GAMESCOM 2026 — THE FINAL REPORT
The Games, Reveals, Surprises and Stories That Will Define What Comes Next
Cologne, Germany — August 30, 2026
Gamescom 2026 is over.
Five days in Cologne.
Thousands of developers, publishers, creators and fans.
Hundreds of games.
Major announcements.
World premieres.
Developer conversations.
Indie discoveries.
Awards.
Surprises.
And a huge number of questions about where the games industry goes next.
For New Format, this is the final chapter of our Gamescom 2026 coverage — bringing together the stories we followed from the opening presentations through the final hours of the event.
Gamescom officially ran from August 26 to August 30, following Opening Night Live on August 25. (gamescom)
And after everything we saw, one conclusion is difficult to avoid:
The future of gaming is already taking shape.
🎬 HOW GAMESCOM 2026 BEGAN
Before the exhibition halls opened, the gaming world was already watching Cologne.
The event began with:
Gamescom Opening Night Live
Hosted by Geoff Keighley, the show delivered a major collection of trailers, announcements, gameplay reveals and world premieres.
Among the most important games featured were:
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt — Remastered
The Witcher 3: Songs of the Past
Metro 2039
Final Fantasy VII: Revelation
Silent Hill: Townfall
Control Resonant
Tides of Annihilation
Game of Thrones: War for Westeros
Gears of War: E-Day
The Blood of Dawnwalker
Ananta
Onimusha: Way of the Sword
Crazy Taxi: World Tour
Turok: Origins
Exodus
The scale of the showcase established the tone for the week.
Gamescom was not simply looking backwards.
It was presenting a release calendar stretching deep into 2027 and beyond.
Contemporary recaps counted a particularly broad range of announcements and trailers across the two-hour show. (Game Informer)
🐺 THE WITCHER BECAME ONE OF THE STORIES OF THE SHOW
If there was one franchise that remained central to our Gamescom coverage, it was:
The Witcher
CD PROJEKT RED used Gamescom to put renewed attention on Geralt and the future of the franchise.
The biggest announcements included:
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt — Remastered
and
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt — Songs of the Past
The Remastered edition is scheduled for September 29, 2026, while Songs of the Past is planned for 2027.
But the importance of the announcement goes beyond two releases.
It creates a bridge between:
The Witcher 3
↓
The Remastered era
↓
Songs of the Past
↓
The Witcher IV
The past, present and future of The Witcher are now moving simultaneously.
🔴 CD PROJEKT RED — FIVE DAYS OF REDSTREAMS
CD PROJEKT RED also turned Gamescom into a continuous broadcast event.
The studio announced five days of REDstreams, running throughout the main Gamescom period with previews, special guests, interviews and behind-the-scenes content. (thewitcher.com)
Rather than relying on a single presentation, CD PROJEKT RED remained visible throughout the week.
The final programme ended with:
“See you next time, gamescom!”
It was the closing moment of the studio’s Gamescom programme.
But it also represented something larger.
CD PROJEKT RED leaves Cologne with the Witcher franchise positioned across several generations.
⚔️ SONGS OF THE PAST
The expansion became one of the defining Witcher stories of Gamescom.
Geralt returns for another adventure, taking players into a new part of the Continent.
The expansion introduces:
a new region
new characters
new enemies
new quests
new gameplay elements
new narrative possibilities
and a new weapon: the chain
The project is being developed with Fool’s Theory.
But perhaps the most important aspect is not the amount of content.
It is the timing.
Geralt’s story is continuing while CD PROJEKT RED simultaneously prepares the next major Witcher saga.
THE OLD ERA IS NOT OVER.
THE NEW ERA HAS ALREADY BEGUN.
🔥 CD PROJEKT RED × BLIZZARD
One of the biggest unexpected business stories of Gamescom was the new relationship between:
CD PROJEKT RED
and
Blizzard Entertainment
The partnership brings:
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt — Remastered
to:
The upcoming Songs of the Past expansion will also be available through Battle.net.
But the collaboration goes further.
The Witcher universe is also crossing into:
Diablo IV
A Geralt-inspired cosmetic has been announced as part of the Battle.net collaboration.
