Microsoft Says Xbox Is Going Big at Gamescom 2024, While Sony and Nintendo Skip the Show [IGN]

Microsoft has announced plans to return to gamescom this year with what it says is its biggest booth ever at the German games show.

Gamescom 2024, which runs from August 21-25, will see Xbox maker Microsoft showcase the likes of Obsidian’s Avowed, Bethesda’s The Elder Scrolls Online and Fallout 76, and Blizzard’s Diablo 4 expansion Vessel of Hatred and World of Warcraft expansion The War Within. It is Blizzard’s first gamescom following Microsoft’s $69 billion aquisition of Activision Blizzard last year.

— Xbox (@Xbox) June 20, 2024

Here’s the list of games Microsoft said it’s bringing to gamescom 2024 (this list is not comprehensive — expect more announcements at the show):

• Age of Mythology: Retold
• Avowed
• Ara: History Untold
• Diablo 4: Vessel of Hatred
• Diablo Immortal
• The Elder Scrolls Online
• Fallout 76
• Towerborne
• World of Warcraft: The War Within

Sony and Nintendo, meanwhile, have confirmed they are skipping gamescom 2024. Sony told Eurogamer it has no plans for the show, and Nintendo confirmed the same back in April.

While Sony’s decision was expected (it hasn’t attended gamescom in years), Nintendo’s decision came as something of a surprise given it has turned up at gamescom in recent years. But given the Nintendo Switch successor console isn’t due out until 2025, a quieter 2024 makes sense.

Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo outlined what to expect from PlayStation, Xbox, and Nintendo Switch respectively during each company’s summer showcase: Sony’s got Astro Bot, Lego Horizon Adventures, and Concord due out in 2024; Microsoft has Avowed, Diablo 4: Vessel of Hatred, and World of Warcraft: The War Within; and Nintendo has The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom, Mario & Luigi: Brothership, and, creeping into early 2025, Donkey Kong Country Returns HD.

On the hardware front, Microsoft has a new series of upgrades for both the Xbox Series X and S, including an all-digital Series X, all of which will be available this holiday. Sony is reportedly set to release a PS5 Pro model later this year, too.

Microsoft’s confirmed attendance at gamescom 2024 comes amid deep cuts at its gaming business, which have seen some 1,900 staff let go and the closure of Redfall developer Arkane Austin and Hi-Fi Rush developer Tango Gameworks, among other studios. Xbox boss Phil Spencer, who will no-doubt be at gamescom 2024 to show off the company’s games, told IGN recently: “I have to run a sustainable business inside the company and grow, and that means sometimes I have to make hard decisions that frankly are not decisions I love, but decisions that somebody needs to go make.”

Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.