Gamescom 2021 has started and there's already so much to look forward to

Gamescom 2021 is well underway now - Geoff Keighley's Opening Night Live is on the way but we've already seen the Xbox Stream! Halo Infinite was a no-show, but that doesn't mean there wasn't a lot to talk about. Here's the latest on the Xbox Stream ahead of the Opening Night Live showcase later today.

XBOX STREAM - Everything Major Announced

Halo Infinite was missing from yesterday's Xbox Gamescom 2021 Stream but that doesn't mean there isn't anything to talk about! Here's the latest on what you might have missed as we head into Opening Night Live tonight:

• Humble Games partnership with Xbox
  • Humble Bundle's Humble Games plans to launch all ten of their indie titles on Xbox Game Pass on Day One;
• Console getting Cloud Gaming
  • Game Pass Ultimate members can look forward to Cloud Gaming - streaming Game Pass games at 1080p - on consoles in the future;
• New Sea of Theives Event
  • The Making Mayhem Event has started in Sea of Theives - this is a loose collaboration with Borderlands which features unlockable Borderlands cosmetics and ship pieces.

You can check out everything else in the Tweet below:

XBOX STREAM - Everything you need to know

Xbox's Major Nelson broke the news that Xbox was going to be slipping a little Gamescom 2021 stream in ahead of Opening Night Live and we're excited - There are so many great games on the way that we want to know more about.

You'll be able to watch this on the Official Xbox Channels on Twitch, YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter at the following times:

• 10:00 August 24th - PST
• 13:00 August 24th - EST
• 18:00 August 24th - BST

The event itself is going to be streamed in 1080p, but re-broadcast on YouTube at 4K for a "more representative look at the visuals contained in the showcase". We're expecting to see Halo Infinite and the next iteration of Forza Horzion appear - however, everything else is going to be a bit of a surprise.

UPDATE - So many more games to feature

Super Monkey Ball Banana Mania, Genshin Impact, Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga... These are all games that will feature at Opening Night Live this week.

We don't know exactly what to expect, but we're going to learn a little more about the next "Guest Appearance" in Super Monkey Ball Banana Mania and we might finally get a release date for the highly-anticipated Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga.

When you combine this with Call of Duty Vanguard, Far Cry 6, Death Stranding Director's Cut, Psychonauts 2, and more... It's going to be a jam-packed event you won't want to miss.

New Saints Row Teaser

Ahead of the Opening Night Live stream, Geoff Keighley has started sharing snippets of information regarding what's on the way. It looks like there's going to be something from Deep Silver's Saints Row series amongst other things - but, we're not sure what just yet.

Here's what Keighley had to say...

The official Saints Row website reflects the images in the Tweet and the term "Rebooting" would suggest that we're going to get a Saints Row experience similar to the earlier titles - if not a full reboot of the original Saints Row.

Only time will tell though. We should hear a little more ahead of Opening Night Live on August 24th, either way, but don't expect much in the way of solid information.

Opening Night Live details confirmed

At long last, we know a little bit more about what's going to kick off Gamescom 2021. We still don't know what games are going to be featured, as that would spoil the fun, but we do know when to tune into Summer Game Fest's Geoff Keighley and the Opening Night Live showcase.

Opening Night Live is going to start at 11:00 PST / 14:00 EST / 19:00 BST on August 25th. Expect the show to be around two hours long.

We're fully expecting to see more from the next Call of Duty and Battlefield titles during Opening Night Live, but there's a lot more out there waiting to be talked about. We should hear more as we approach the event.

When does Gamescom 2021 start?

Much like E3 2021, Gamescom 2021 is going to be an event that takes place over numerous days. It isn't going to be quite as long as E3 2021, but expect to see content from Gamescom 2021 throughout August 25th, 26th and 27th.

At a glance, Gamescom has provided this schedule...

It's a little vague, but it does help you get an idea of what to expect from the event in the week building up to "Opening Night Live" and beyond. We don't have a specific time yet, but we'll keep you updated.

If you want a more personalised experience, you can register for Gamescom Now and benefit from "exclusive content for partners"

What are we expecting to see?

At the moment, it's anyone's guess. As you can see in the Tweet from Gamescom below, Gamescom has assembled a pretty star-studded cast for its Opening Night Live showcase and the rest of the event.

505 Games, Activision, Aerosoft, Assemble Entertainment, Astragon Entertainment, Bandai Namco Entertainment, Bethesda Softworks, Electronic Arts, Gamevil Com2us Europe, Headup, Indie Arena Booth, Koch Media, Tencent Games' NExT Studios, SEGA Europe, Team17, Thunderful Games, Ubisoft, Wargaming, and Xbox have all agreed to be partners.

This means we could see more from the next Call of Duty title, Tom Clancy's XDefiant, Hell Let Loose from Team 17 and countless other titles over Gamescom 2021. If you like indie games, though... The Summercamp of Doom is what you need to know about.

Gamescom 2021 is also bringing back the Cosplay Contest in a virtual form. You can find more information about this below:

Summercamp of Doom explained

Gamescom is going to host Indie Arena Booth's Summercamp of Doom during Gamescom 2021 and it's being described as a browser-based MMO with well over 100 indie games to discover within.

As you can see in the video below, there's going to be exclusive game demos in developer booths throughout the Summercamp of Doom, but there's also going to be a storyline and levelling system to help make the experience a little more rewarding.

This should help to scratch that social itch that a virtual-only event leaves, in any case. You should be able to chat with other attendees and developers throughout.

You will be able to access this through the Gamescom Now content hub alongside the other streams from Indie Arena Booth and the rest of Gamescom 2021's content.