The release dates for new episodes of the “Call of Duty” and “Borderlands” video games were announced Tuesday at the opening of the Gamescom showcase. The announcements set the scene for the leading international video game show that opens to the public in Cologne on Thursday for four days and is expected to draw more than 350,000 visitors.

The launch of the Borderlands 4 game in 2025 was one of the surprises of the opening night show. The games producers promised that players would “blast their way through hordes of enemies” in the latest version of the game that was adapted for cinema this year.

Cosplayers of the 'Winner Winner Chicken Dinner' game pose at their booth during the media day at the Gamescom video games trade fair in Cologne, western Germany.--AFP photos

Visitors stand at the booth of the video game 'Indiana Jones and the Great Circle' during the media day at the Gamescom.

A visitor walks past the poster of the 'Star Wars Outlaws' game at the Massive Entertainment booth during the media day at the Gamescom.

Visitors walk at the 'Dragon Ball - Sparking! Zero' game at the Bandai Namco Entertainment booth during the media day at the Gamescom.

A cosplayer attends the media day at the Gamescom.

“Call of Duty: Black Ops 6” will be released on October 25. The latest in the series is set in the 1990s with a security team on a mission to target a senator and gain access to a top-secret site in Washington. “Deadpool” film maker Tim Miller announced that his new “Secret Level” series based on several video games would be released on Amazon Prime in December.

“It is our love letter to games,” he said. Another industry veteran Peter Molyneux said his latest project would be “Masters of Albion”. Molyneux made Populous in 1989 and Black and White in 2001 but has been more low-key in recent years with several projects cancelled. Swedish firm Machinegames said that “Indiana Jones and the Great Circle” will be released on December 9. First announced for Xbox, the game will also come out on Playstation 5 next year, the company said. — AFP