Gamescom 2026: Everything Announced at Opening Night Live

The Opening Night Live of Gamescom 2026 took place on 25 August at the Koelnmesse in Cologne, with Geoff Keighley and Eefje “Sjokz” Depoortere fronting two hours of announcements — more than fifty of them — before the show floor opened to the public on the 26th.

This was an edition with a clear pattern: few blue-sky reveals years out, and a lot of firm dates. Seven significant releases now sit between September and December 2026, and the 2027 calendar is taking shape with unusual clarity for this point in the year. We start with what mattered most and then work through the rest of the show.

The headline announcements

Final Fantasy VII Revelation — closing out the trilogy

Spring 2027 · PS5, Xbox Series X, Nintendo Switch 2 and PC

Square Enix cleared up the questions around the conclusion of its trilogy with a trailer introduced by director Naoki Hamaguchi himself. After the multi-dimensional turns of Rebirth, Revelation takes a twilight tone: the meteor is coming and the planet has woken its own defences.

The footage confirmed the two remaining party members as playable. Vincent Valentine mixes ranged gunplay with a fury gauge that transforms him into creatures such as Galian Beast, swapping his whole repertoire for close-quarters attacks. Cid Highwind is built around controlling airspace with his lance, long-range leaps and deployable support gadgets.

The high point was the Weapons: Ruby, Emerald and Ultimate Weapon all turned up in large multi-phase encounters. And the Highwind stops being a fast-travel menu and becomes a pilotable vehicle over a connected world map.

One detail worth stressing, because several outlets have got it wrong: the game is not a PS5 and PC exclusive. It is also coming to Xbox Series X and Nintendo Switch 2.

Fighting Jenova in Final Fantasy VII Revelation — Jenova, with the full party squaring up to it. Ruby Weapon rising out of the sand, just like the original. And Emerald Weapon spreading its wings over a lit-up facility.

Ruby Weapon in the desert in Final Fantasy VII Revelation — Jenova, with the full party squaring up to it. Ruby Weapon rising out of the sand, just like the original. And Emerald Weapon spreading its wings over a lit-up facility.

Official trailer · FINAL FANTASY channel

The Witcher 3: Songs of the Past, and a free remaster

Remastered: 29 September 2026 · Songs of the Past: 2027

CD Projekt Red delivered the surprise of the night twice over. With the industry assuming Geralt’s story had closed with Blood and Wine, the studio announced Songs of the Past, a third narrative expansion that acts as a hinge towards The Witcher 4. The teaser showed a new region, Letten, rural and outwardly peaceful folklore with something very ugly underneath, and a Geralt facing creatures that appear in no known bestiary.

The second announcement is the one that affects most people right away. On 29 September, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt — Remastered arrives as a free update for anyone who already owns the game, on PS5, Xbox Series X|S, PC and with a native Nintendo Switch 2 version. It brings rebuilt lighting, performance work, Xbox Play Anywhere support and FSR 4.0, and it also lands on Battle.net through a deal between CD Projekt Red and Blizzard that few saw coming.

And the detail that made the most noise is not waiting until September: Hearts of Stone and Blood and Wine became free on the day of the announcement for anyone who owns the base game, even if they never bought the DLC. Geoff Keighley dropped it on stage.

Songs of the Past will be paid and is coming to PC, PS5, Xbox Series X|S and Switch 2. Geralt gets a new weapon — a chain — and development is shared between CD Projekt Red and Fool’s Theory, a Polish studio whose leadership came out of The Witcher 3 itself; the remaster is handled by Yigsoft, who already worked on the Complete Edition. Buying the expansion on Battle.net also gets you a Geralt skin in Diablo 4.

The region of Letten in The Witcher 3: Songs of the Past — Letten: cypresses, olive groves and a castle in the distance. The calm the expansion promises. And what it hides: Geralt walking into the fog, both swords on his back. At the end of the road, a winged beast on the hillside and a body already in the grass.

Geralt in the fog in The Witcher 3: Songs of the Past — Letten: cypresses, olive groves and a castle in the distance. The calm the expansion promises. And what it hides: Geralt walking into the fog, both swords on his back. At the end of the road, a winged beast on the hillside and a body already in the grass.

Official trailer · The Witcher channel

Gears of War: E-Day — back to the horror and the mud

6 October 2026 · Xbox Series X|S and PC (Steam) · day one on Game Pass

The Coalition made it clear that E-Day is not another outing in escalating action but a calculated return to the oppressive atmosphere of the 2006 original. The story follows a young Marcus Fenix and Dom Santiago through the first twenty-four hours of Emergence Day, fourteen years before the first Gears.

The real-time demo got one idea across: vulnerability. A single Locust Drone is a genuine threat, cover breaks apart according to the calibre hitting it, and close-quarters clashes with chainsaw and bayonet resolve through physical struggles that carry the weight of every hit.

Premium and collector’s editions get in five days early, on 1 October.

