Gamer gathering opens in Germany with 'Borderlands' news

Hundreds of thousands of video game fans and industry figures began to converge Wednesday on Germany's Cologne for the sector's biggest trade show.

Gamescom kicked off late Tuesday with the surprise announcement of a new edition of the "Borderlands" franchise, to be released next year, as well as more details of the next "Call of Duty".

Industry heavyweights Microsoft and China's Tencent are both joining the show, but Japanese giants Sony and Nintendo are staying away -- no reason has been given for their absence.

The event comes at a tricky time for an industry worth around $180 billion a year, according to figures from the Newzoo analyst firm.

Sales are far from the peaks reached in the pandemic, smaller studios are struggling to survive and big publishers are imposing dramatic cost-cutting exercises with thousands of workers being laid off.

But attendees were buoyed at the start of the conference on Wednesday -- a day reserved for industry figures before the public get in from Thursday to Sunday.

"We've got a lot of games to get out this year still and so making sure that they are getting attention and promotion is the priority for us," said Tristan Corbett, marketing director for publisher Maximum Entertainment.

He said events like Gamescom were vital for the industry, and that the Cologne get-together was regaining some of the pomp it enjoyed before the pandemic.

Organisers expect this year's show to get close to the 2019 record for attendance -- more than 370,000.

- 'Mind-bending conspiracy' -

Vying for attention on the conference floor were stands for "Star Wars Outlaws", due for release on August 30, and "Assassin's Creed Shadows".

While "Civilization VII" basked in the glory of a stand in the style of a Roman temple, a metres-tall statue of Goku from "Dragon Ball: Sparking! ZERO" loomed nearby.

The first game in the Dragon Ball saga to be released since the death of creator Akira Toriyama on March 1, "Sparking!" is among the games visitors will be able to test out.

But the immediate buzz from opening night was the new edition of Borderlands, one of the most popular franchises of all time, recently generating a movie spinoff.

"Borderlands 4, really, I wasn't expecting it," said German biologist Sarah Nobbe, one of more than 5,000 packed into the arena on Tuesday who saw a two-minute trailer for the first-person shooter game.

The trailer teased a 2025 release without giving further details.

The makers of "Call of Duty: Black Ops 6", meanwhile, took to the stage on Tuesday to promise "blockbuster action" in a game set in the early 90s -- "a time of global turmoil and uncertainty".

"You'll unravel a mind-bending conspiracy," said developer Jon Zuk, with the game scheduled for release on October 25.

- 'Love letter' -

Much of the video game industry has been carved up in recent years between the four major players -- Microsoft, Tencent, Sony and Nintendo.

Microsoft, hoping to steal a march on its competitors, teased details of "Indiana Jones and the Great Circle", published by its subsidiary Bethesda and due for release December 9.

However, with console sales slumping and a growing need to attract players, the days have gone where games can be kept in walled gardens.

Although Indiana Jones will initially be released on Microsoft's Xbox and PC, a version will be available for Sony's PlayStation next year.

The opening event also got some Hollywood stardust with Tim Miller, director of 2016 superhero movie "Deadpool", announcing a new anthology series on Amazon Prime in December.

He told the audience "Secret Level" would involve 15 episodes based on video games including "Pac-Man" and "Sifu".

"It's our love letter to the games," Miller said, while choking back tears.