gamescom 2026: Biggest Announcements, Best Trailers, and Games to Watch Out For

From August 25 to 30, 2026, the German city of Cologne hosted gamescom 2026, the largest video game expo in the world. The doors of the Koelnmesse exhibition center opened to business people, gaming journalists, and ordinary gamers alike. The exhibition halls held a record number of booths from game developers and publishers, and at nearly every one of them the public was invited to watch trailers, talk with developers, and often try demo versions of projects that won't reach the mass audience for some time yet.

We've gathered the most interesting news from gamescom 2026 for you — announcements and presentations of the most significant games along with their release dates, as well as the results of the expo's most important events.

On the evening of August 25, gamescom 2026 held its official opening ceremony, Opening Night Live. As is tradition, it was hosted by well-known journalist and producer Geoff Keighley and esports journalist Eefje "Sjokz" Depoortere. In total, more than 50 trailers were shown during the main event, along with around 20 more during the indie warm-up segment.

There were no major surprise announcements this time, and the most memorable trailers turned out to be Metro 2039 (developer representatives took the stage to talk about progress on the sequel to the well-known shooter series), Gears of War: E-Day, Tides of Annihilation, and Final Fantasy VII Revelation (the game's director personally presented the new trailer to the audience). But the biggest expectations of the thousands in the audience — and the millions of gamers watching from home — were tied to the first full reveal of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt — Songs of Past. Developers from CD Projekt RED showed off the long-awaited trailer and gave a general overview of the expansion, while also delighting fans with details about the upcoming remaster of the base The Witcher 3. By the way, we saw Songs of the Past in action at gamescom 2026 and shared our impressions.

On the evening of August 26, another landmark event for the gaming industry took place — Future Game Show. Many have grown used to the fact that, three times a year, this show's organizers reveal new trailers for both already-announced games and previously unknown projects.

Over the course of the hour-and-a-half show and the Future Game Show Live broadcast that followed, trailers for more than 60 games were shown, including around 20 world premieres. Here are the most notable of them.

A fresh trailer for the MMORPG Aion 2 had already appeared at the gamescom 2026 opening ceremony. At Future Game Show, the developers gave a detailed breakdown of the gameplay, highlighting the game's main feature — vertical aerial battles in which the sky becomes a full-fledged battlefield. The game promises a combat system with no auto-attack and an emphasis on PvE content. An open pre-release server stress test will run from September 17–18, 2026, with the launch set for October 5, 2026. In the meantime, you can read our interview with the Aion 2 creators.

Alkimya: House of Wisdom received its premiere trailer — a tactical horror game with survival elements that journalists have already dubbed "Resident Evil 2 set during the Islamic Golden Age." The story is set in 1258, during the siege of Baghdad by the Mongol Empire's forces. The player takes on the role of Yusuf, a master alchemist. His goal is to make his way into the burning library to find an elixir that could save his dying daughter. The trailer showed off key mechanics: exploring locations in the style of classic survival horrors, and a combat system built around alchemy. The game's tentative release window is early 2028.

Arizona Sunshine (2026) revives a zombie hit that was originally developed for VR headsets. It's now a fast-paced third-person action game for standard screens, with a tone reminiscent of Dead Island.

A cynical survivor named Sunny travels through the sun-scorched canyons of Arizona in search of other people, accompanied by his dog Buddy. The new trailer put the spotlight on co-op mechanics: the ability to play through the game with a friend online or in local split-screen. The developers also showed that in co-op, the second player can take control of Buddy the dog. The game is planned for release in late 2026.

Blackwood combines a third-person shooter with life-sim elements. By day you run a small DVD shop in a meticulously recreated 2012 New York City, and by night you become a calculating, ruthless hitman. The gameplay revolves around intense gunfights, mid-air bullet time, acrobatic stunts, and brutal environmental finishing moves. The new trailer showed off an advanced weapon-handling system on the highest difficulty, realistic physics for throwing objects at enemies, and new nighttime New York locations. At the show, the developers confirmed that the game is fully complete and will launch very soon — on September 16, 2026.

