Chinese and Korean studios made their presence felt, but The Witcher 3 stole the show

GamesIndustry.biz was at Gamescom Opening Night Live on Tuesday night, the eighth instalment of the digital showcase. The hall was packed, without an empty seat in sight, and there were plenty of gaming celebrities in attendance: Xbox head Asha Sharma could be seen near the front, gamely forming an 'X' with her arms as the camera panned over her.

Geoff Keighley opened the show with a surprisingly heartfelt speech, where he explained that after last year's event he flew back home to be with his dying father, who passed away shortly afterwards. Keighley also acknowledged the industry's troubles, saying "it's no secret that the video game industry is changing and evolving," citing widespread layoffs coupled with hardware price rises caused by the AI components crisis. "But in spite of all that, developers around the world are pushing forward to build new games," he said.

The show's opening trailer started by flashing up the word Hoyoverse, eliciting excited gasps from those seated around us, perhaps reflecting the global reach of titles like Genshin Impact and Honkai Star Rail. The game was Nodusfall, a highly polished co-op action title with clear similarities to Capcom's Monster Hunter franchise, as players teamed up to take down dragon-like creatures.

Net from Krafton, Ananta and Sea of Remnants from Netease, Zoopunk from Ti Games, and Tides of Annihilation from the Chengdu-based Eclipse Glow Games, not to mention another Hoyoverse title in the form of the life-simulation game Petit Planet.

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