Here's when you can watch Gamescom's Opening Night Live announcement show

Games shows might be lacking some of their old-time bombast since the pandemic forced a shift to digital-only presentations, but there's no denying the continuing thrill of a flashy announcement show. And we now have firm details of the next biggie as Geoff Keighley prepares his Keighleymobile and readies to ride out for Gamescom's Opening Night Live.

This year's Opening Night Live marks the third annual outing for the show since its debut back in 2019, and the second time it'll be taking the form of a digital-only event. It'll be held on Wednesday 25th August, slightly later than previously announced, and we now know exactly when we'll be expected to grasp snacks and take our seats as things get underway.

As confirmed by Keighley, who'll once again be presenting, over on Twitter, the 2021 showcase will run for two hours, with proceedings kicking off at an entirely reasonable 7pm in the UK/11am PT. There's no mention of a pre-show yet, but last year's started half an hour before the main event, so if you just can't resist a good old-fashioned pre-ample, you might want to block out a bit more time in your diary.

As for what we can expect, Keighley is promising a "new look at this holiday's biggest upcoming video games and what lies beyond", which could frankly be absolutely anything given the unpredictable ebb and flow of release dates caused by the ongoing pandemic. Take-Two's previously teased August reveal of an "exciting new franchise" - perhaps Firaxis' rumoured turn-based Marvel game - seems a likely candidate though.

Eurogamer will of course be on-hand to report on the evening's happenings so please do join us for what is almost certain to be a show.