Veterans from the development of Forza Horizon 5 presented a detailed gameplay breakdown of CLUTCH, a cinematic open-world racing game. The setting is the colorful French Riviera, and the main characters are a brother and sister who compete in legal professional circuit racing by day and dive into the dangerous world of illegal street racing and police chases by night. The developers showed off the driving system, the roads of Monaco, and unique gameplay features — for example, gadgets that let you pull off sharp cornering maneuvers. CLUTCH's official release is planned for spring 2027.

Also nearing the finish line is Crimson Moon, a gothic action RPG in which the player takes on the role of a Nephilim — a powerful human-angel hybrid tasked with defending the world from the forces of Hell. The gameplay offers a Soulslike combat system built around a combination of melee weapons, magic, and angelic transformations. Missions can be played solo or in two-player co-op — something shown off in the new trailer. In particular, the developers went into detail about how dynamic difficulty scaling works based on player count. The official release will take place on September 1, 2026.

The creators of the Forgive Me Father duology showed off a new trailer for DIOXIDE at the show — a first-person tactical shooter with Soulslike elements. In the story, the world is ruled by a cruel Corporation, and the main character is a "defective" citizen who received a resurrection module (after death, his body is literally reprinted on a 3D printer). No release date has been announced yet, but the developers confirmed that a free demo will arrive before the end of autumn 2026.

Escape from Playtime is a cooperative survival horror game for 1–4 players, set in the universe of the popular franchise Poppy Playtime. The project had its world premiere at Future Games Show. The developers promise procedurally generated levels, crawling through vents and narrow passages, and voice chat for coordinating with other players. There isn't even a rough release date yet.

Studio Behaviour Interactive (creators of Dead by Daylight) walked through a gameplay trailer for the sci-fi cooperative PvE third-person shooter Exterminauts, which had first been shown at the expo's opening ceremony. Players take on the role of "space janitors" — ordinary worker-technicians sent to a dangerous alien planet to wipe out hordes of monsters. The trailer showcased the gameplay: a system for using an "overdrive" to enhance tools, team-based clearing of alien nests, and an evacuation mechanic. The official release is planned for 2027.

A premiere of the show was Kingdom 3: Rising Realms — the long-awaited continuation of the famous side-scrolling tower defense series known for its signature pixel art. You once again take on the role of the Monarch, wielder of the Crown of Creation. The world has been shattered, and you must travel across procedurally generated islands, recruit subjects, gather artifacts, and rebuild your kingdom. The trailer reminded fans of the franchise's lore and showed the first footage of gameplay: exploring uncharted lands and defending a fortress at night. The release is planned for 2027.

The development of Graveyard Keeper 2, the sequel to the popular medieval-graveyard sim from Russian studio Lazy Bear Games, has been public knowledge since April of this year. At gamescom, the developers showed a new trailer that makes it clear how much the game's world has expanded: the main character becomes a Grand Inquisitor who must take charge of an entire city and build up its defenses against an army of zombies. An official release date was also announced — September 22, 2026.

Guns of Eschaton has become widely known as the last game the late art designer Viktor Antonov worked on. In terms of gameplay, it's a Soulslike first-person shooter set in a post-apocalyptic Wild West. Players, in the role of a nameless gunslinger, must survive in an American Old South overrun by demons, cultists, and occult horrors. The developers showed a new gameplay trailer revealing the game's hardcore mechanics: calculated dodges and parries, the use of dark magic, and special types of ammunition. The developers also showed off co-op gameplay in detail for the first time — this grueling action game can be played with friends. The release is set for late 2026.

The creators of Cloudpunk at studio ION LANDS presented a new cyberpunk-flavored story — Nivalis Nights. It's a meditative life sim with RPG and business elements told from a first-person perspective. There's no hard action typical of cyberpunk here. Players take on the role of a girl named Ava, who is trying to build a life for herself in the enormous, ocean-washed neon metropolis of Nivalis. The new trailer showed off a system for growing and buying ingredients, a home-customization mechanic, and nighttime boat rides through pouring neon rain. The game is nearly finished and will launch on September 29, 2026.

