Xbox to Make Big Announcements at Gamescom 2014

Earlier this week, Xbox released a teaser trailer for its upcoming involvement at Gamescom 2014 in Cologne, Germany, and the implications are mysterious.

Gamescom has quickly become the European E3 since its inception in 2009, and with its unique “open to everyone” approach to the gaming convention, public attention is beginning to shift in its favor.

As such, some companies choose to either hold off on their bigger reveals until gamescom, or they skip E3 entirely in favor of gamescom, which was the case this year for Quantum Break developer Remedy Entertainment. 

The trailer flashes hints of multiple games, suggesting that these games will have their own presences at Xbox’s briefing Tuesday, August 12th. So far I’ve managed to identify Halo: The Master Chief Collection, Project Spark, Forza Horizon 2, Sunset Overdrive, Assassin’s Creed Unity, and FIFA 15. If you noticed any more, let me know in the comments.

The most notable reveal is that of exclusive multiplayer gameplay for Sledgehammer Games’s upcoming Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare, which will take place Monday, August 11th.

The Problem?

None of this is surprising, and some of it is downright boring. 

Sunset Overdrive has been showcased a lot in the time leading to its October 28th release, especially with the recent reveal of the game’s customization system. It would seem unlikely that any new, significant information will be divulged in Cologne.

It would seem that The Master Chief Collection has been revealed as much as it possibly can be. I mean, it’s a remastered edition of games that already exist. 

However…

Information on Project Spark, especially news on the Xbox 360 edition, could be promising, given the reception of the Windows and Xbox One beta.

As uninteresting as another installment into the FIFA franchise would normally be, it seems the team behind the game has taken to this year’s game with a much more innovative touch. Though the game’s unique “emotional intelligence” has excited many fans of the series, it should really excite fans of gaming in general, given the potential this type of technology has for all games.

In a recent tweet, Xbox teased (even more!) possible topics of discussion at its briefing, and these are much more interesting than those teased in the trailer.

How many of these #Xbox games can you ID? (And yes, we know the Xbox logo isn’t a game.) pic.twitter.com/2N5zeTYDRv

— Xbox (@Xbox) August 9, 2014

Inquisitr did a quick analysis of all of the different blocks and what they stand for, and from what I can tell their research is solid. 

The theory goes as follows:

• X=Xbox One logo, nothing of particular interest
• B=Scalebound, Platinum Games’s exciting Xbox One exclusive, revealed through a cinematic trailer at E3 2014
  
• O=Halo: The Master Chief Collection
• X=Original Xbox logo, possibly a hint towards plans for backwards compatibility
• @=ID@Xbox logo, possibly teasing new indie developer projects
• G=Dragon Age: Inquisition
• A=Fable Legends, the next installment in the Fable franchise, revealed in part at E3 2014
• M=The Witcher III: Wild Hunt
• E=Evolve, the smash hit out of Turtle Rock Studios
• S=Sunset Overdrive
• C=Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare
• O=Ori and the Blind Forest, the interesting platformer out of Moon Studios that’s being made exclusive to Xbox One and 360, revealed at E3 2014
• M=Quantum Break
• 1=FIFA 15
• 4=Far Cry 4

Thankfully we won’t have to wait much longer to find out what’s up Xbox’s sleeve, as their briefing is this Tuesday, with the rest of gamescom to take place Thursday the 14th to Sunday the 17th. 

And don’t worry if you can’t afford a flight out to Cologne, as Xbox is streaming the entirety of their briefing through your Xbox console. Just make sure to tune in 8 a.m. EST this Tuesday to get all of the information.