Industry News: August Edition
The end of August caught us in Cologne, right on the show floor of Gamescom 2025! The halls filled with enthusiasm, the spectacular displays, the detailed cosplays and unmatched community interactions truly make Cologne the heart of gaming during this event.
With more than 357,000 people joining from all over the world, this edition seems to have been one of the best ones yet, and certainly the most promising one for exhibitors and traders from the gaming industry.
With all the news going around, for this retrospective, we put together comprehensive lists that you can use as a starting point to deep dive into what interests you most. We have a lot of names and dates for you, and there’s surely something exciting for everyone!
Gamescom 2025
Reveals – new games and world premieres
Studios are always rushing to include their major announcements and reveals in the Opening Night Live ceremony or throughout the convention days. This year was no exception, so here are the most significant world premieres from Gamescom 2025:
🔵Lords of the Fallen II is set to be released sometime in 2026, being technically the third title of this Soulslike franchise. The game will take place 100 year later than the rebooted Lords of the Fallen and it will offer an elevated version of the unforgiving combat system players have come to expect.
🔵Also set to be released in 2026, Lego® Batman™: Legacy of the Dark Knight, explores fundamental moments of Batman’s story, featuring iconic villains like The Joker, The Penguin and Bane.
🔵With a franchise dating back to 2004, the long-awaited sequel Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War IV was officially announced. The game will introduce 4 playable faction and 70 missions, throughout four unique campaigns.
🔵John Carpenter’s Toxic Commando is a co-op first-person shooter full of humor, violence and delightful 80s references, coming early 2026.
🔵A new game was announced from Ron Gilbert, the pioneer creator of Monkey Island and Maniac Mansion. Death by Scrolling is an innovative vertical scroller rogue-like, where the player has to stay one step ahead of the Grim Reaper as they escape from Purgatory.
🔵For those who loved Disco Elysium and its groundbreaking storytelling system, Zero Parades is an upcoming CRPG from the same studio. Although still early in development, the aesthetics look similar and it seems to have the same heavy narrative focus as its spiritual predecessor.
🔵The Korean developer NCSoft (Guild Wars, Blade&Souls, Lineage, and others) announced not one, but two new games at the Opening Night Live show. To everyone’s surprise, they revealed Cinder City, the MMORPG previously known as ‘Project LLL’ and Time Takers, a new survival shooter. Both games are planned for 2026.
🔵Jyamma Games, the team behind Enotria: The Last Song, is coming back with a new title inspired by Italian culture. La Divina Commedia will be an action-RPG based on Dante Alighieri’s classic poem.
🔵Team Jade announced Project Spectrum, a PVEVP horror game in which players fight against dreadful monsters, but also against other players. The gameplay will have a ‘sanity’ mechanic and players who fail to keep it in check will risk becoming monsters themselves.
🔵A new Wargaming title is in the works, World of Tanks: Heat is a 10v10 first-person shooter with tactical warfare elements and powerful high-tech abilities. The game will be free-to-play.
🔵Blizzard Entertainment finally presented a first trailer for World of Warcraft: Midnight. Set up as the second installment of the Worldsoul Saga, the expansion will introduce the long-awaited player housing feature, along with new zones, the prey system, the new playable race, Haranir, and more.
🔵Sending thrills across the industry, the six-years long wait for Hollow Knight: Silksong is now over as a playable demo was available on the floor at Gamescom and Team Cherry announced during their live show a release date for September 4, 2025.
🔵One of the major Gamescom announcements this year was the second installment of the Black Myth Also rooted in Chinese mythos, Black Myth: Zhong Kui will be the next title, referencing the titular Taoist deity who walks between Earth and Hell, hunting demons and ghosts.
Gamescom updates and exciting announcements
And it’s not all about new games and world premieres, the announcements don’t stop here. Get ready for some updates on released titles and upcoming games from this year’s Gamescom:
⚪A short teaser introduced Legacy of the Forge, the second DLC of Kingdom Come Deliverance 2, out on September 9. The DLC will focus on Henry rebuilding his father’s legacy, as he restores a decrepit forge and gathers a team of blacksmiths to repair a broken clock.
⚪The early access date for the isometric Action-RPG Moonlighter 2: The Endless Vault was announced as October 23, 2025. The game will be available on PC, Xbox Series X and PS5.
⚪Ninja Gaiden 4, the hack-and-slash retro game with a modern twist received a story trailer before its October 21 release, providing more insight into the rivaling Hayabusa and Raven clans.
⚪The Monster Hunter Worlds x Final Fantasy IV collaboration was announced, the event will be live late September/early October 2025. Iconic creatures from both franchises will crossover, along with additional content.