The psychological survival horror Ritual Tides is being developed by industry veterans, including former Rockstar Games staff. The main character, an amnesiac, wakes up on the shore of a mysterious, isolated island that doesn't appear on any map. The player must survive harsh conditions, ration scarce ammunition, climb cliffs by hand, and hide from terrifying creatures and deranged cultists. The new trailer showed new locations on the island, the oppressive atmosphere of its foggy wastelands, and, for the first time, one of the grotesque Lovecraftian creatures with a huge, toothy maw. The release is planned for late 2026.

In the sci-fi puzzle game Rivage, a researcher wakes up completely alone aboard a massive space station. The crew has vanished without a trace, and the station itself turns out to be trapped in an endless time loop. The new gameplay trailer demonstrated how the digital companion works, allowing certain puzzle solutions to be saved between loops so players don't have to repeat the same actions over and over in new cycles. The developers originally planned to release the game on August 13, 2026, but the launch has been pushed back to September 22, 2026.

Publisher Devolver Digital brought the final trailer for the cooperative shooter Serious Sam: Shatterverse, set in the "Serious Sam" universe, to gamescom. In the story, up to five players simultaneously take on the roles of alternate-dimension versions of Sam Stone, each with unique passive bonuses and stats. The trailer showed off cooperative play between Sams from different worlds, weapon combinations, and gameplay modifiers. The full release happens today — August 31, 2026.

Studio Nekki (creators of the Shadow Fight series) is on the home stretch with Spine — a cyberpunk gun-fu action game. The gameplay combines elements familiar from Sifu, Max Payne, and John Wick films: fast-paced fights against waves of enemies, but with an emphasis on firearms rather than fists or blades. The body of the protagonist, Redline, has an AI-powered implant (the Spine) built in, helping her fight enemies in a totalitarian city of the future. The developers promise at least 10 hours of flashy, cinematic combat choreographed with the help of film industry specialists, location exploration, parkour, boss fights, and possibly even a future film adaptation of the game. The release is planned for summer 2027.

On October 6, 2026, players will get their hands on STAR WARS: Galactic Racer, an arcade racing game with adventure elements set in the Star Wars universe. Playing as racer Shade, players will take part in dangerous races, ram opponents, and climb the ranks. The game will feature a single-player story campaign as well as 12-player multiplayer with contracts and stakes. In the new trailer, the developers went into detail about the vehicle classes in the game — from heavy racers ideal for drifting and ramming, to nimble, fast bikes. The game will launch on October 6, 2026.

Chinese developers showed a new trailer for Sword Sage: Awakening — a wuxia-flavored slasher inspired by Chinese mythology, folklore, and unexpected science-fiction elements. The developers went into more detail about the combat system, built around a unique defensive-dodge and rapid-lunge mechanic, and showed off non-combat elements: the heroine can sit on benches with her charming companion — a small red panda — and hold tea ceremonies to restore her health. The game's release date has not been officially announced, with a tentative window of 2027.

At the presentation, developers of the tactical multiplayer first-person shooter WARDOGS shared the results of a recent closed beta test that drew around 500,000 players. They also showed off a fresh gameplay reel and announced the game's final release date — September 10, 2026. The main feature of the gameplay is set to be large-scale 100-player battles split into three rival teams.

The developers of Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun 2 showed a fresh trailer at the show that, for the first time, revealed the second playable character (alongside Malum Caedo) — Battle Sister Naiera Veirath — and the key antagonist, the demonic demigod Vashtorr Arkifane, who has awakened a gigantic machine at the planet's core and destroyed part of the Imperial fleet. The game retains the dynamic '90s "boomer shooter" retro style, with a new arsenal, an expanded bestiary of enemies — and all of it set to music by Mick Gordon. The release will take place on October 14, 2026.