Marcus Fenix in Gears of War: E-Day — Marcus Fenix fourteen years before the first *Gears*, armour already caked in blood. The scale of what comes up from underground, opening fire on a burning city. And the other side of Emergence Day: cover, Lancer and the blaze at your back.

A Locust creature attacking in Gears of War: E-Day — Marcus Fenix fourteen years before the first *Gears*, armour already caked in blood. The scale of what comes up from underground, opening fire on a burning city. And the other side of Emergence Day: cover, Lancer and the blaze at your back.

Official trailer · Gears of War channel

Control Resonant — Remedy heads to Manhattan

24 September 2026 · PS5, Xbox Series X|S, PC (Steam and Epic) and Mac

Remedy showed the Altered State trailer for Control Resonant, co-produced and co-financed with Annapurna Pictures. The series opens out here into a looser action-RPG structure, set in a Manhattan warped by the paranatural.

The protagonist is Dylan Faden, deployed by the Federal Bureau of Control in the middle of a cosmic crisis, armed with a shifting melee weapon called the Aberrant. Alongside Silent Hill: Townfall, it is one of two major horror releases landing on exactly the same day.

A federal agent beneath Jesse Faden's portrait in Control Resonant — An agent with a bag over his head, sitting under Jesse Faden’s official portrait. Remedy is still Remedy. Dylan Faden lifting an enemy off the tarmac, energy running up his arms. And the warped Manhattan that replaces the Oldest House: rooftops, graffiti and fog.

Dylan Faden levitating an enemy in Control Resonant — An agent with a bag over his head, sitting under Jesse Faden’s official portrait. Remedy is still Remedy. Dylan Faden lifting an enemy off the tarmac, energy running up his arms. And the warped Manhattan that replaces the Oldest House: rooftops, graffiti and fog.

Official trailer · Remedy Entertainment channel

Metro 2039 — back to the tunnels, with a twist

February 2027 · PC, PS5 and Xbox Series X|S

After the open-sky odyssey of Exodus, 4A Games returns to the underground maze of Moscow. You play The Stranger, a Spartan who had been living in exile outside the Metro, and the trailer showed weapon customisation, new creatures and occupied stations.

The real headline, though, is narrative: the factions have unified under the Novoreich, and its new Führer turns out to be Hunter, the legendary Spartan from Metro 2033. It is the kind of reveal that reorders how you read the whole series.

The game had a playable demo in hall 9.1 from 27 to 30 August, and its collector’s edition includes a wearable Spartan helmet.

An occupied station in the Moscow metro in Metro 2039 — A station turned into a marketplace, the «Arsenal» sign overhead and the brazier lit. The Novoreich leaflet puts it plainly: «Great Hunter guides you». And a trip to the surface: crossfire between ruined blocks, the watch counting down what’s left of the filter.

A Novoreich propaganda leaflet in Metro 2039 — A station turned into a marketplace, the «Arsenal» sign overhead and the brazier lit. The Novoreich leaflet puts it plainly: «Great Hunter guides you». And a trip to the surface: crossfire between ruined blocks, the watch counting down what’s left of the filter.

Official trailer · 4A Games channel

Silent Hill: Townfall — Scottish fog, in first person

24 September 2026 · PS5 and PC (Steam and Epic)

Townfall breaks with the series’ conventions and moves the nightmare to St. Jude’s Anchorage, a remote fishing village on the Scottish coast battered by storms and by an anomalous oil slick.

It comes from Screen Burn, the studio formerly known as No Code (Stories Untold, Observation), and it shows in the design: first person with visibility hemmed in by fog and kerosene lamps, plus a radio set for tuning VHF frequencies to intercept messages, solve wave puzzles and pick up how close whatever is out there has got. On console it comes to PS5 first, with at least six months of exclusivity.

A gate covered in banners and photographs of the victims in Silent Hill: Townfall — The village gate, covered in banners and photographs: «C&G widows demand justice», «a crime against our community». One of the villagers still left in St. Jude’s Anchorage. And the harbour in the fog, lobster pots stacked up and something waiting at the end of it.

One of the remaining residents of St. Jude's Anchorage in Silent Hill: Townfall — The village gate, covered in banners and photographs: «C&G widows demand justice», «a crime against our community». One of the villagers still left in St. Jude’s Anchorage. And the harbour in the fog, lobster pots stacked up and something waiting at the end of it.

Official trailer · SILENT HILL channel

Nodus Fall — HoYoverse drops the anime

No date or platforms announced

The studio behind Genshin Impact and Honkai: Star Rail left the room off balance with Nodus Fall, a dark fantasy production with realistic art direction that abandons its usual look entirely. You play a weaver in a world where divine authority has collapsed.

The design borrows from soulslikes in its combat and from Monster Hunter in the co-operative hunting of colossal creatures, with a class system and a party of four. It runs on Unreal Engine 5 rather than the Unity HoYoverse uses elsewhere, which says a good deal about the ambition here.

