This year's Gamescom will be an entirely online event that will begin officially with Opening Night Live on Thursday, August 27. Another event happening alongside that will be the Indie Arena Booth 2020 showcase. In addition to a multi-day stream showcasing different games from independent developers from across the world and panels focusing on diversity and accessibility in gaming, the Indie Arena Booth will also allow viewers to access a new virtual showcase, an all-digital convention featuring many different games to play online.

Lasting from August 27 to August 30, the Indie Arena Booth Online is a virtual space where users can explore different levels, buy merch for upcoming games, chat with devs and other players, and play the slate of over 180 games. You can check out a quick preview of what the strange, but still unique virtual space looks like on the official website. Pre-registration is open for all on the official site as well, and the online virtual space is free to join.

At first glance, it seems like an extremely bizarre idea, which calls to mind films like Ready Player One, but it certainly gets to the heart of the indie spirit--which is to offer up imaginative and creative ways to engage with games. This will be an an event focused on indie developers, and there's quite several games to check out. The full line-up includes some recent releases like Haven, along with a number of games that haven't yet been released like Boyfriend Dungeon, Bravery Network Online, Star Renegades, and much more. There's a great number of games that will be on display during the online event, and you can check out the full list here.