⚪The DLC Indiana Jones and the Great Circle: The order of Giants, out in September 4, was playable at Gamescom. According to the developers, the story of the DLC will begin in the Vatican sandbox and it will be triggered by a new character named Father Orlando Ricci.
⚪Cult of the Lamb has announced a major new DLC for early 2026, titled The trailer for their fifth DLC introduces a new weapon type and a yak creature which the Lamb can ride or follow in the camp.
⚪Before its September 25 release, Silent Hill f got a brand-new story trailer, revealing more about the setting of the game and introducing actress Suzie Young as Shimizu Hinako in the English version.
⚪The Outer Worlds 2 Companions trailer confirmed the six characters who will accompany players throughout their journey. Niles, Valeri, Aza, Inez, Marisol and Tristan will each have their own characteristics, skills and personalities.
⚪A new look into Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 showed gameplay for the first time. The biggest change introduced with this installment will probably be the global progression system, through which XP accumulates from all types of play (multiplayer, campaign, Zombies).
⚪Vampire the Masquerade: Bloodlines 2, the sequel that’s been in the works for six years finally got an official release date for October 21, 2025. This time around, the players will have an elderly Nomad vampire as a main character, as opposed to the fledgling protagonist of the first game.
⚪A new gameplay trailer for Resident Evil Requiem shared some insight into Grace Ashcroft’s backstory, showing scenes with her mother, Alyssa Ashcroft. Knowing that the game will have us investigate her death, makes the events in the trailer even more ominous and mysterious.
⚪The Capcom stage was packed, apart from Resident Evil, playable versions of Onimusha: Way of the Sword and Pragmata were available on the floor, showcasing gameplay for the first time.
⚪Sucker Punch Productions also came prepared with a new Ghost of Yōtei story trailer and the free DLC Ghost of Yōtei Legends was revealed. The DLC will offer multiplayer gameplay, including four classes, giant members of the Yōtei Six as bosses and various new enemies.
Other Gamescom topics
➡️The Gamescom Award winners include:
⭐Resident Evil Requiem: Most Epic, Best Audio, Best Sony PlayStation Game1
⭐Donkey Kong Bonanza: Best Gameplay
⭐Hela: Most Entertaining, Most Holesome
⭐Tiny Bookshop: Games for Impact
⭐Grounded 2: Best Microsoft Xbox Game
⭐Anno 117: Pax Romana: Best PC Games
⭐Mario Kart World: Best Nintendo Switch 2 Game
⭐Hollow Knight: Best Trailer (Consumer Award)
➡️Unexpectedly, From Software fans also received some news at Gamescom. A Sekiro anime show will come in 2026 on Crunchyroll, Sekiro: No defeat will be a hand-drawn adaptation of the shinobi’s tale in the dark fantasy reimagining of the Sengoku-era.
➡️Fallout Season 2 dropped an official teaser trailer. The second season introduces the game’s famous setting of New Vegas, together with two new characters, Deathclaw and Robert House, and it’s currently set to premiere on December 17 of this year.
➡️Among the musical events organized during Gamescom, there was a notable performance during the Opening Night Live show by Lorien Testard and Alice Duport-Percie, the composers of the fan favorite Clair Obscur: Expedition 33. CD Project Red celebrated ten years since the release of Witcher 3 by bringing The Witcher in Concert to the Gamescom stage.
More August News
Notable August Releases
Of course, there was more to last month than the convention, so let’s have a look at the main titles launched in August, including some platform-specific releases:
- 01.08: Titan Quest 2 Steam Early Access
- 08.08: Mafia: The Old Country; Marvel Rivals season 3.5
- 12.08: Echoes of the End; Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II release on PlayStation 5
- 14.08: Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War – Definitive Edition
- 20.08: The Rogue Price of Persia; Black Myth: Wukong on Xbox Series X/S
- 26.08: Gears of War Reloaded; Helldivers 2 on Xbox Series X/S
- 28.08: Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater; Destiny Rising (iOS and Android)
- 29.08: Shinobi: Art of Vengeance; Lost Soul Aside
THQ Nordic Digital Showcase 2025
The THQ showcase at the beginning of August also introduced updates and surprising reveals, focusing on the following games:
🔹SpongeBob SquarePants: Titans of the Tide
🔹Titan Quest II
🔹Wreckreation
🔹The Eternal Life of Goldman
🔹The Guild – Europa 1410
🔹Gothic 1 Remake
🔹REANIMAL
🔹Fatekeeper
🔹Darksiders 4