Worth knowing so you are not disappointed: no date and no platforms were announced. Any list already assigning it consoles is making that up.

A colossal creature in a valley in Nodus Fall — Not a trace of anime: a colossal creature lying in the valley, ruins behind it. Scale as the whole argument: a warrior with a greatsword, and something three times his size in front of him. And the combat: a spectral figure bringing an axe down on a cornered beast.

A warrior facing a colossus in Nodus Fall — Not a trace of anime: a colossal creature lying in the valley, ruins behind it. Scale as the whole argument: a warrior with a greatsword, and something three times his size in front of him. And the combat: a spectral figure bringing an axe down on a cornered beast.

Official trailer · Nodusfall channel

Exodus — relativity as a mechanic

7 April 2027 · PS5, Xbox Series X|S and PC

Archetype Entertainment’s project, led by BioWare veterans James Ohlen and Drew Karpyshyn, rests on an unusual idea: time dilation. Travelling near light speed means days pass for the protagonist while decades pass on his home planet, and decisions get judged when you come back and there is nobody left to explain them to.

The trailer focused on Salt, one of the companions: an “awakened” octopus with human-level intelligence and a translator chip, piloting a mech suit. The Mass Effect comparison the game has carried from the start is one the studio has stopped dodging.

An alien figure backlit in Exodus — The threat, backlit and not quite showing its face. The squad entering an alien megastructure: this is where the relics you travel for are kept. And the price of the journey: zero gravity, drifting debris and a planet below.

A squad before an alien megastructure in Exodus — The threat, backlit and not quite showing its face. The squad entering an alien megastructure: this is where the relics you travel for are kept. And the price of the journey: zero gravity, drifting debris and a planet below.

Exodus — Official trailer · **EXODUS** channel — opens on YouTube: the video is age-restricted and cannot play here

Ananta — a free-to-play urban open world

15 January 2027 · PC (own client and Steam), PS5 and mobile

NetEase and Naked Rain’s former Project Mugen finally has a date. Ananta is a free-to-play urban open world in which you play an internet figure in a city run by algorithms, across two explorable urban areas: Nova City and Lingyun City.

The framing is the interesting part: instead of a classic hero, the game turns public exposure into a mechanic, and the everyday life of each city — each with its own activities — into the main content. It launches simultaneously on PC, console and mobile, with no entry cost.

Characters on Nova City public transport in Ananta — Everyday life as content: the commute by public transport, the Novabank sign in the background. And the open city underneath it, drivable end to end. With moments built to be filmed, which is exactly what the game is about.

An open city avenue in Ananta — Everyday life as content: the commute by public transport, the Novabank sign in the background. And the open city underneath it, drivable end to end. With moments built to be filmed, which is exactly what the game is about.

Official trailer · PlayStation channel

The rest of the show

Action, horror and adventure

Onimusha: Way of the Sword

4 September 2026 · PS5, Xbox Series X|S, Switch 2 and PC

The first new game in the series in more than twenty years. Capcom places Miyamoto Musashi in an Edo-era Kyoto corrupted by Malice, with katana duels, Issen counters and Japanese dark fantasy throughout. The date moved forward three weeks from the original 25 September.

During the show the playable demo was expanded with a second mission set in the Oni Shelter, new mechanics and a fight against the colossus Daidara. It is available on PS5, Xbox Series X|S, Switch 2, Steam, Epic and the Microsoft Store.

Two Genma on a mound of eyes in Onimusha: Way of the Sword — Two Genma on a mound of eyes. A man in patched clothes under the eaves. Red hair, black-and-gold armour, a lit orb.

A man in patched clothes under the eaves of a roof in Onimusha: Way of the Sword — Two Genma on a mound of eyes. A man in patched clothes under the eaves. Red hair, black-and-gold armour, a lit orb.

Official trailer · Capcom channel

Resonance: A Plague Tale Legacy

27 August 2026 · PS5, Xbox Series X|S and PC

Asobo trades the defenceless stealth of the previous games for direct combat. You play Sophia, and the pitch is precise parries and chained combos with dagger and sword.

The grappling hook is not just about mobility: it pulls enemies in or throws them into environmental hazards. And a Minoan orb that manipulates light keeps the puzzle weight alive, opening routes through ruins and uncovering the island’s history.

A wounded Sophia in Resonance: A Plague Tale Legacy — Sophia, wounded, looking up. A cove with a beached boat and an entrance cut into the rock. A pale face in the gloom.

A Mediterranean cove with a beached boat in Resonance: A Plague Tale Legacy — Sophia, wounded, looking up. A cove with a beached boat and an entrance cut into the rock. A pale face in the gloom.

Official trailer · Focus Entertainment channel

Ontos

2026 · PC, PS5 and Xbox Series X|S · Frictional Games

The team behind Amnesia and SOMA presented what they themselves call the spiritual successor to the latter. It takes place in Samsara, a lunar base built as a luxury hotel on top of a failed mining operation, now abandoned and full of half-finished experiments.

