Xbox Gamescom 2023: Dates, Times, Upcoming Games And What To Expect
In a recent Xbox Wire news article, the Xbox team shared that it would be bringing its biggest-ever and flashiest booth to Gamescom, scheduled to be held later this month in Cologne, Germany. Reading between the marketing speak, it sounds like Microsoft might mean business. There will be 150 gaming stations with 30 titles being highlighted, plus photo-ops, contests, and a purpose-built 300-seat theater, among other things.
According to the post, over 25 titles will be playable at the booth, which includes GSC Gameworld's S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chernobyl, Turn 10's Forza Motorsport, Oxide Game's Ara: History Untold, and Stoic's Towerborne. Among some high-level world premieres and announcements, it's great that attendees will be able to get some first-impressions on these highly-anticipated games.
We don't know about you, but we've been keeping our eyes very close on S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2. Fans of the last installment (Call of Pripyat) have had to wait 14 years for a new game. Early previews from the studio GSC Game World showed what it would be like to enjoy post-apocalyptic Russia (a la Metro: Exodus) with modern hardware.
Considering the numerous setbacks the studio has faced with readying the game, it's great to see it spotlighted at the Xbox booth. Among other set backs, development of the game was delayed due to the Russia-Ukraine invasion (the development team had to be moved to Prague) and the studio also suffered a Russian hacker attack that leaked many S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 game content online.
Gamescom (and by extension, the biggest-ever Xbox booth) will run this year from August 24 to August 27.