The isometric action game Wolcen: Lords of Mayhem is getting a sequel — Wolcen 2. The game's first trailer was shown at Future Game Show. The sequel's events take place years after the first game, in a fantasy world teetering on the edge of collapse. The main character is a Warlord who must fulfill the Prophecy. The game can be played solo or in co-op with up to 4 players. Skills are promised to be tied to the weapon in use, and players will be able to freely combine modifiers and passive abilities. No release date has been announced, but the game is known to be entering early access in the second quarter of 2027. During gamescom 2026 we took an interview with the creators of Wolcen 2.

Also worth mentioning are the following announcements:

On August 27, the IGN team held Gamescom Awesome Indies, a showcase of indie games from around the world. Over the course of an hour and a half, the organizers showed more than 30 exclusive trailers and gameplay snippets, along with developer interviews.

Here are the show's most interesting announcements.

The two-dimensional stealth adventure 4:AM tells the story of a near-future world that has survived a civil war. The world has been engulfed by a mysterious substance that has made light deadly. The main character, Ayla, wakes up in a ruined city at exactly 4 a.m. and tries to survive by making her way through a hostile environment. To move forward, she can copy objects and use them as cover or platforms. The release is planned for the fourth quarter of 2026.

In the metroidvania About Cannons & Sparrows, the player controls a small cannon that mistakenly hatched from a bird's egg in the forest. It believes itself to be a bird and has no idea it can shoot, instead running around on little wheels like a two-legged chick. The gameplay shown at the Indie Show consists of physics puzzles and battles against giant "evil cannons" threatening the forest. The game doesn't have a release date yet.

The exotic survival horror game AGNI: Village of Calamity is based on Indonesian folklore and was inspired by Alan Wake and Resident Evil. The developers showed a new gameplay trailer in which the main character, a detective from a secret government agency named Agni, sets out to find her missing partner in a mysterious village. Players will have to survive under conditions of resource scarcity and solve spatial puzzles. The game still has no full release date.

In a new gameplay trailer for DeadRoot, a metroidvania set in a medieval world, the developers went into detail about the combat system, interface, and enemy types. The game's main character is a small, brave snail named Kitt, armed with a sword. Her enemies are aggressive flies, rats, beetles, and other insects. Players will explore the world, squeeze through narrow gaps, climb walls, solve spatial puzzles, and unlock new gear and abilities. The release is planned for 2027.

Developers from Flat28 Collective showed a new gameplay trailer for Glasshouse, an isometric turn-based RPG, and announced that an official demo will launch in October 2026. The game is inspired by titles like Disco Elysium and Pathologic, and takes place inside a locked-down apartment building in an alternate London on the brink of a major war. The main character is an ordinary worker investigating a mysterious murder, using both force in turn-based combat and diplomatic skills in dialogue with NPCs. The game still has no full release date.

The psychological horror game Inferius, which combines card-based roguelike and stealth mechanics, already has a public demo. Developers brought a new gameplay showcase to the expo and announced that the game's launch has been pushed to 2027. The game is inspired by Dante Alighieri's "Divine Comedy." The player must pass through the nine circles of hell, defeating enemies and a boss on each level. Boss battles take the form of tactical duels at a card table using Tarot cards.

There Are No Ghosts at the Grand is set to launch into early access in December 2027. It's an unusual mix of renovation sim, psychological horror, and musical with a Lovecraftian atmosphere. The protagonist inherits the old Grand Hotel in an English village and has 30 days to restore it, all while uncovering the mystery of their father's disappearance. By day you use a paint sprayer to redo the walls and restore the interiors, and by night you battle ghosts to music, using the same construction tools. A free demo is already available on Steam.

CD Projekt RED held a five-day livestream marathon from Cologne called REDstreams. The studio brought only one game to the show — or rather, one expansion, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt — Songs of the Past — but it became the headliner of the entire expo. On the very first day of the streams, the developers showed a 13-minute gameplay segment of "Songs of the Past."

In the clip, Geralt visits the picturesque ancestral estate of Dandelion in the Redanian region of Letten. The witcher is forced to follow the trail of a missing friend, using his Witcher senses, only to eventually face off against a group of drowners and water nymphs on a half-ruined bridge. The silver chain — Geralt's new weapon, which will round out his arsenal in "Songs of the Past" — was shown in action for the first time.