You play Aditi Amani, who arrives following the trail of her dead father: a genius turned cult leader whose disappearance has set off a civil war among his followers. Stellan Skarsgård voices the hotel’s owner.

The system is built around what the studio calls Experiments: narrative puzzles with moral choices that change not only their own outcome but the rest of the story.

A farewell at the airlock with Earth behind in Ontos — A goodbye through the glass, Earth behind and the name Samsara on the hull. A head strapped to a rig, cables running out of the neck. And a figure tangled in cables, suspended in a violet corridor.

A head wired into a life-support rig in Ontos — A goodbye through the glass, Earth behind and the name Samsara on the hull. A head strapped to a rig, cables running out of the neck. And a figure tangled in cables, suspended in a violet corridor.

Official trailer · Frictional Games channel

Valor Mortis

13 October 2026 · PS5, Xbox Series X|S and PC · One More Level

The team behind Ghostrunner brings its speed to a first-person soulslike set in the Napoleonic era. In this alternate nineteenth-century Europe, a plague sweeps the continent in the wake of Bonaparte’s conquests and turns his own soldiers into masses of dead flesh.

You play William, a resurrected soldier. The main weapon is the rapier, which rewards well-timed parries and precise dodges, and traversal combines a grappling hook with wall-running. The environments are structured along metroidvania lines.

An officer with an opened torso and a glowing core in Valor Mortis — A soldier in a blue coat, in profile. An officer with his torso opened up and an ember where his chest should be. And a skeletal colossus in a golden headdress, out in the sand.

Official trailer · Lyrical Games channel

Turok: Origins

Spring 2027 · PS5, Xbox Series X|S, Switch 2 and PC · Saber Interactive

The series is back, but not to the prehistoric jungle you would expect. You control a futuristic warrior fighting hostile wildlife and the Xenia, a race of reptilian aliens, hopping between several planets.

There are three classes — Cougar, Bison and Raven — each with its own arsenal: the Bison raises protective barriers, the Raven throws fireballs. You can play in first or third person, your choice, and it supports three-player co-op, with difficulty scaled to whether you go alone or with company.

A night battle with blue energy barriers in Turok: Origins — A night battle among the rocks, with blue energy barriers. Close-up of one of the playable classes, in war paint. And an armoured dinosaur coming down the slope.

Close-up of a warrior in war paint in Turok: Origins — A night battle among the rocks, with blue energy barriers. Close-up of one of the playable classes, in war paint. And an armoured dinosaur coming down the slope.

Official trailer · IGN channel

No Law

2027 · PS5, Xbox Series X|S and PC · Neon Giant / KRAFTON

The makers of The Ascent leave the isometric view behind for a story-heavy first-person cyber-noir shooter. It all takes place in Port Desire, a port city built on neon and a shortage of regulation.

You play Grey Harker, a veteran who hangs up the uniform after injuries that nearly killed him. The most interesting idea they showed is light: you can shoot out a street’s lighting to plunge it into darkness, and enemies react to changes in light, shadow and sound. The studio is about twenty veterans working to one rule — density over scale.

Two armoured officers on a neon-lit street in No Law — Two armoured officers under a neon sign. A bar in Port Desire. And a robot in the middle of the street, in broad daylight.

The interior of a green-lit bar in No Law — Two armoured officers under a neon sign. A bar in Port Desire. And a robot in the middle of the street, in broad daylight.

Official trailer · NO LAW channel

Tides of Annihilation

No date · PS5, Xbox Series X|S and pc (Steam and Epic) · Eclipse Glow Games

Action-adventure set in a devastated present-day London, with Arthurian legend as its backbone. The protagonist is Gwendolyn — voiced by Angela San Albano, the Grace Ashcroft of Resident Evil Requiem — and the show’s trailer, Beneath the Veil, centred on her meeting with Guinevere.

The idea holding the game together is the Fog: not just atmosphere but the power you have to learn to wield in order to save London and Avalon at once. And fighting alongside Gwendolyn are the Knights of the Round Table, summonable as spectres who join the battle in real time.

It was playable for the first time at the show. No release date has been announced.

Official trailer · Tides of Annihilation channel

DUST: Origins

No date · pc · Airship Syndicate

The studio founded by part of the Darksiders team — and behind Battle Chasers and Ruined King — showed its darkest project yet: an isometric horror shooter aboard Limbo-6, an orbital prison platform that is already doomed.

The trailer introduced an unnamed prisoner loose in the facility once containment stops working. The top-down perspective is what stands out: horror here isn’t built on what lunges into frame, but on what you can see coming from above and still can’t get out of the way of.

It can be wishlisted on Steam, and the project also has a Kickstarter campaign.

Official trailer · Airship Syndicate channel

Zoopunk

No date · PS5, Xbox Series X|S and pc · TiGames

Third-person action-RPG set in the Animal Punk universe, the same one as F.I.S.T.: Forged In Shadow Torch. And it isn’t a sequel: it’s a prequel set decades earlier, telling the turbulent origins of Torch City.