Thematically, it makes sense.
Both franchises are built around monsters, curses, dark fantasy and supernatural worlds.
But the most interesting part is what has not yet been revealed.
Both companies have indicated that more information will arrive at BlizzCon 2026.
So Gamescom may have shown us only the first chapter.
🚇 METRO 2039
Another game that emerged as one of Gamescom’s major winners was:
Metro 2039
The next major chapter in the Metro franchise received enormous attention throughout the event.
The game was nominated five times for the Gamescom Awards — more than any other title. (gamescom)
And it eventually won:
Best Visuals
That recognition is particularly important because Metro has always relied heavily on atmosphere.
Dark environments.
Ruined landscapes.
Underground survival.
Claustrophobic encounters.
The Gamescom presentation demonstrated that the franchise continues to evolve while maintaining its identity.
The game is currently scheduled for:
February 2027
which makes it one of the major titles carrying the Gamescom 2026 momentum into next year.
👽 ALIEN: ISOLATION 2
Another major return was:
Alien: Isolation 2
Creative Assembly’s follow-up to the acclaimed survival-horror experience was one of the most anticipated games at the event.
It also won:
Best Audio
at the Gamescom Awards. (gamescom)
That award is particularly appropriate for a franchise where sound is part of the gameplay.
The footsteps.
The machinery.
The ventilation systems.
The distant noises.
The warning signals.
The silence.
In Alien, audio is not simply atmosphere.
It is information.
And Gamescom 2026 confirmed that sound remains one of the most important weapons in the franchise’s horror formula.
⚔️ ONIMUSHA: WAY OF THE SWORD
Capcom also had one of Gamescom’s strongest award performances.
Onimusha: Way of the Sword
won:
Best Gameplay
and
Best Sony PlayStation Game.
(gamescom)
The return of Onimusha combines historical Japan with supernatural combat and demons.
Its success at Gamescom demonstrates something important:
Legacy franchises can still feel new.
A familiar name is not enough.
The gameplay has to justify the return.
Onimusha appears to have done exactly that with the Gamescom audience and jury.
🏎️ FORZA HORIZON 6
Microsoft also had a major winner.
Forza Horizon 6
won:
Best Microsoft Xbox Game
at the Gamescom Awards. (gamescom)
The Forza Horizon formula remains one of Microsoft’s strongest combinations of:
open-world exploration
racing
car culture
multiplayer
social gameplay
visual spectacle
Its Gamescom performance reinforces the strength of Microsoft’s first-party racing portfolio.
⚔️ TIDES OF ANNIHILATION
One of the most visually ambitious games of the show was:
Tides of Annihilation
The game won:
Most Epic
at the Gamescom Awards. (gamescom)
Its Arthurian-inspired fantasy setting and large-scale encounters helped it stand apart.
The game represents another trend that became obvious during Gamescom:
New IP still has the ability to compete with established franchises.
The industry may be dominated by familiar names, but Gamescom continues to provide a platform for completely new worlds.
🏆 THE GAMESCOM AWARDS 2026
The awards provided one of the clearest snapshots of what impressed the jury and audience.
Here are the major winners:
Best Visuals
Metro 2039
Best Audio
Alien: Isolation 2
Best Gameplay
Onimusha: Way of the Sword
Most Entertaining
Wanderburg
Most Epic
Tides of Annihilation
Most Wholesome
Finding Polka
Games for Impact
SOKO 1977: Anti-Terror Task Force
Best Microsoft Xbox Game
Forza Horizon 6
Best PC Game
Total War: WARHAMMER 40,000
Best Sony PlayStation Game
Onimusha: Way of the Sword
Best Nintendo Switch 2 Game
Rayman Legends Retold
Best Mobile Game
Where Winds Meet
Best Lineup
SEGA
Best Booth — Jury Award
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt — Songs of the Past
Best Booth — Consumer Award
Arknights: Endfield
Best Business Booth
Ubisoft Business Lounge
CD PROJEKT RED’s Witcher booth was therefore recognised by the jury, while the Witcher also won the fan-selected Best Trailer / Announcement and Best Merch awards. (gamescom)
🥇 THE BIGGEST WINNERS
Looking at the event as a whole, several companies clearly leave Cologne with increased momentum.
