14 DAY TRIAL // Next week, one of the biggest gaming conventions in the world – Gamescom 2013 – will take place in Cologne, Germany. While the expo starts on August 21 and lasts until August 25, the first day is reserved for the press and industry insiders that will be able to admire all the different stands and booths without navigating through the 200,000 people that are expected to visit the gathering.
As always, in the weeks leading up to the event, plenty of companies confirmed their presence and even began teasing the things they would reveal at the big convention.
While there are the big three hardware markers, Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo, this year it's basically a two-horse race, as both Sony and Microsoft are competing with their next-gen consoles.
Microsoft will hold its press conference early in the day on August 20, while Sony will organize its own formal event later in the evening.
Both are expected to heavily show off new features, games, and details about their next-gen consoles, the Xbox One and PlayStation 4, respectively.
While it's not yet official, reports have begun to appear claiming that both companies will pin actual release dates onto their devices, after revealing prices and launch periods for them at E3 2013 in June.
Third-party publishers, like Ubisoft, Electronic Arts, or Activision Blizzard, are also going to organize bigger or smaller events, mainly during the actual Gamescom expo.
During these events, some new games will be revealed, announced titles will receive details, while upcoming experiences will get last-minute feature presentations.
As always, Softpedia will be on the ground at Gamescom 2013 and will provide a variety of “hands-on” articles with all the different games at the convention as well as with the next-gen consoles, as both Sony and Microsoft have pledged that their booths will feature plenty of demo stations with the PS4 and Xbox One.
You'll be able to follow all the coverage from the expo using the Gamescom 2013 tag.