After a week full of seeing new and upcoming games in Germany, Cardy, Matt, and Alex are here to report back on everything they’ve seen. There’s Dying Light: The Beast, Avowed, Indiana Jones, Crimson Desert, Atomfall, and much, much more. Remember to send us your thoughts about all the new games, TV shows, and films you’re enjoying or looking forward to: ign_ukfeedback@ign.com. IGN UK Podcast 762: The Best of gamescom 2024

We finally got our first glimpse of Civilization VII’s gameplay during gamescom 2024, and it’s already looking much different than anything we’ve ever seen from the legendary series. That includes a huge shakeup to the way that Civilization VII progresses thanks to its new “ages” system, which is designed to break its progression into something like chapters. We already checked out Civilization VII in first preview, which left us with a pretty positive outlook on the anticipated sequel.

The bosses in Crimson Desert are powerful. I mean really powerful. As the formidable Staglord grabbed me by the ankle and hurled me into a wall, the bone-crunching impact reminded me of how The Stranger’s blows catapulted Kratos through tree trunks and mountains in God of War. This intense, deity-like physicality lends Crimson Desert’s battles a sense of genuine spectacle – these are the gladiator battles of myths. During an hour-long hands-on session at gamescom 2024, I was able to go toe-to-toe with three different bosses, each of which showcased a different side of this fantasy action-adventure game’s approach to battle.

One of the most intriguing projects featured at gamescom 2024 isn’t a game at all, but an animated series. Prime Video’s Secret Level is an anthology series by the creators of Love, Death + Robots. Each episode is basically a short film inspired by the characters and worlds of iconic video games like God of War, Mega Man, Unreal Tournament, and Pac-Man. The first trailer for the series gives us a brief glimpse of these gorgeously animated shorts and the often surprising ways in which they reinvent familiar gaming icons.

Kicking off gamescom 2024 with a bang, Gearbox has announced Borderlands 4 during Opening Night Live. A teaser trailer, below, confirmed a 2025 release window across PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X and S. Publisher 2K said Borderlands 4 launches in 2025 during parent company Take-Two’s fiscal year 2026. That means it will launch at some point between April 2025 and the end of 2025. Here’s the official blurb from 2K:

After its proper reveal earlier this year, MachineGames has finally provided a release date for Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, which is coming to PC and Xbox Series X/S on December 9, 2023. Additionally, we learned that it’s coming to PS5 in Spring of 2025. As part of Xbox’s Gamescom 2024 announcements, the company confirmed the game’s release dates, as well as confirmed various reports that it was coming to PlayStation.