What we learnt from Gamescom 2016

The reveals and announcements may not have come thick and fast at Gamescom 2016, but there were still plenty of developments coming out of the show floor.

Christopher Dring, Alex Calvin and Matthew Jarvis look at the key things we took away from this year’s show.

Titanfall 2 is Call of Duty’s true rival this year, not Battlefield 1

EA’s marketing boss Chris Bruzzo told MCV that consumers who enjoy Call of Duty should be playing Titanfall 2.

When asked whether he felt that the positive reaction to Battlefield 1 suggested that game would beat Call of Duty this year, Bruzzo said that the rivalry was not between those two games.

Titanfall 2 was one of the most talked-about games at the show. According to data firm Fancensus, it scored the most coverage the day before the show kicked off.

I think that the style of play that Call of Duty has become known for is a great fit for players who should be playing Titanfall 2,” Bruzzo said.

Honestly, the people at Respawn were one of the originators of that style of play. If you want to put games next to each other, I’d put Titanfall up against Call of Duty and ask which one is doing interesting things.

As it relates to Battlefield, it’s a whole other thing. It’s way more strategic and thoughtful. Even though they are all FPS’, they’re all very different.

Battlefield is going to find a big audience. The reception to some of the content has been so strong. I hope we bring people in to the genre that have never played before.”

Furthermore, developer Respawn said that despite Titanfall 2 having a ‘2′ in its title, the studio is treating the game like a new IP. This is due to the fact that the original title was an Xbox exclusive and as a result many consumers won’t have played the game.

We’re really excited to welcome back that original Xbox One, 360 and PC audience,” COO Dusty
Welch said.

But Titanfall 2 is really a new IP at launch if you think about it. The Xbox One install base is two or three times what it was when Titanfall launched, the PC audience continues to grow. Then there’s the PS4 install base, which is enormous.”

Microsoft is counting on FIFA to sell Xbox One S consoles in Europe

Platform holder Microsoft announced at Gamescom that the upcoming 1TB and 500GB SKUs of its Xbox One S console will be launching with a free download of FIFA 17 – one week before its official launch.

The firm is betting on EA’s football title to help shift Xbox One S consoles in Europe, with marketing boss Aaron Greenberg citing the title’s No.1 position in the region.

We know FIFA is the No.1 title across Europe, which is why we have a multi-year partnership with EA on the franchise,” he said.

To be able to drive new console adoption, with a new model, then add a tonne of value, to give people the ability to play the game seven days early… that is a massive differentiator for FIFA fans, for gamers, and for the millions of people across Europe that haven’t bought a next-gen console yet. We believe this is a big differentiator that will help us drive share gains in those key markets.”

FIFA senior producer Nick Channon added: All we can do is make a great game. That’s what we’ll be focusing on. This year is outstanding. There’s huge value for our players with lots of changes. But it’s hugely gratifying for us and we take it as a compliment. It’s something we don’t want to take for granted, we want to keep innovating and developing and making the best FIFA that we can.”

Oculus Rift is coming to retail

Virtual reality headset Oculus Rift is finally coming to shops in the UK.

The tech will be available from retailers including Amazon, John Lewis, Curry’s and GAME from September 20th.

Speaking to MCV at Gamescom, Oculus said that the retail launch in America had been a hit and that stores are big fans of Rift as demos for the tech are driving consumers into outlets.

Head of content Jason Rubin says that vendors are happy to make the trade off between floor space and demo space because large numbers of consumers flock into stores to try the new tech

Retailers love it,” he said. Beyond the normal things they think about, it’s drawing people to stores who otherwise would not go there. People are signing up online and going two weeks later, they’re going into shops in the US and playing demos. It’s like going to the movies.

And once they’re at a retailer, companies love the fact that whether they buy a drink, a cable or a $2,000 bundle with a PC and a Rift, it’s more people that are in the store.”

He continued: It does take a lot of room to do a VR demo. There is an investment. Retailers are excited to make that trade from retail space to demo space because it’s bringing people into the shop.”

Metal Gear returns

In one of the few big reveals of the show, Konami announced a new Metal Gear title.

Dubbed Metal Gear Survive, this is the first entry in the franchise since series creator Hideo Kojima left. The new release picks up at the end of Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes with a group of soldiers being sucked through a wormhole to another reality.

So far, so Metal Gear.

In this new universe, the soldiers must fight off a zombie horde. Gameplay-wise, this is a co-op survival title, with Konami insisting there will be stealth elements, too. It’s set for a 2017 release on PS4, Xbox One and PC.

According to data firm Fancensus, this trailer racked up 700,000 views during its first day on show, while it was also the most talked-about game on Facebook, and the second most talked-about on Twitter.

Creative Assembly wants to attract new RTS fans with Halo Wars 2

The real time strategy genre is infamous for being a very hardcore market, but developer Creative Assembly says that the upcoming Halo Wars 2 is going to be its most accessible strategy game yet.

Producer David Nicholson says he hopes the game will turn Halo fans who will pick up the title into RTS lovers. Likewise, Xbox marketing chief Aaron Greenberg also believes that Halo Wars 2 will turn PC fans into Halo enthusiasts.

First and foremost, we want to make a really good RTS game,” Nicholson said.

We are trying to make an ‘RTS for everyone’. If you’ve never played an RTS before, I would encourage you to play Halo Wars 2. We still retain the depth, so if you are a big RTS fan, all of that stuff is there, but we are bringing a lot of accessibility.”

He added: There will be significant differences between the PC and Xbox versions, certainl