If you managed to miss out on Gamescom 2023's Opening Night Live, don't worry! This year's "European E3" was a little light on big new game reveals, but there were plenty of updates on games that are inching their way toward release. So here's a quick roundup on all the best Gamescom 2023 trailers for you to fill up your wishlists in the coming months (and maybe years).
The best Gamescom 2023 trailers
Starfield
Bethesda's Skyrim-In-Space is tantalizingly close to release now, but there's still time to fill your space boots with the grand scale of intergalactic adventures you'll embark on when Starfield releases on September 6. This fantastic live action trailer sets the mood just right for fans of the mysterious xenoarchaeological pull in Starfield's marketing so far.
Zack Snyder's Rebel Moon
There was a bit of a live action theme to this year's Opening Night Live with Watchmen director Zack Snyder showing off his latest creation, fresh from the Star Wars treatment pitch reject pile. It's unclear why Disney didn't want what Snyder was cooking up, but Netflix has picked up this space opera from the Justice League impresario and it looks pretty exciting. Despite not being a game, we'll be keeping our eyes on this one.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III
Sledgehammer's next refresh of the classic MW line of CoD had an extended first mission playthrough, which real CoDheads will appreciate for showing every single detail they have gone to great pains to include and improve upon the original.
Crimson Desert
Korean MMORPG developers Pearl Abyss were back with news on their latest color of desert, which has been long in development since the runaway success in the West of Black Desert. This one looks similarly chock-full of pretty visuals, this time turning the particles up to GPU-melting densities, though now without the massively-multiplayer online aspect of its predecessor. The "Open-World Action Adventure" has the same high fantasy setting but with some intriguing and fluid combat and movement options. Also you can carry a sheep around. See what you think for yourselves.
Mortal Kombat 1
The rebootening of Mortal Kombat is no less brutal than its legacy deserves, and the latest trailer shows plenty of the same spine-ripping kombat we've come to expect from the fighting game series. Also returning are younger and fresher-faced incarnations of Raiden, Shao Khan (though he is now just a General in the outworld army) and Queen Sindel, plus some fun Kameo appearances including Motaro the centaur.
Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty
Cyberpunk's first major paid DLC is looking very enticing, partially because its most exciting features are coming to the main game regardless of you buying the expansion. Completely reworked skill trees, police AI and vehicular combat would go a long way to fixing many of the non-technical problems that marred the anticipated game's launch in 2020. On top of all that, Phantom Liberty adds a new story and area to get stuck into, with other abilities, gear, weapons and enhancements to play around with.
Zenless Zone Zero
The next game from Genshin Impact and Honkai Star Rail developers HoYoverse is looking fantastically fresh, though there's still little to explain what exactly is going on. From previous glimpses and info from pre-beta surveys, the gameplay is described as combat arenas in a roguelike structure, similar to games like Hades and Binding of Isaac. This trailer gives you a good look at the combat flow, and a quick glimpse of some assist-style interventions from other characters in your party. Just something to whet your appetite, with no release date or other details to speak of.
Alan Wake 2
Continuing this year's live action theme, Remedy's sequel to their decade-old supernatural thriller features filmed segments to highlight the surreality of Wake's world. The studio has played around with live action companion content to their games before, but this seems like the perfect story to meld the two together. The result is unnerving, as you can see in this trailer, and ideal for the Halloween release window when Alan Wake 2 comes out on October 27.
Thank Goodness You're Here
As a little detox after that, how about one of the silliest games we saw during Opening Night Live? Thank Goodness You're Here is a funny-looking adventure around the north of England, from the developers of The Good Time Garden. So check that out if you want an idea of the slapstick hijinx you can get up to when this releases later in 2023.
That's it for all the best Gamescom 2023 trailers we saw at Opening Night Live. Did you see one we didn't include? That's yours, then. Keep it just for you. It's special now.
