Gamescom Opening Night Live Was Watched By Way More People Than Last Year

Gamescom 2025’s Opening Night Live show brought a bunch of new announcements and gameplay footage, from Black Ops 7 to Bubsy 4D. It appears that people were really into what host Geoff Keighley put together: This year’s show had a big spike in viewership over last year’s.

According to a press release, Gamescom ONL accumulated over 72 million views, up 80% from last year. The Gamescom convention itself, which takes place in Cologne, Germany, also saw a healthy uptick in attendees, with roughly 7% more than 2024’s event. The conference brought in 357,000 visitors this year, temporarily increasing the population of Cologne by over a third.

These increases indicate that gaming audiences are eager to learn about the upcoming slate of games. While it’s difficult to tease out exactly what drove new people to watch the stream, Keighley’s pre-show teases of announcements related to Hollow Knight: Silksong, Resident Evil Requiem, and the next season of the Fallout TV show all may have contributed. The recent launch of the Switch 2 and uncertainty around Microsoft’s future projects may have also added to the allure of this event.

Opening Night Live witnessed dozens of announcements, trailers, and new snippets of information about upcoming titles. In addition to a short look at Silksong (which finally got a release date later in the week) and a teaser for Fallout Season 2, the show also showed off Europa Universalis V, Silent Hill F, and Dawn of War IV. Check out all of the highlights in the gallery below.