Star Metro - 'Final Fantasy', 'The Witcher' in spotlight at Europe gaming bash

Fans and professionals got a first glimpse at scores of new titles at a sold-out opening ceremony, where Canadian presenter Geoff Keighley highlighted upcoming games to a crowd of around 5,000 people for nearly two hours.

But the hottest release of the year, "Grand Theft Auto VI", will not be among the games unveiled at the show in Cologne, Germany -- its US maker Rockstar Games has its own plans for what could be one of the biggest game launches ever.

Instead, attendees got a glimpse of a new expansion for "The Witcher 3," set to be released next year ahead of the keenly awaited arrival in 2028 of "The Witcher 4".

The current instalment of the hit role-playing series has sold more than 65 million copies since its release in 2015.

Fans applauded at the announcement that the Polish studio behind the game, CD Projekt, was rolling out a completely remastered version of "The Witcher 3" on September 29, free of charge -- welcome news at a time of soaring prices for game consoles and equipment.

- Ukrainian game -

Fans also got a glimpse of another closely watched release, "Final Fantasy VII Revelation", the third and final entry in the remake series first launched in 1997.

Naoki Hamaguchi, the series' Japanese director, turned out for the occasion as new images from the game were unveiled.

Two developers from Ukrainian studio 4A Games also took the stage to give a preview of "Metro 2039", the new addition to the post-apocalyptic first-person shooter game.

"Metro has always been a story about avoiding war, but now that war is at our doorstep, we have built a story about its consequences" and "the price of freedom", executive producer Jon Bloch said of the new instalment, set for release in February.

Chinese studio Hoyoverse, which scored a hit with online game "Genshin Impact", presented "Nodus Fall", a cooperative action game set in a dark medieval world.

From Wednesday, visitors -- many decked as their favourite characters -- will be able to test new titles at hundreds of stations.

Over 1,600 exhibitors will showcase more than 800 games, according to organisers.

- Industry 'evolving' -

Last year, nearly 360,000 people attended Gamescom, almost hitting the pre-Covid levels of about 370,000.

Japan's Nintendo is to present "Nintendo Switch Sports Resort" and the Xbox division at Microsoft will show off "Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4" and "Gears of War: E-day".

But another notable absence is Japan's Sony, maker of the PlayStation 5 console.

Rockstar meanwhile has scheduled a Netflix preview of "GTA VI" for Thursday ahead of its November 19 launch, which is expected to steal away some of the Gamescom spotlight.

Some rival studios have pushed their releases forward to avoid clashing with "GTA VI", creating an unusually dense calendar of new games.

"It's a very crowded market," said Joost van Dreunen, a professor at New York University's Stern School of Business and a specialist in the economics of video games.

"There's just too much for people to play."

At the same time, console prices have risen as memory chips become more expensive as a result of the AI industry's huge demand for computing power.

The combination of steep competition and pressure on profit margins has forced many studios to slash costs.

Nearly 10,000 people have lost their jobs in the gaming sector since January, and the industry is on course for 15,000 layoffs this year, according to the ASGC Games Industry Layoffs Tracker.

If reached, that figure would be close to the 2024 record, which followed a hiring boom during the Covid pandemic.

"It is no secret that the video games industry is changing and evolving," said Keighley.

"On one level it is exciting, and on another it's kind of scary."

F.Leblanc--SMC