The look mixes dieselpunk with Eastern-inflected fantasy, and the trailer introduced three playable heroes with distinct combat styles while teasing an unidentified fourth character. It also showed the first bosses.

Platforms were announced; a date was not.

Official trailer · IGN channel

Gravhounds

Early access: 2 November 2026 · pc and Xbox Series X|S · day one in Game Pass · Octopus Panic

The debut of a studio with a track record: it was founded by people out of DICE and 343 Industries, and is led by Josh Holmes, creative director of Halo 4. You play bioengineered dogs, and it supports up to four players.

The structure is extraction with a twist: you drop onto a hostile planet as a pack, build and defend a base with turrets, generators and pipeline networks, and have to get out with as much loot as you can carry before the alien swarm overwhelms you. All of it running on physics and anti-gravity, which is where the chaos comes from.

Official trailer · GameTrailers channel

Strategy, tactical RPGs and persistent worlds

Heroes of Might & Magic 3 Remake

2027 · Ubisoft

The most unexpected announcement for long-time players. Ubisoft is rebuilding the turn-based strategy classic from scratch on the Snowdrop engine, replacing the two-dimensional isometric view with a 3D environment and a free camera, 4K resolution, dynamic lighting, weather and seasons.

The fundamentals are intact: hero development, recruitment, exploration and turn-based battles on a grid. It includes the base game campaigns plus Armageddon’s Blade and Shadow of Death, nine factions, and local and online multiplayer for up to eight players.

A 3D adventure map with a lava border in Heroes of Might and Magic 3 Remake — The adventure map, now in 3D, with the lava border on the right. An angel against an efreeti. And a snowbound town, airship included.

An angel charging an efreeti in Heroes of Might and Magic 3 Remake — The adventure map, now in 3D, with the lava border on the right. An angel against an efreeti. And a snowbound town, airship included.

Official trailer · Ubisoft channel

Path of Exile 2 — version 1.0

11 December 2026 · PS5, Xbox Series X|S and PC

The ARPG finally leaves early access after two years, and does so by going free-to-play. Version 1.0 adds the remaining acts of the campaign — not one of them, all of them — and a new class, the Duelist, built around melee swordplay.

A swordsman facing an armoured brute in a ruined amphitheatre in Path of Exile 2 — A swordsman facing an armoured brute in a ruined amphitheatre. The swordsman unleashing an ice attack. And the undead in a red chamber full of treasure.

The swordsman unleashing an ice attack in Path of Exile 2 — A swordsman facing an armoured brute in a ruined amphitheatre. The swordsman unleashing an ice attack. And the undead in a red chamber full of treasure.

Official trailer · GameSpot channel

Aion 2

5 October 2026 · PC (Steam and PURPLE) · NCSoft

NC’s classic MMORPG returns for the Americas, Europe and Asia, free and running on Unreal Engine 5. What sets it apart is still flight, but here it is not a way of getting around: it is the design’s backbone. You fly across the world, fight in the air and dive underwater, so height counts as much in exploration as it does in combat.

The world is seamless and covers roughly 1,200 km², thirty-six times the original. There are eight classes — sorcerer, chanter, elementalist, ranger, templar, assassin, cleric and gladiator — split across the usual trinity, and more than two hundred dungeons for one, five and ten players.

Before launch there is a load test on 17 and 18 September, and Founder’s Pack holders get early access from 30 September to 4 October. NC also used the show to present Cinder City and Like or Die.

A night landscape with a natural stone arch over water in Aion 2 — A night landscape under a stone arch. Pavilions and red trees, with a beached boat. And a huge boss standing over a pool of blood.

Pavilions and red trees beside a beached boat in Aion 2 — A night landscape under a stone arch. Pavilions and red trees, with a beached boat. And a huge boss standing over a pool of blood.

Official trailer · AION 2 Official channel

Rainbow Six Tactics

2027 · PS5, Xbox Series X|S and PC · Ubisoft

An XCOM-style turn-based turn inside the Siege universe. You play Six, in command of Rainbow, leading squads of up to four operators chosen from a roster of fifteen familiar faces, with the same gadgets and destructible environments.

Maps are handcrafted and objectives vary: defuse a bomb, extract a VIP, rescue hostages. Its own idea is breach planning: you queue up co-ordinated actions across the whole squad and execute them at once, as a single synchronised assault. And one detail Ubisoft underlined: it is strictly single-player, with no store and no live service.

A turn-based warehouse mission with the squad down the side in Rainbow Six Tactics — The turn-based board, squad down the side. A firefight inside the warehouse. And the briefing room, world map behind them.

A firefight inside a warehouse in Rainbow Six Tactics — The turn-based board, squad down the side. A firefight inside the warehouse. And the briefing room, world map behind them.

Official trailer · Rainbow Six channel

Game of Thrones: War for Westeros

Early 2027 · PC · PlaySide Studios

Classic real-time strategy, the kind where you conquer the Seven Kingdoms. You pick from four factions: Stark, Lannister, Targaryen and the White Walkers. There is a single-player campaign and skirmishes against other players.

