All roads lead to Cologne, Germany this week, as Gamescom opens its doors for participants in this year's biggest video game trade fair in the world.
While Sony opted not to attend Gamescom 2015 for the first time since the trade fair began in 2009 due to the very narrow gap between its schedule and the Electronic Entertainment Weekly 2015 back in June, Microsoft came up with a packed schedule for their exhibit in Cologne this year.
Microsoft will launch their Gamescom 2015 appearance with the Xbox Briefing scheduled Tuesday, Aug. 4, one day before the trade fair officially opens Wednesday.
Fans should expect to see more details about some of the game titles that were not addressed properly during the E3 2015, including "Scalebound" from PlatinumGames and Realtime Worlds' shooter game "Crackdown." Also, Xbox division head Phil Spencer said that exciting information will be revealed about Remedy Entertainment's third-person action shooter game called "Quantum Break" during the press briefing that will begin at 10 a.m. Eastern/ 7 a.m. Pacific.
Electronic Arts is also expected to make several announcements about some of their highly anticipated titles, including "Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare 2," "Need for Speed," as well as "Mass Effect: Andromeda," while Blizzard will unveil information about the "World of Warcraft" and "StarCraft" during their events
Other special announcements and demo displays from major and independent gaming studios are also expected to be revealed from Wednesday, Aug. 5 up to Sunday, Aug. 9.
Here is the list of the full schedule of Blizzard and Microsoft during Gamescom 2015:
Blizzard
Thursday, Aug. 6
- 11:00 a.m. Quiz
- 11:30 a.m. Hearthstone Show Match
- 12:30 p.m. World of Warcraft Dungeon Challenge
- 1:30 p.m. Quiz
- 2:00 p.m. Heroes of the Storm YouTuber Show Match
- 3:00 p.m. Quiz
- 3:15 p.m. StarCraft II Archon Mode Pro Match
- 4:15 p.m. Overwatch Cosplay Spotlight
- 4:45 p.m. Quiz
- 5:00 p.m. Live Concert: Songhammer
- 5:45 p.m. World of Warcraft: The Next Expansion Revealed
Friday, Aug. 7
- 10:15 a.m. Quiz
- 10:30 a.m. World of Warcraft Dungeon Challenge
- 11:30 a.m. Hearthstone Show Match
- 12:30 p.m. Quiz
- 1:00 p.m. Overwatch Cosplay Spotlight
- 1:30 p.m. Heroes of the Storm YouTuber Show Match
- 2:30 p.m. World of Warcraft Dance Contest
- 3:30 p.m. Quiz
- 4:00 p.m. StarCraft II Legacy of the Void Pro Match
- 5:00 p.m. Quiz
- 5:15 p.m. Live Concert: Songhammer
- 6:00 p.m. Live Art Session
Saturday, Aug. 8
- 10:15 a.m. Quiz
- 10:30 a.m. World of Warcraft Live Raid
- 11:30 a.m. Hearthstone Show Match
- 12:30 p.m. Quiz
- 1:00 p.m. Heroes of the Storm Pro Match
- 2:00 p.m. Blizzard Costume Contest
- 3:30 p.m. StarCraft II Allied Commanders Showcase
- 4:30 p.m. Quiz
- 5:00 p.m. Live Concert: Video Games Live
- 6:00 p.m. Live Art Session
Sunday, Aug. 9
- 10:15 a.m. Quiz
- 10:30 a.m. Hearthstone Show Match
- 11:30 a.m. World of Warcraft Live Raid
- 12:30 p.m. Quiz
- 1:00 p.m. StarCraft II Allied Commanders Showcase
- 2:00 p.m. Heroes of the Storm Pro Match
- 3:00 p.m. Live Art Session
- 3:45 p.m. Quiz
- 4:00 p.m. Live Concert: Songhammer
- 4:45 p.m. Quiz
Blizzard will conduct their events at booths B042 A043, B051 C050, C051, C061, A060, B061 C060, B050 A051, and A050 of Hall 7.
Microsoft
Tuesday, Aug. 4
- 4 p.m. Xbox Briefing
Wednesday, Aug. 5
- 9 a.m. - 7 p.m. Xbox booth for press/ trade only
Thursday, Aug. 6 through Saturday, Aug. 9
- 10 a.m. - 8 p.m.
Sunday, Aug. 10
- 9 a.m. - 6 p.m.
The Xbox FanFest will also be held Aug. 4 to 5.
Meanwhile, the schedule of press conference that will be conducted by EA will be held on Wednesday, Aug. 5, beginning 4 a.m. ET and the special "Call of Duty" press conference is slated at 1 pm. ET on the same day.