Xbox ran the largest series of presentations of any publisher at the show. Across streams broadcast from its booth, the company showed off several fresh trailers and gameplay showcases.

The sci-fi first-person survival horror shooter Alien Deathstorm got its second major showcase. In the story, the main character arrives at a remote human colony and discovers that contact with it has been lost. The outpost has been devastated by a catastrophic planetary mega-storm and overrun by hordes of carnivorous alien creatures. The developers presented a new gameplay trailer for the "Reactor" mission and brought the first public demo to the show. The clip showed an engineer surviving extreme weather conditions and fighting mutants in narrow corridors. The game is due out in spring 2027.

The developers of Armatus showed off fresh gameplay from their third-person roguelite shooter. Playing as a warrior with magical abilities, players will battle hordes of demons among the ruins of Paris. The trailer revealed a release date — January 7, 2027 — and showcased the combat system, dodge mechanics, melee-and-ranged combos, and several locations. The game will be available in Xbox Game Pass from day one.

Developers at Playground Games showed two gameplay recordings of Fable at gamescom 2026 — one 18 minutes long, the other 16. Viewers were shown a full story quest playthrough titled "Mud and Death," exploration of the world (the bustling streets and detailed interiors of Albion's capital, New Bowerstone), and a combat system combining melee, ranged attacks, and magic spells. The second clip showed fights against ghosts in a mine and a boss battle. The official release is planned for February 23, 2027. The project will join the Xbox Game Pass library on day one.

The action RPG/slasher Path of Exile 2 from Grinding Gear Games finally got a release date — December 11, 2026. The game is a direct sequel to the cult-classic first entry and builds on its ideas of isometric world exploration, wiping out hordes of monsters, and deep character customization. The developers presented a flashy gameplay reel dedicated to the official debut of the Duelist class. The trailer showed off its combat system in the Colosseum in detail, focused on fast-paced melee combat, its use of swords, and the iconic "Whirlwind" ability that spins the character through crowds of enemies.

Publisher SEGA presented a new gameplay trailer for Persona 4 Revival. The developers confirmed that the game is a remake of Persona 4 Golden with a dramatically reworked visual style. The trailer showed off the updated interface, combat mechanics, and cutscenes. Renowned Japanese studio MAPPA was brought in to create the story's animated sequences, and the music was also rerecorded with a new arrangement, adding new compositions. The release date was confirmed — February 18, 2027.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=ExrAn2PP8xo

Terrible Lizards, a first-person horror platformer with parkour elements set in the early 1990s, also received a release date. The game will launch on October 29, 2026. A college student named Jordan sets out on a road trip, but his car breaks down in the middle of the New Mexico desert, right next to a roadside attraction called "Dalton's Dinosaurs." Going inside, he finds himself trapped, and a mysterious voice on the phone begs him to help save a missing child. There are no weapons in the game, and to survive in the massive underground caverns and mineshafts, the player will have to run along walls, climb, slide, and jump to escape the predatory prehistoric monsters chasing them.

Xbox also shared updates on the development of several smaller-scale projects, including:

Ubisoft held several gameplay presentations at its booth and announced content updates for already-released games. Following up on the trailer from the opening ceremony, 12 minutes of gameplay from Heroes of Might and Magic 3 Remake were shown.

The French company also presented a roadmap and release trailer for a major content season for the looter shooter Tom Clancy's The Division 2 — The Division 2: Red Horizon.

Many of the games brought to the expo weren't featured in official showcases and were instead demonstrated at individual developer booths. Here are a few of the most interesting projects we picked out.

SEGA also delighted fans of stealth horror by bringing a playable prologue of Alien: Isolation 2 to the show. It shows the story's setup: main character Blake and two colleagues set out to explore an abandoned spaceship. The crew discovers a xenomorph that survived the journey through space it was sent on by Amanda Ripley. The demo ends with a promising jump scare. The developers promise that the core gameplay of the first game will be preserved: the xenomorph still can't be killed, so players will once again have to hide and distract it. There's no release timeframe yet, not even a rough one.