Each house fields its heroes — the trailer features Jon Snow, Jaime and Tywin Lannister, Daenerys, Robb Stark and the Night King — and its heavy pieces: dragons, giants, direwolves, elephants and wildfire, which are the tools for breaking a line. It is PC only, and a playtest is coming at some point in 2026.

Jaime Lannister leading the Lannister army in Game of Thrones: War for Westeros — Jaime Lannister at the head of his army. Lannister against Stark in the open field, wildfire on the left. And Daenerys with Drogon.

A battle between Lannister and Stark forces in the open field in Game of Thrones: War for Westeros — Jaime Lannister at the head of his army. Lannister against Stark in the open field, wildfire on the left. And Daenerys with Drogon.

Official trailer · Game of Thrones: War for Westeros channel

Sea of Remnants

2027 · PS5, Xbox Series X|S, PC, iOS and Android · Joker Studio / NetEase

A free-to-play open-world pirate action RPG with a stranger premise than it lets on: you play a puppetfolk sailor who has lost his memory and sails alongside a mysterious girl trying to work out who he was.

There is fleet customisation, naval combat and more than three hundred recruitable companions, plus a pirate city, Orbtopia, that changes according to your choices. The show trailer turned on exactly that question: why a voyager with no memory keeps returning to the same ocean. A closed beta runs in December 2026 ahead of launch.

Coastal cliffs seen from the air with a ship sailing in Sea of Remnants — The coast from the air, the ship heading for land. The ship at sunset; on the right, the *preserve memory* prompt. And a sea monster above a tiny figure.

A red-sailed ship at sunset in Sea of Remnants — The coast from the air, the ship heading for land. The ship at sunset; on the right, the *preserve memory* prompt. And a sea monster above a tiny figure.

Official trailer · IGN channel

Indies, rhythm and auteur comedy

Mewgenics

8 September 2026 · PS5, Xbox Series X|S and Switch 2 · Edmund McMillen and Tyler Glaiel

Edmund McMillen’s feline-genetics tactical RPG finally confirms its move to consoles. It has been on PC since 10 February and settled the argument there: more than a million copies in its first week.

The loop is odd and addictive in equal measure: you breed cats that inherit classes and traits, send them out on expeditions and fight turn-based battles on grids generated on the fly, with chains that reward thinking three moves ahead. Back from each run you breed again and tinker with the litter’s genetics. There are more than two hundred enemies and nine hundred items, and the black humour you would expect from the creator of The Binding of Isaac.

An enormous cat sitting on a path surrounded by critters in Mewgenics — An enormous cat sitting in the middle of the path. The trophy room. And the whole litter, lined up outside the caravan.

A room full of trophies and rosettes with a white cat in Mewgenics — An enormous cat sitting in the middle of the path. The trophy room. And the whole litter, lined up outside the caravan.

Official trailer · Niche Gamer channel

Pony Island 2: Panda Circus

27 April 2027 · PC · Daniel Mullins

The creator of Inscryption is back on form, and the premise does not mess about: you were a young nomad who would have conquered the world, but an early death condemned you to The Earth Prison. Now you have to escape the lordly deities of the underworld with your soul — and your sanity — intact.

He describes it as a voyage through time, myth, divinity and video games, which in practice means hopping from arcade cabinet to arcade cabinet, each with its own rules and its own look. Compared with the first game it adds 3D hub navigation, JRPG sections and full-motion video with a real cast — Sungwon Cho, Arian Moayed, Caitlin Reilly and Kevin Saxby.

A hand holding a runic relic in front of a stone tower in Pony Island 2: Panda Circus — A runic relic, in first person. A lit shrine in the forest, at night. And a stretch in pixels, map in the corner.

A lit shrine at the top of a stairway in a night forest in Pony Island 2: Panda Circus — A runic relic, in first person. A lit shrine in the forest, at night. And a stretch in pixels, map in the corner.

Official trailer · Daniel Mullins Games channel

There Are No Ghosts at the Grand

Early access December 2026 · PC and Xbox Series X|S · Friday Sundae

You play Chris David, a young American who inherits a crumbling hotel from a father he never knew, in a fictional British seaside town called Kingswood-on-Sea. He has thirty days and thirty nights to get it back on its feet.

And that is where the hook is, because the game splits in two. By day you restore the hotel with cleaning and building tools — paint sprayers, furniture cannons; by night those same tools become weapons against whatever is haunting the place. In between you piece together the history of the hotel and the town. It arrives first in early access on PC and later in full on Xbox Series as well.

A leaf blower used on a seaside crazy golf course in There Are No Ghosts at the Grand — The leaf blower, on a crazy golf course by the sea. The investigation board, every odd thing about the hotel strung together. And four silhouettes floating with their eyes lit up.

