The Gamescom 2021 schedule is rolling towards its conclusion, with only one more night of presentations planned before the virtual conference closes its digital doors.

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Across such events as Opening Night Live, the Xbox Stream and the Destiny 2 Showcase, Gamescom 2021 has served up an impressive amount of news so far - and this is the place where we've been recapping it all along the way.

The Saints Row reboot and Marvel's Midnight Suns are among the biggest reveals so far, and it was also interesting to see a brand new football game called UFL being announced - of course, only time will tell if UFL can really rival EA's FIFA 22 and Konami's eFootball.

The most surprising celeb appearance came at the Future Games Show, where Jeff Goldblum stopped by to talk about Jurassic World Evolution 2 - you can watch that clip on YouTube, and we've also got an exclusive interview with the game's director where he talks about Goldblum's "amazing force of personality."

If you've been looking for a handy summary of all the major news and must-see trailers from Gamescom 2021, read on for our full rundown of what you need to know from the show.

Gamescom 2021 recap (Thursday 26th August)

Thursday, the third day of Gamescom 2021, was a slightly smaller affair than the previous two days - there was an Awesome Indies Showcase, the Future Games Show, and a Dying 2 Know stream all about Dying Light 2. Let's dig into them below!

Awesome Indies, Future Games Show and Dying 2 Know - Gamescom Day 3 recap

Jeff Goldblum made a surprise appearance at Gamescom's Future Games Show.
Jeff Goldblum made a surprise appearance at Gamescom's Future Games Show. Frontier Developments

You can click any of these links to rewatch the Awesome Indies Showcase, the Future Games Show and the Dying 2 Know live streams. Or if you don't have the time, these brief bullet points should bring you up to speed on the core points:

Gamescom 2021 recap (Wednesday 25th August)

Gamescom stepped it up a notch on Wednesday, with its Opening Night Live event providing some big reveals and surprises, as gaming industry fave Geoff Keighley once again called the shots. Check out our handy recap of the Opening Night Live stream below.

Opening Night Live - Gamescom Day 2 recap

Geoff Keighley will once again host Gamescom Opening Night Live.
Geoff Keighley hosting Gamescom Opening Night Live. Getty

If you didn't follow along on YouTube yourself, we've summed up the key points from the biggest games at Gamescom 2021 Opening Night Live right here:

There were so many other games that showed up to surprise us during the event, as well, and these are some of the other moments - beyond the AAA blockbusters - that we wanted to shout about:

Gamescom 2021 recap (Tuesday 24th August)

The main highlights from the first day of Gamescom 2021 were the Destiny 2 Showcase and the Xbox live stream, each of which packed in plenty of exciting surprises. As the day progressed, we kept adding new information below to keep track of what happened:

Xbox Stream - Gamescom Day 1 recap

Microsoft revealed this Forza Horizon 5 Xbox controller.
Microsoft revealed this Forza Horizon 5 Xbox controller, and a lot of other stuff. Xbox/Playground Games

Microsoft was the second (and final) company to take to the virtual stage on the first day of Gamescom 2021, hosting an Xbox stream on YouTube and Twitch. Here's our recap of what was revealed during the stream:

  • Xbox Cloud Gaming is coming to Xbox consoles in the holiday season at the end of 2021, allowing you to jump into new games on your console without any downloads - check out the trailer here.
  • Forza Horizon 5 showed a cover-revealing trailer, eight minutes of gameplay footage, and a very colourful custom Xbox controller.
  • A fast-paced trailer revealed a number of Humble Games titles that will come to Xbox Game Pass on their day of release.
  • We saw the reveal trailer for Into the Pit, one of those Humble Games titles, an 'Eldritch horror' experience across multiple gory dungeons.
  • Sea of Thieves is getting a Borderlands-inspired Mayhem ship - you can unlock it through gameplay between 24th August and 7th September.
  • Psychonauts 2, which comes out tomorrow, got a colourful launch trailer.
  • An Age of Empires 4 developer interview used real-life footage to show off some sling-based trebuchet catapult mechanics.
  • Cult of the Holy Detention DLC for Wasteland 3 got a trailer and release date (5th October 2021).
  • There was a visually stunning trailer for The Gunk.
  • A deep dive gameplay video was revealed for Dying Light 2: Stay Human.
  • We saw the swordplay-heavy reveal trailer for Stray Blade, from Point Blank Games.
  • State of Decay 2: Homecoming DLC got a new trailer ahead of its 1st September release date.
  • The next-gen Xbox adaptation of Crusader Kings 3 got a trailer.
  • Lots of reveals for Microsoft Flight Simulator on Xbox: the game will update soon with new satellite imagery for Germany, Switzerland and Austria; new aircraft, called 'local legends', are also being added; Reno Air Race content is coming in autumn 2021; plus, Top Gun: Maverick DLC is coming alongside the film, but it's firmly under wraps for now.

Destiny 2 Showcase - Gamescom Day 1 recap

Destiny 2 Witch Queen DLC
Destiny 2's Witch Queen DLC is coming. Bungie

Bungie was the first company to present at this year's virtual Gamescom, with the Destiny 2 Showcase lifting the lid on the game's next major DLC chapter - it's called The Witch Queen, and it's launching next year. You can watch the whole thing on YouTube, or check out our summary below:

  • We got a reveal trailer and a gameplay trailer for The Witch Queen DLC.
  • Crossplay goes live in Destiny 2 today, as does the Season of the Lost content.
  • Weapon crafting is coming to Destiny 2, and there will be a new energy weapon called The Glaive.
  • The Gjallarhorn weapon is making a comeback in Destiny 2, and a Nerf version is also coming in real life.
  • Bungie confirmed that, after The Witch Queen and Lightfall, the final chapter in The Light and Dark Saga will be a DLC drop called The Final Shape - but Destiny 2 will continue beyond that point.
  • 15 minutes before the main show, Bungie's Luke Smith and Jason Jones sat down for a chat about their history with gaming.
  • Fans and content creators sent in short clips for the pre-show, summing up their favourite Bungie moments.
  • Choral music played over eye-catching fan art during the pre-show, as Bungie did its bit to highlight the creativity of its fans.

Gamescom 2021 pre-conference recap

Real-life Gamescom had robots. No fair!
Real-life Gamescom had robots. No fair! Gamescom

Before Gamescom 2021 properly began, the first nuggets of news started to appear online, as the gaming industry got itself ready for one of its biggest weeks of the year. Here are a couple of interesting pieces of information that arrived on the web before the event kicked off:

As more news breaks, we'll be sure to update this page all through Gamescom 2021. Feel free to bookmark this page and come back each day for more insights from the virtual conference.

Follow Radio Times Gaming on Twitter for all the latest insights. Or if you're looking for something to watch, see our TV Guide

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