Konami and developers at Evil Empire (creators of Dead Cells) brought the first playable demo of the upcoming 2D action RPG Castlevania: Belmont's Curse to the show. The developers promise to preserve the series' legacy while adding gameplay improvements. The main character, Rose Belmont, uses the legendary Vampire Killer whip not only for ranged attacks but also as a parkour tool. Rose's right hand grants access to a magic and ability system, unlocking new spells and ways to interact with the environment. In the demo, players could try out a secret-hunting mechanic, including breaking through fake walls that hide alternate paths and valuable rewards. A trailer introducing the voice cast was also shown. The game's launch is planned for October 15, 2026.

Portuguese indie studio One Way Eleven showed a trailer for Hanno: A Magical Tale at its booth — an emotional third-person adventure centered on the friendship between an orphan boy named Vimal and Hanno, a small, injured elephant in the forests of the fictional world of Ashar. The gameplay is built on the synergy between the two main characters: the elephant's magical energy flows through the boy, granting him telekinesis. At certain moments, control switches directly to Hanno, letting the characters protect one another. No release date has been announced yet.

POSTAL 2 Redux didn't take part in gamescom 2026's official presentations, but representatives of the team traveled to Cologne and met with journalists. During a VGTimes interview Flat2VR Studios director Tom Raudys showed material from the pre-alpha build and talked about the remake's development. The project was originally announced back in June 2025, and shortly before the show, its creators clarified the release window — spring 2027.

At its booth, SEGA showed 12 minutes of gameplay from Stranger Than Heaven, a prequel to the Yakuza series. The game's standout features are its coverage of five different time periods across the 20th century and an unusual combat system in which the left and right sides of the body are controlled independently. In the clip, the developers showed the visual design of locations across three of the five time periods, enemies, and street fights involving hand-to-hand combat and melee weapons. Show attendees were able to play the demo, and everyone else will be able to check out the full version on January 15, 2027.

Publisher Kalypso Media presented the first gameplay trailer for Tropico 7, the sequel in the city-building strategy series. The developers announced that the game will launch not in 2026 as previously planned, but on January 28, 2027, and will be available on Xbox Game Pass from day one. The trailer showed off real-time terraforming capabilities, curved roads and roundabouts, and a building-synergy mechanic. A deeper political "matrix," direct army control, and a new antagonist are also on the way.

On August 28, the expo's best games were honored at the gamescom Award Show.

Developers competed across 19 categories, divided into three groups — Arts (visuals, sound, and gameplay), Platform (best games by platform), and Global (best booth, merch, trailer). Winners were determined jointly by gaming journalists, industry figures, and expo visitors.

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt took home the most awards — three in total: Best Booth (jury's choice), Best Merch (pin and pendant), and Best Trailer.

The award for Best Visuals went to Metro 2039. The game led the field in nominations but won only that single award.

The award for Best Gameplay went to the developers of Onimusha: Way of the Sword.

Tides of Annihilation was named the most epic game.

Best PC Game went to Total War: Warhammer 40,000; Best PlayStation Game went to Onimusha: Way of the Sword; Best Xbox Game went to Forza Horizon 6; Best Nintendo Switch 2 Game went to Rayman Legends Retold; and Best Mobile Game went to Where Winds Meet.

The Best Portfolio award (jury's choice) went to SEGA, which brought Alien: Isolation 2, Stranger Than Heaven, Crazy Taxi: World Tour, Persona 4 Revival, and Total War: Warhammer 40,000 to the show.

You can find all the winners of the gamescom Award Show in our news recap of the show's results.

On August 30, gamescom 2026 wrapped up. Hundreds of gaming journalists, including our own team, and thousands of gamers from around the world headed home, ready to gather once again a year from now in the same place — Cologne.

But the season of announcements and presentations isn't over yet — Tokyo Game Show kicks off on September 17. The show is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year, so the lineup promises to be especially packed. We'll be sure to bring you all the highlights from Tokyo as well.