An investigation board with photographs joined by red string in There Are No Ghosts at the Grand — The leaf blower, on a crazy golf course by the sea. The investigation board, every odd thing about the hotel strung together. And four silhouettes floating with their eyes lit up.

Official trailer · IGN channel

Stage Tour

10 December 2026 · RedOctane Games

The plastic-instrument rhythm genre is back, and not from just anyone: this is RedOctane, the house that made the original Guitar Hero. It arrives with more than ninety licensed songs spanning six decades — the Rolling Stones, Metallica, Radiohead, The Cure, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Mötley Crüe, Paramore, Olivia Rodrigo.

You can play with a plastic guitar or a normal controller, and it supports up to four players locally combining guitars, drums, microphone, gamepads and keyboard. There are also more than a hundred and eighty guitars reproduced under licence from Gibson, Epiphone and Kramer, over fifty bandmates, and official peripherals made by CRKD.

A guitarist playing alone on a dark stage in Stage Tour — The guitarist, alone on stage. The note highway, with the band playing in a gothic hall. And a stage built out of shipping containers.

The note highway with the band playing in a gothic hall in Stage Tour — The guitarist, alone on stage. The note highway, with the band playing in a gothic hall. And a stage built out of shipping containers.

Official trailer · Stage Tour channel

Lofsöng

No date · pc, PS5 and Xbox Series X|S · Unrelated Studio

The oddity of the night, and one of the ones that sticks. It’s a puzzle-exploration adventure across a post-apocalyptic Earth in search of the last remnants of civilisation, and it does it without a single word: no dialogue, no text, no map.

Its creative director sums it up by saying sound is the only language left, and that is the whole design: finding your way and working out what happened depends on your ear, not on anyone telling you. It comes from Unrelated Studio of Turin, self-publishing, and Alessandro Durando presented it on stage.

Official trailer · GamersPrey channel

Arcade, management and catalogue updates

Crazy Taxi: World Tour

2027 · PS5, Xbox Series X|S, Switch 2 and PC · SEGA

What SEGA showed at the gala was the multiplayer, which is the big change from the original: four taxis at once on the same map, picking up fares and pulling stunts, through streets clearly modelled on San Francisco.

Two modes have been announced so far, Pickup Race and Cops n Cabbies, and you can try them early: the closed network test starts on 11 September 2026. The old formula is intact, and that is precisely the appeal.

A yellow taxi drifting with its wheels burning green in Crazy Taxi: World Tour — A drift with the wheels burning green. The seafront, with several taxis at once. And the driver, pointing straight at camera.

Several taxis along a seaside promenade with a suspension bridge behind in Crazy Taxi: World Tour — A drift with the wheels burning green. The seafront, with several taxis at once. And the driver, pointing straight at camera.

Official trailer · SEGA channel

RollerCoaster Tycoon Wonderworks

Steam early access this winter · consoles later · Atari and Springloaded

A return to theme park management with more than sixty rides, coasters and shops, over a hundred and fifty scenery pieces and a new coaster builder designed for laying out and fine-tuning tracks without fighting the grid.

The most striking part, though, is the physics engine: rides can break apart and send guests flying. Early access starts with two parks, Hollow Creek and Forest Frontiers, with water and water rides, weather effects and background progression arriving along the way.

A theme park lit up at night with a coaster loop in RollerCoaster Tycoon Wonderworks — The park at night, loop lit up. The management interface, park half built. And the pirate ship, packed.

The management interface over a half-built park in RollerCoaster Tycoon Wonderworks — The park at night, loop lit up. The management interface, park half built. And the pirate ship, packed.

Official trailer · Atari / RollerCoaster Tycoon channel

Rayman Legends Retold

1 October 2026 · PS5, Xbox Series X|S, Switch 2 and pc · Ubisoft

This isn’t a remaster: it’s a rebuild of 2013’s Rayman Legends by Ubisoft Milan and Ubisoft Montpellier, keeping the side-scrolling platforming and redoing the entire presentation in 3D on the Snowdrop engine — the same one behind the Heroes 3 remake announced that same night.

What it showed at the gala was a musical level, Macarena, which is exactly the terrain where the series always won. It also brings new story twists, a brand-new realm and Kung Foot, and the standard edition includes Rayman Origins: Enhanced Edition at no extra cost.

Official trailer · Ubisoft channel

Mega Man: Dual Override

2027 · PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, Switch, Switch 2 and pc

The twelfth entry in the classic series — the first since Mega Man 11, from 2018 — finally showed itself in motion. Capcom saved its best card for the show: Proto Man is playable, with his own abilities and combat style, turning the adventure into two distinct runs.

The system the game is named after is the Override: you can push a robot’s power past its limit for a few seconds, but when the boost ends a brief performance penalty follows. Which is to say it isn’t a power-up that stacks, but a decision about when to spend it. It’s rounded out by Custom Chips: rapid fire, a shield bubble and a hover ability, among others.

