How to watch Gamescom Opening Night Live 2024 and what to expect

Gamescom opens with a massive presentation event today – here's how to watch it live

Gamescom Opening Night Live 2023
(Image credit: Koelnmesse / Gamescom)

The gaming world is descending on Cologne, Germany this week as Europe's largest video games show, Gamescom, kicks off.

The annual show presents a great opportunity to see and play with the latest games and devices that will be coming out prior to Christmas, and the action begins today, Tuesday 20 August with Gamescom Opening Night Live – a presentation event that will feature a tonne of trailers and updates. You can watch it live below.

gamescom Opening Night Live 2024 | #ONL #gamescom2024 - YouTube gamescom Opening Night Live 2024 | #ONL #gamescom2024 - YouTube
Watch On

Here's everything else you need to know about Gamescom Opening Night Live 2024.

What is Gamescom 2024 and when is the Opening Night Live keynote?

Gamescom is an enormous video games show that takes place in August each year. It is held in the Koelnmesse in Cologne, Germany and is open to the press, games industry and members of the public.

Major exhibitors include Xbox, Bethesda, Take Two (2K Games) and Ubisoft, but even if you can't attend in person, there's still a way you can keep up with everything that's announced.

That's because Gamescom Opening Night Live event takes place on the eve of the show and you can watch it stream online.

It starts at 20:00 CEST, local time to Germany, today, Tuesday 20 August 2024.

Here are the times for other locations:

  • US West Coast: 11:00 PDT
  • US East Coast: 14:00 EDT
  • UK: 19:00 BST
  • Central Europe: 20:00 CEST
  • Australia (Sydney): 04:00 AEST (21 August)

How to watch Gamescom ONL 2024

The Gamescom Opening Night Live online stream can be watched via the video at the top of this page.

Alternatively, you will be able to watch it live on The Game Awards' YouTube channel, as it's by the same team as The Game Awards and Summer Game Fest.

What to expect

Gamescom ONL has been going for a few years, including non-person events during the pandemic. It tends to last around two hours.

There will be a tonne of game trailers and announcements, maybe even some surprises. Host Geoff Keighley has already revealed some of the games that'll be featured. They include:

  • Call of Duty: Black Ops 6
  • Dune Awakening
  • Indiana Jones and the Great Circle
  • Marvel Rivals
  • Monster Hunter Wilds
  • Sid Meier's Civilization VII

There will be plenty more besides, but those are guaranteed to be showcased with new trailers and/or gameplay footage.

We're not expecting any major new hardware during this year's Gamescom, though. So don't expect anything on PlayStation 5 Pro, Nintendo Switch 2 or the Xbox handheld.

You can also watch last year's show below, if you want to get a further feel on what to expect.

🔴 gamescom Opening Night Live 2023: (Full Show) - Call of Duty, Mortal Kombat, Cyberpunk, Alan Wake - YouTube 🔴 gamescom Opening Night Live 2023: (Full Show) - Call of Duty, Mortal Kombat, Cyberpunk, Alan Wake - YouTube
Watch On
Rik Henderson
News Editor

Rik is T3’s news editor, which means he looks after the news team and the up-to-the-minute coverage of all the hottest gadgets and products you’ll definitely want to read about. And, with more than 35 years of experience in tech and entertainment journalism, including editing and writing for numerous websites, magazines, and newspapers, he’s always got an eye on the next big thing.

Rik also has extensive knowledge of AV, TV streaming and smart home kit, plus just about everything to do with games since the late 80s. Prior to T3, he spent 13 years at Pocket-lint heading up its news team, and was a TV producer and presenter on such shows as Channel 4's GamesMaster, plus Sky's Games World, Game Over, and Virtual World of Sport.