CD PROJEKT RED
The Witcher dominated its Gamescom presence.
Three Gamescom trophies were awarded to the Witcher presence, including Best Booth, Best Trailer/Announcement and Best Merch. (gamescom)
SEGA
SEGA also took three trophies:
Best Audio — Alien: Isolation 2
Best PC Game — Total War: WARHAMMER 40,000
Best Lineup
(gamescom)
CAPCOM
Capcom took two major awards with:
Onimusha: Way of the Sword
UBISOFT
Ubisoft also received two awards, including:
Rayman Legends Retold
for Best Nintendo Switch 2 Game.
🎮 THE INDIE STORY
One of the most important aspects of Gamescom 2026 was not simply the AAA announcements.
It was the enormous presence of independent developers.
The event’s indie ecosystem once again demonstrated that gaming’s future is not being created exclusively by the biggest publishers.
Games such as:
Finding Polka
Wanderburg
SOKO 1977
Denshattack!
OPUS: Prism Peak
Cairn
There Are No Ghosts at the Grand
Inkblood
showed the breadth of independent development.
The Awards also recognised several smaller projects.
That matters.
Because the next major breakout hit may not come from an established franchise.
It may come from a team that most players discovered for the first time in Cologne.
🎥 FUTURE GAMES SHOW
The Future Games Show expanded the picture even further.
More than 40 games were featured, including 13 new announcements according to coverage of the presentation. (Windows Central)
Among the notable titles were:
Worms: Galactic Tactics
Moonlighter 2: The Endless Vault
Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun 2
STAR WARS: Galactic Racer
Crimson Moon
Resonance: A Plague Tale
Tides of Annihilation
Everwind
Escape from Playtime
The show reinforced one of Gamescom’s biggest strengths:
VARIETY.
AAA.
Indie.
Strategy.
Horror.
RPG.
Action.
Simulation.
Co-op.
There was something for almost every type of player.
🧟 HORROR HAD A BIG YEAR
Horror was one of the strongest recurring themes of Gamescom 2026.
Among the biggest titles:
Alien: Isolation 2
Silent Hill: Townfall
Metro 2039
Resonance: A Plague Tale Legacy
Ontos
There Are No Ghosts at the Grand
Different approaches.
Different studios.
Different gameplay systems.
But one common trend:
Players still want to be scared.
🌌 SCI-FI AND FANTASY CONTINUE TO DOMINATE
At the same time, Gamescom demonstrated that large speculative worlds remain at the centre of AAA development.
Science fiction appeared in games such as:
Exodus
Metro 2039
Control Resonant
while fantasy remained dominant through:
The Witcher
Tides of Annihilation
Onimusha
The Blood of Dawnwalker
and many others.
This is not surprising.
Large fictional worlds give publishers something extremely valuable:
long-term franchise potential.
🎯 THE BIGGEST SURPRISES
Gamescom 2026 also reminded us that the most important announcement is not always the one with the biggest marketing budget.
Several games created significant conversation simply because they appeared stronger, stranger or more ambitious than expected.
Among the most interesting were:
Tides of Annihilation
A new IP with enormous visual ambition.
Onimusha: Way of the Sword
A classic franchise successfully returning to the spotlight.
Metro 2039
A familiar universe continuing to evolve.
Alien: Isolation 2
A highly anticipated sequel carrying the pressure of its predecessor.
The Witcher: Songs of the Past
A new Geralt story arriving more than a decade after The Witcher 3.
🧠 WHAT GAMESCOM 2026 TAUGHT US
After following the event across the week, several major trends became clear.
1. FRANCHISES ARE NOT GOING AWAY
The industry continues to invest heavily in established intellectual properties.
But the strongest projects are trying to give those franchises a new reason to exist.
2. REMASTERS ARE BECOMING STRATEGIC
The Witcher 3 demonstrates how a remaster can become part of a larger franchise strategy.
It does not simply revisit the past.
It prepares players for the future.
3. INDIES ARE MORE IMPORTANT THAN EVER
Independent developers continue to produce some of the most original ideas at major gaming events.
