Gamescom 2015: Who Won?

Gamescom 2015 ended up being a truly amazing convention for gamers around the world. While it didn’t have as many big announcements as E3 2015, it more than made up for that with the sheer number of trailers and the amount of actual gameplay displayed throughout the week. Games that up until now fans were trying to imagine now have something solid to go off of.

New technological feats such as the complete city destruction in Crackdown 3‘s multiplayer, new game modes like Star Wars: Battlefront‘s Fighter Squadron, and new unique characters to play with like Evie Frye in Assassin’s Creed Syndicate helped to make Gamescom 2015 a convention to remember.

But, as always, there are those who want to know who won Gamescom? Yes, we know, the convention isn’t a competition. It’s a celebration where we, those who love this hobby, truly win. Yet it’s interesting to take a look at everything that went down and see who brought their A-game the strongest. So we’re going to examine a few of the important factors and see who came out on top at the convention this year.

Energy

When at a convention you need to do your damnedest to entertain the masses. Sure, the games will do most of the heavy lifting, but a bit of energy will get you far. Standing on stage with no flair, no excitement, is something that will leave your presentation easily forgotten. But it also has to be natural, so that weird party stunt pulled during the Sims 4 section of the EA conference definitely didn’t cut it. But there was one company that definitely came in with the right vibe.

Phil Spencer took to the stage at Gamescom 2015 with one mission in mind: wow everyone. While their showing at E3 was fantastic, they lacked that oomph that only gameplay can provide. This time they brought it, and the excitement from each person that took to the stage shined through. Then there was the energy within each trailer. Tense, fast, powerful imagery from all of their upcoming games with no room for rest.

There was consistency between those presenting, and what was being presented. While every company had a good showing with their trailers and reveals, Microsoft kept it the most solid.

Winner: Phil Spencer and the Xbox Team due to consistency and flow. All about those games and making gamers happy.

Gameplay

Just about every trailer released during Gamescom 2015 was amazing. Action, art, stories, choice, freedom, all of these elements stepped to the forefront during each video released to awaiting fans. To be completely honest, choosing only one game to steal the show is no easy feat. No game came even close to being lackluster throughout the entire Gamescom event, but there were a few that stood out among the rest.

Ubisoft wowed with the impressive Evie Frye gameplay from Assassin’s Creed Syndicate proving that they did more than just re-skin Jacob to assuage fans. Crackdown 3 left jaws on the floor as buildings came tumbling down within its gameplay demo. Sony even brought some new Until Dawn gameplay, as well as the extended Uncharted 4 gameplay demo. But even these amazing demonstrations of video game prowess were hard-pressed to top what EA showed off on its stage.

Need for Speed, Star Wars: Battlefront, Unravel, Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare 2, Mirror’s Edge Catalyst, and more put on display how a company went from being one of the most hated to having one of the most impressive video game lineups out there. A commitment to an overarching theme of freedom within their titles, strong characters, beautiful messages, and amazing visuals put EA’s gameplay at the top of the Gamescom 2015 class. It’s no surprise that one of their games swept the awards when all was said and done.

Winner: EA due to so many top-notch, freedom promoting, beautiful gameplay demos. Everything looked next to perfect, and we even got to see Yarny holding a Yarn Fish.

New Reveals

Gamescom was honestly a bit light on brand new reveals. Yet although many were spent at E3 2015 by most major developers and publishers, there were a few major crumbs (large enough to call them slices) left for Gamescom 2015. While most of these were new modes or additions to existing games, such as Battlefront‘s Fighter Squadron and WoW‘s new expansion Legion, there were a few brand new games put on display.

Mafia III got its debut during Gamescom, showing off its return to an open world in a new city with a new protagonist. Destiny: The Taken King can almost be viewed as a new game with all of the changes that it’s bringing to the shared-world shooter next month. But, most of what was announced was already teased and expected. There was only one game that really caught the world, and now excited fans, off guard.

Halo Wars 2 came out of left field when it was announced during the Gamescom 2015 Xbox briefing a few days ago. Being developed by Creative Assembly (Total War), the game will take cues from the first title and the studio is making sure to seek guidance from 343i as they develop the sequel fans have been clamoring for for years. Leave it to Microsoft to save such a major announcement for Gamescom.

Winner: Xbox due to the completely unexpected announcement of Creative Assembly working on Halo Wars 2.

Reception

More important than putting on a good show or showing off a spectacular trailer is how you are received by the public after the fact. Did you wow? Was everyone already expecting what you showed off? Did you accomplish the mission you set out to achieve?

While absolutely everyone showed off something worth looking forward to, for many Gamescom 2015 was a golden opportunity for Microsoft and the Xbox One. With the other members of the big three opting out of a briefing, an open door was left for the Xbox team to step through if they so chose. And you know what? They did.

With yet another stunning lineup of games, a heavy surprise, and the perfect amount of energy, Phil Spencer and his crew managed to steal the spotlight and hold onto it for the entire duration of Gamescom 2015. Finally showing off the real power of the cloud computing they’d boasted about from the start, new IP, and the return of fan favorites helped to keep them the talk of the town, Microsoft did a great job this past week.

Winner: Team Xbox once again. They’ve had the most to prove in recent years and did a bang up job of showing just how far they’ve come along with a stellar briefing.

Who Won Gamescom 2015?

Aside from the fans, who are always the true winners of conventions like these, the crown for Gamescom 2015 champion has to go to Phil Spencer and the entire Xbox team. Energy, a stunning reveal, a point proven, and some seriously stellar gameplay helped the Xbox One shine brighter than it ever has. Beginning on that rocky road in 2013, then through an extremely slow 2014, Phil Spencer helped to steer the green machine onto the right path.

But getting on the right path wasn’t enough. E3 proved to be a bigger challenge than most anticipated, but the gang never gave up and followed up with their best showing ever, period. Even with EA claiming most of the rewards at the end of the day, nobody was able to shift how people viewed their company better than the Xbox team. That was clearly their mission coming into this year, and by the end of Gamescom it was damn near impossible to find anyone willing to doubt their commitment to being recognized as the premier place to play.

This doesn’t mean that everything has flipped of course. The competition for that number one spot will still be strong for the foreseeable future, but Xbox claims this battle with ease.

What did you think of Gamescom 2015? Who won it for you personally? Was it a single game or an entire company? Feel free to let us know in the comments below.