m just going to let the official description do all of the work here:

Cult of the Lamb casts players in the role of a possessed lamb saved from annihilation by an ominous stranger, and must repay their debt by building a loyal following in his name. Start your own cult in a land of false prophets, venturing out into diverse and mysterious regions to build a loyal community of woodland worshippers and spread your Word to become the one true cult.

It’s expected to launch in 2022.

DokeV looks amazing

I’m not entirely sure what DokeV actually is, but the debut trailer is incredible, with a great sense of style and gameplay that spans genres, from skateboarding to monster battling.

Martial arts game Sifu is out in February

One of the more intriguing upcoming action games is Sifu, which looks to channel a classic martial arts movie, only in interactive form. And now it has a release date: February 22nd, 2022. It’ll be out on PlayStation and PC, via the Epic Games Store.

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