4. PLAYABLE GAMES MATTER
Trailers create attention.
Gameplay creates confidence.
Gamescom’s physical exhibition remains valuable precisely because players can actually experience many of these games.
5. CROSSOVERS ARE BECOMING BIGGER
The CD PROJEKT RED × Blizzard partnership is a particularly interesting example.
The Witcher is moving into Battle.net.
Geralt-inspired content is entering Diablo IV.
And more information is expected at BlizzCon.
🔮 WHAT GAMESCOM 2026 MEANS FOR 2027
This may ultimately be the most important question.
Because Gamescom 2026 was not really about 2026.
It was about:
2027.
Games such as:
Metro 2039
Songs of the Past
Exodus
Game of Thrones: War for Westeros
Turok: Origins
and many other projects are building toward the next year.
That means the industry has already started its 2027 competition.
🐺 THE WITCHER’S 2027
For CD PROJEKT RED, 2027 could become a particularly important year.
The studio is preparing:
Songs of the Past
while the larger franchise continues moving toward:
The Witcher IV
The strategy is fascinating.
Geralt’s era is being expanded.
The Witcher 3 is being modernised.
Ciri’s era is approaching.
The franchise is therefore not simply replacing one protagonist with another.
It is transitioning between generations.
🚇 METRO’S 2027
Metro 2039 is scheduled for February 2027.
After winning Best Visuals at Gamescom, expectations are now significantly higher.
The question is whether the final game can convert its visual and atmospheric strengths into a complete experience.
🕹️ 2027 WILL BE CROWDED
This is perhaps the biggest warning coming out of Cologne.
There are simply too many major games competing for attention.
Players will have:
RPGs
shooters
horror
racing
strategy
open-world adventures
indie games
multiplayer titles
remakes
remasters
expansions
The biggest challenge for publishers may therefore not be development.
It may be:
GETTING PLAYERS TO NOTICE.
📈 THE NEW BATTLE FOR ATTENTION
Gamescom 2026 demonstrated how modern game marketing has changed.
A successful campaign increasingly looks like:
Reveal
↓
Trailer
↓
Gameplay
↓
Playable demo
↓
Developer interview
↓
Community discussion
↓
Creator coverage
↓
Release
CD PROJEKT RED’s REDstreams programme was a particularly strong example of continuous communication throughout the event. (thewitcher.com)
The days of announcing a game once and disappearing for two years are becoming less effective.
🧩 RUMOURS VS REALITY
Gamescom also reminded us to separate confirmed information from speculation.
Some rumours became reality.
Others did not.
And some stories remain unresolved.
That is especially true around:
CD PROJEKT RED × Blizzard
We know the partnership exists.
We know The Witcher is coming to Battle.net.
We know Diablo IV is involved.
We know more information is expected.
But we do not yet know how far the relationship will go.
That story continues beyond Gamescom.
🎮 THE GAMESCOM EXPERIENCE
Numbers also underline the scale of the event.
According to reporting following the show, Gamescom 2026 attracted approximately 368,000 visitors, with 1,743 exhibitors and a reported 624 million digital views. That puts the event close to its historical attendance record from 2019. (DIE WELT)
Those numbers matter because Gamescom remains more than a press event.
It is:
A PUBLIC GAMING FESTIVAL.
Players actually attend.
They queue.
They play.
They meet developers.
They buy merchandise.
They watch shows.
They discover games they had never heard of.
And then they take those discoveries home.
🏙️ COLOGNE AFTER THE SHOW
Gamescom has also become part of the city itself.
The Gamescom City Festival gives the event a second life beyond Koelnmesse.
Music.
Performances.
Gaming culture.
Fans.
Cosplay.
Food.
Nightlife.
For several days, Cologne becomes one of the most important places in the global gaming calendar.
❤️ GAMES DONE QUICK
Gamescom 2026 also expanded its charitable side.
Games Done Quick received the Gamescom HEART OF GAMING Award.
The organisation has raised more than $50 million for good causes through its speedrunning events, according to gamescom. (gamescom)
Its European Gamescom event also supported:
Gaming for Democracy
demonstrating that gaming events can have a purpose beyond entertainment and commercial promotion.
