Gamescom Day 1 live coverage – all the news, interviews, and previews as they happen

Here we go! Hope you're feeling fresh and well rested, as we've got plenty to get through today.

Right off the bat, we've managed to go hands-on with Hollow Knight Silksong. A fine start to anyone's day, I'd imagine. Here's what Josh has to say:

"There's probably a world in which I sign off this Hollow Knight Silksong preview by making the sort of comparison that I really dislike. "Silksong is to Hollow Knight what Bloodborne was to Dark Souls." The words are tumbling onto the keyboard and I can't seem to stop them. What I mean by this unhelpful shorthand is that Silksong is building smartly on exceptionally solid foundations, and it's doing so with a greater focus on aggression, decisive action, and proactive decision-making. I only played 30 minutes of Hollow Knight Silksong, and now I'm desperate for that to transform into 30 hours."

There's more to come from Hollow Knight Silksong, too. Team Cherry is teasing a "special announcement" for tomorrow, and we can only hope it's some sort of release date.

When not playing Hollow Knight, Josh has also been talking to Treyarch about Call of Duty: Black Ops 7. The devs are fighting franchise fatigue with a co-op adventure that many hope will "redefine what campaign can be in Call of Duty."

Despite the somewhat early hours of the day, we have more hands-on content! We've played Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2 and are convinced the gloomy RPG is still worth waiting for, thanks to a "brilliant focus on writing, dialogue, and spooky Seattle."

One thing we're less keen on, though, is that two Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 classes are behind a $90 Premium Edition. Man.

Another one for the genre sickos. Last night also came with the news that Warhammer 40K: Dawn of War 4 is finally real. We can back that up somewhat because we've played the new RTS game. Andy says it's so good he's been replaying the same mission for 3 hours, only taking a break to speak to the devs themselves.

If you're looking for a sense of scope, Dawn of War 4's devs tell us all four of its campaigns are "bigger than the campaign in the first Dawn of War."

"Roughly speaking, for a playthrough it's probably something between 12 and 15 missions," creative director Jan Theyden adds. Due to the campaigns branching, "when you play a campaign once, you cannot play all the missions."

Creeping around Gamescom's shadows, our The Blood of the Dawnwalker preview from the event sees us chatting with the developer's of the ambitious, vampiric RPG. Coming from CD Projekt veterans, we'd expect no less! Combining loads of way to take action for each quest with a day/night cycle that's sort of a resource in and of itself that actually changes how events can play out, The Blood of Dawnwalker is bringing plenty new to the genre. Fangs in advance, Rebel Wolves.

Talking about creeping, that's exactly what we did going hands-on with Resident Evil Requiem, even if we ended up shouting at the protagonist. Yet, just like cursing at the clueless characters in a good horror flick, that's all part of the point. The ninth Resi is going back to real horror roots, with our introduction to protagonist Grace Ashford having her very much underpowered as she's hunted through dark halls.

The Microsoft's ROG Xbox Ally handheld now has a release date! Arriving on October 16, there's not long to wait at all, though we still want to know more about official prices. This time next year, we may even dare to bring our own to Gamescom so we don't need to break our daily streaks.

Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 will carry forward progression from Black Ops 6, similarly to how it was handled between Mordern Warfare 2 and 3. Which does mean all the wild skins will still be present, and means this might not be a true refresh to how online works. After a big blowout last night during Opening Night Live, when we also posted out own Black Ops 7 preview, there's plenty more to come.

We had our shirt game truly humbled by Randy Pitchford (and that's saying something), who was ready to tell us all about Borderlands 4. Stay tuned, as we'll have the video interview going up later!

It sounds like there's a chance Final Fantasy 14 and Final Fantasy 16 could potentially make their way across to Nintendo Switch 2. An easy way to take the massive MMO on the go would definitely be appreciated. Square Enix have "been discussing with Nintendo, and the discussions have been positive".

Hollow Knight: Silksong isn't just coming to Nintendo Switch 2, it's luxuriating on the machine. That's thanks to a 120Hz TV mode that's truly staggering performance from the hardware, and in a game as twitchy as this that's a big deal.

The Rogue Prince of Persia is out now! Parkouring its way out of early access with a big leap, this roguelike take on the series has just dropped into Xbox Game Pass.

Some of Disco Elysium's best ideas are still around in Zero Parades, which we've now had the chance to take a look at during Gamescom. A CRPG like its predecessor, it's a faster-paced spy thriller that stars an "anti-Bond" spy. But it's going to be tough to step out from the shadow of the behemoth that is Disco.

We've got plenty of folks on the ground this year at Gamescom 2025 dashing from appointment to appointment. But sometimes, it's good to take a moment to stop and smell the roses, right? Or in the case of Senior Producer James Daly, stop and take photos of cars.

But more specifically: the James Bond car as seen in the Gamescom business area for the upcoming video game 007 First Light. Snazzy!

In case you somehow missed it, it's been revealed as part of the Gamescom announcement blitz that Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2 is also getting day one DLC. It's not exactly gone well with fans given it includes new playable clans. But Paradox PR doesn't seem to be backing down.

"It's not uncommon for games to come out with additional content," a PR rep tells PCGamesN, "and given the nature of the game as it stands, where it's been through a lot, this is a way to get additional players in that have been asking for that content, and asking for those clans, on day one."

Oh hey, High on Life 2 has a release date! You don't have to wait until February 2026 to see more, thankfully, as developer Squanch Games has also shared nearly an hour of gameplay footage for everyone to peruse. And yes, that is Ralph Ineson.

What makes a Soulslike a Soulslike? According to the Silent Hill f leads, it's not simply having a dodge at least. "What we would like to emphasize is that the core experience of this game leans heavily on the script of the game," Silent Hill producer Motoi Okamoto tells GamesRadar+ at Gamescom.

"We see a lot of people trying to refer to [Silent Hill f] as a 'Soulslike,'" Okamoto explains, "which we disagree with."

Good news! Dune: Awakening is getting a free Chapter 2 update and paid DLC Lost Harvest on September 10. There's new story content, activities, items, vehicles, and more.

In less great news, some of the skins maybe suffer from "goofy skin syndrome." But in great news, new vehicle Treadwheel looks delightful – don't listen to Austin.

GamesRadar+ spoke with Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War 4 creative director Jan Theysen all about the new RTS game, which has a certain niche of folks very excited after its reveal at Gamescom 2025. Even so, Theysen predicts that this specific style of game will remain niche for the foreseeable future.

"I'm pretty sure that RTS will not be the big genre again," says Theysen. "It's more of a niche genre, but it's a big niche, right?"

Gearbox boss Randy Pitchford tells us the game industry once expected a genre experiment like Borderlands to "die," but it actually became "one of the leading video game franchises in the world." Those are the kind of bold words that Pitchford is known for, but it's tough to argue otherwise in this case, with Borderlands 4 poised to be one of the biggest new releases of the year.

Big Randy also tells GamesRadar+ that Borderlands "ushered in a whole new genre" of looter shooters, and imitators get it wrong when they "twist it too far," unlike Gearbox: "We tend to commit to the bit." Pitchford has every right to hand credit over to Borderlands for popularizing the modern looter shooter, but he's not down with some of the more experimental ones from other devs.