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We've only just caught our breath from this year's E3 expo, and now it's time for a week of announcements and reveals from gamescom, the Cologne, Germany-based games conference that saw a colossal 335,000 attendees last year.
Press briefings from the likes of Xbox and EA are guaranteed to get the week off to an exciting start before it officially opens Wednesday, August 5, and there's always room for some bombshell announcements throughout the week. Remember the surprise reveal of P.T. from last year's show? Here's hoping for more of the same.
Here's what to expect - and when to expect it - from this show this week.
1. Xbox to deliver a conference before the show begins
When is the press conference? Tuesday, August 4 - 3pm UK time (4pm European, 10am ET, 7am PT)
What to expect: Apparently Microsoft's E3 conference wasn't long enough, so they've held off on a few games for gamescom, including long-awaited sequel Crackdown 3, Alan Wake spiritual successor Quantic Break and Platinum Games' Scalebound. Expect first in-depth looks and new details of all three.
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We should also see showcases of Xbox's big hitters coming this year - such as Halo 5: Guardians and Rise of the Tomb Raider - and with Sony out of the running this year (see below) and the Xbox One gaining sales momentum, maybe we'll see one or two surprises in a bid to capture Christmas.
2. Don't expect much from PlayStation
In case you missed it, Sony is having a very reduced showing at gamescom this year, abandoning its press conference and opting to show its games primarily to the public rather than the press. It may have one or two things to say and show, but don't expect their usual European-centric reveals we've come to expect.
Instead, we'll be waiting for Paris Games Week in October when Sony will be back in full force - press conference and all.
2. EA is opening the expo on Wednesday
When is the press conference? Wednesday, August 5 - 9am UK time (10am European, 4am ET, 1am PT)
What to expect: For the second year running, EA is hosting a conference as the show is kicking off on the Wednesday. The publisher has been tight-lipped about what it will show, though based on last year's reveal of BioWare's (now canned) Shadow Realms, we can hope for something new. At the least, we can probably expect new looks at Star Wars Battlefront, FIFA 16 and Mirror's Edge Catalyst.
4. Blizzard to show World of Warcraft's new expansion on Thursday, and much more
When is the press conference? Thursday, August 6 - 5pm UK time (6pm European, 12pm ET, 9am PT)
What to expect: Get your World of Warcraft characters at the ready because Blizzard is announcing the next expansion to the long-running online game, so expect a glossy reveal trailer and some first details on Thursday afternoon. Additionally, Blizzard is hosting a behind-closed-doors briefing on Wednesday at 11am UK time, and we'll be there to deliver any new details on its line-up. Maybe a release date for Hearthstone's August-bound expansion?
5. Expect to hear more about Mafia 3 and Final Fantasy XV
It's not just Xbox, EA and Blizzard bringing out the big guns. 2K will lift the lid on Mafia 3 at 1pm on Wednesday, while Square Enix will show new details of Final Fantasy XV at 5pm on the Wednesday.
Meanwhile, Paradox Interactive - the publisher behind the likes of Crusader Kings and Magicka 2 - will be hosting a press briefing at 8pm (9pm European) on Thursday. Last year we had the first look at the million-selling Cities Skylines, so expect something new again this year too.
And that's for games we know of - with big publishers being there, expect other surprises when the show opens on Wednesday through to the end of the week.
Digital Spy will be at gamescom all week, delivering breaking announcements and new reveals as they happen. Be sure to follow our complete coverage of the show as well as our updates on Twitter at @digitalspygames.
