It"s forecasted to be mostly sunny in Cologne, Germany as gamescom 2019 kicks off later today with an Opening Night event scheduled to be hosted by Geoff Keighley.

There"s a concatenation of events planned right before the big gamescom opening, though; Nintendo, Microsoft, and Google will each have their own livestreams later today revealing what they have been up to.

Nintendo

Nintendo is expected to premiere a 20-minute Indie Direct presentation with a whole bunch of trailers for games coming soon to the Switch. Here"s when it"s scheduled for, and where to watch it:

• August 19 - 6 AM PDT (Los Angeles)
• August 19 - 9 AM EDT (New York City)
• August 19 - 2 PM BST (London)
• August 19 - 3 PM CEST (Cologne)
• August 19 - 6:30 PM IST (New Delhi)
• August 19 - 11 PM AEST (Sydney)

Microsoft

Inside Xbox is scheduled to go live with a gamescom stream; we know Microsoft wants to use this event to showcase Project xCloud, so expecting a few more details about that service is most reasonable. Also expected is some news with regards to the Age of Empires franchise as well as Halo MCC, which continues to be a work in progress. Here"s when and how to watch the stream:

• August 19 - 8 AM PDT (Los Angeles)
• August 19 - 11 AM EDT (New York City)
• August 19 - 4 PM BST (London)
• August 19 - 5 PM CEST (Cologne)
• August 19 - 8:30 PM IST (New Delhi)
• August 20 - 1 AM AEST (Sydney)

Google

Stadia represents Google"s foray into the gaming industry at large; today, it will host its second Stadia Connect event where expectations of more game announcements seem reasonable. It will also be interesting to see whether Google has any plans on how it will tackle the next generation of consoles. Here"s when and how to watch the stream:

• August 19 - 10 AM PDT (Los Angeles)
• August 19 - 1 PM EDT (New York City)
• August 19 - 6 PM BST (London)
• August 19 - 7 PM CEST (Cologne)
• August 19 - 10:30 PM IST (New Delhi)
• August 20 - 3 AM AEST (Sydney)

gamescom Opening Night Live

Geoff Keighley will be hosting the Opening Night Live event, as mentioned, There"s going to be a plethora of announcements and trailers lined up for the two-hour event, along with a few brand-new reveals as well. EA is also expected to show some gameplay from the just-announced Need for Speed: Heat. Here"s when and how to watch the stream:

• August 19 - 11 AM PDT (Los Angeles)
• August 19 - 2 PM EDT (New York City)
• August 19 - 7 PM BST (London)
• August 19 - 8 PM CEST (Cologne)
• August 19 - 11:30 PM IST (New Delhi)
• August 20 - 4 AM AEST (Sydney)