🏆 OUR BIGGEST WINNERS OF GAMESCOM 2026
If we had to select the biggest stories of the entire event:
🥇 CD PROJEKT RED
For turning The Witcher into one of the central stories of Gamescom.
🥈 Metro 2039
For combining enormous anticipation with a Gamescom Award for Best Visuals.
🥉 Onimusha: Way of the Sword
For successfully returning a classic franchise and winning two major awards.
👽 Alien: Isolation 2
For proving that horror remains one of gaming’s strongest genres.
⚔️ Tides of Annihilation
For showing that new IP can still generate serious excitement.
🎮 The Indie Scene
For reminding everyone that innovation does not require a billion-dollar budget.
❌ THE BIGGEST DISAPPOINTMENT?
That is much harder to define.
Gamescom is too diverse for a single failure to represent the entire event.
Some games received more attention than expected.
Others disappeared quickly after their trailers.
And some projects simply need more time before we can judge them.
That is why our final verdict is not based solely on trailers.
The real test will come when these games release.
🔭 WHAT WE ARE WATCHING NEXT
Gamescom may be finished, but the gaming calendar is not.
The next major stories include:
BLIZZCON 2026
Especially important after the CD PROJEKT RED × Blizzard announcement.
TOKYO GAME SHOW
A major opportunity for Japanese developers and publishers to reveal their next projects.
THE GAME AWARDS 2026
Gamescom has already created several potential contenders for the year’s wider awards conversation.
2027 RELEASE SEASON
This is where today’s trailers become tomorrow’s reviews.
🎬 THE FINAL VERDICT
Gamescom 2026 was not defined by one game.
It was defined by transition.
The industry is transitioning from:
2026 → 2027
The Witcher is transitioning from:
Geralt → Ciri
The industry is transitioning from:
traditional releases → continuous ecosystems
Publishers are transitioning from:
single showcases → year-round communication
And players are becoming more demanding about:
gameplay, quality and value.
🐺 THE WITCHER LEAVES COLOGNE WITH THE PATH AHEAD
CD PROJEKT RED may have said:
“See you next time, gamescom!”
But The Witcher story is far from finished.
The Remastered edition is coming.
Songs of the Past is coming.
The Witcher IV is coming.
And now Blizzard has entered the picture.
That creates an entirely new set of possibilities.
🌍 GAMESCOM 2026 IS OVER
The halls are closing.
The booths are being dismantled.
The lights are going down.
Developers are heading home.
Fans are returning to their cities.
But the games we saw in Cologne are going with them.
Some will become major hits.
Some will become cult classics.
Some will disappoint.
Some will disappear.
And a few may become the games we remember from this generation.
That is the strange magic of Gamescom.
Nobody knows which game will matter most when the year is over.
But after five days in Cologne, we have a much better idea of where the industry is heading.
🔥 THE FINAL NEW FORMAT TAKE
Gamescom 2026 showed us an industry that is still willing to take risks — but is also increasingly dependent on established worlds.
It showed us the strength of The Witcher.
The return of Onimusha.
The future of Metro.
The revival of Alien horror.
The ambition of new IP.
The creativity of indie developers.
The importance of PC distribution.
The growing role of crossovers.
And the increasing importance of 2027.
The biggest lesson is simple:
THE FUTURE OF GAMING DOES NOT ARRIVE ON ONE NIGHT.
It is built over years.
Through ideas.
Through development.
Through communities.
Through failures.
Through unexpected partnerships.
And through moments like Gamescom.
🏁 GOODBYE, GAMESCOM 2026
From the first pre-show announcements…
to Opening Night Live…
from the biggest AAA reveals…
to the smallest indie discoveries…
from the Gamescom Awards…
to CD PROJEKT RED’s final REDstream…
we followed the event from beginning to end.
Now the coverage ends.
But the games are only beginning their journey.
GAMESCOM 2026 IS OVER.
THE ROAD TO 2027 HAS BEGUN.
And New Format will be there to follow it.
See you next Gamescom.
See you in Cologne.
And until then — keep playing.
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