Xbox’s European charm offensive might just work this time | Opinion
Make no mistake, Xbox was the star of Gamescom 2024.
Well, that and Monster Hunter Wilds. But in terms of companies, there was no booth bigger or more involved than what Xbox had in Cologne.
Of course, it helps that Xbox's historical rivals – Sony and Nintendo – were entirely absent from the event. It was a surprise, to me at least, considering both console giants have pretty large games arriving on shelves in early September, and there is playable event code for both. Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom is playable at PAX this weekend, while Astro Bot was playable in LA back in June.
Therefore, the decision from these two to skip Gamescom was entirely strategic, and looking at how busy and excited the show floor was in Germany, I can't help but feel it was a strategic mistake.
It also meant that Xbox could waltz in unchallenged as the show's main attraction, but even if its traditional rivals were at the show, I'm not convinced they would have been able to compete.
Xbox's booth for the first time brought together games from Bethesda, Activision Blizzard, and Microsoft, which meant a plethora of big AAA titles on display. But there was also numerous third-party titles, indie games, photo ops, live talks and competitions throughout Xbox's giant space. It was an evolution of their Fan Fest concept, but it actually reminded me more of Nintendo Live, which is a series of excellent fan events that Nintendo runs (and Phil Spencer visited one last year).
Xbox has had strong Gamescoms before, and it has always been proactive in putting on a show that it thinks Europeans will react positively to. It has used Gamescom to announce and promote strategy and PC titles, such as Halo Wars, Age of Empires, and Flight Simulator, which are games it feels will resonate more with European players than, say, a Gears of War.
This year was no exception, and with major PC games like World of Warcraft and Diablo in the line-up (Blizzard has always had a strong presence at Gamescom), it was probably the most
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