Official trailer · Mega Man channel

Crimson Desert: Enhanced Edition

Enhancement update · available now · Pearl Abyss

This is not a new game or a paid re-release: it is a free update that adds new cutscenes and dialogue, expanding the story of the continent of Pywel and its protagonist, Kliff.

It also adds voice acting in Japanese, French, German, Spanish and Brazilian Portuguese, along with Arabic subtitles and interface.

An aerial battle between winged creatures over a castle in Crimson Desert — An aerial battle over a castle. Two men by the fire, in the snow. And an armoured figure on top of a snowy ridge.

Two men talking beside a fire in the snow in Crimson Desert — An aerial battle over a castle. Two men by the fire, in the snow. And an armoured figure on top of a snowy ridge.

Official trailer · Crimson Desert channel

Warlock: Dungeons & Dragons

2027 · PC, PS5 and Xbox Series · Invoke Studios / Wizards of the Coast

A third-person, single-player action adventure in a dark fantasy open world inside the Dungeons & Dragons universe. You play Kaatri, a veteran warrior who seals a pact to wield magic from another plane, voiced by Tricia Helfer.

The reveal of the show was her patron: Tasha, played by Maggie Robertson, who teaches Kaatri to perceive raw magic scattered across the realm of Darkon and to transform it. That is the spine of the magic system: not just casting recognisable tabletop spells in combat, but using them to solve environmental puzzles and open routes.

The eight minutes of gameplay shown included a fight against a beholder, which for anyone who has played the tabletop version is about as clear a calling card as you can get.

The pact sigil in Warlock: Dungeons & Dragons — The pact sigil burning in her palm: the source of everything Kaatri can do. A beholder and its eye rays inside a ruined cathedral. Kaatri out in the open, arm runes lit and the skeleton of some creature behind her.

Fighting a beholder in Warlock: Dungeons & Dragons — The pact sigil burning in her palm: the source of everything Kaatri can do. A beholder and its eye rays inside a ruined cathedral. Kaatri out in the open, arm runes lit and the skeleton of some creature behind her.

Official trailer · GameSpot channel

Hitman: World of Assassination — Snoop Dogg as an Elusive Target

Not a new game: free content for an existing title · from 27 August 2026

Worth clearing up, because several round-ups have it mixed in with the launch announcements: there is no new game here. What IO Interactive presented is a free addition to Hitman: World of Assassination, which has been on the market for years.

It is Elusive Target number 39, titled The Herbalist, with rapper Snoop Dogg as the mark. Elusive Targets are limited-window missions with a rule that sets them apart from the rest of the game: you get one attempt, with no reloading, and if Agent 47 dies or the target escapes, that chance is gone for good.

The mission plays out on a reworked version of Haven Island, the map that originally arrived as Hitman 2 downloadable content. It is live from 27 August and stays up for a month.

Agent 47 in a baseball cap in Hitman: World of Assassination — 47 goes in without the suit: cap and dark shirt instead of the usual uniform. Snoop Dogg plays The Herbalist, the series’ thirty-ninth target. And with the security disguise on, already inside the party.

Snoop Dogg as the target in Hitman: World of Assassination — 47 goes in without the suit: cap and dark shirt instead of the usual uniform. Snoop Dogg plays The Herbalist, the series’ thirty-ninth target. And with the security disguise on, already inside the party.

Official trailer · HITMAN channel

Worms: Galactic Tactics

2027 · PC and Switch 2

Team17 moves its destructive formula into the low gravity of outer space, which completely rewrites the trajectory maths the series has run on for three decades.

The weapons room in Worms: Galactic Tactics — The same old arsenal — bat, holy hand grenade, sheep — now in an orbital armoury. A coliseum suspended over lava, complete with stands and replay screens. Floating stages seen from above: low gravity changes every trajectory.

An arena above lava in Worms: Galactic Tactics — The same old arsenal — bat, holy hand grenade, sheep — now in an orbital armoury. A coliseum suspended over lava, complete with stands and replay screens. Floating stages seen from above: low gravity changes every trajectory.

Official trailer · Team17 channel

The confirmed calendar

Date	Game	Platforms
27 Aug 2026	Resonance: A Plague Tale Legacy	PS5, Xbox Series X\|S, PC
4 Sep 2026	Onimusha: Way of the Sword	PS5, Xbox Series X\|S, Switch 2, PC
8 Sep 2026	Mewgenics	PS5, Xbox Series, Switch 2, PC
24 Sep 2026	Control Resonant	PS5, Xbox Series X\|S, PC, Mac
24 Sep 2026	Silent Hill: Townfall	PS5, PC
29 Sep 2026	The Witcher 3 — Remastered	PS5, Xbox Series X\|S, Switch 2, PC
1 Oct 2026	Rayman Legends Retold	PS5, Xbox Series X\|S, Switch 2, pc
5 Oct 2026	Aion 2	PC
6 Oct 2026	Gears of War: E-Day	Xbox Series X\|S, PC
13 Oct 2026	Valor Mortis	PC, consoles
2 Nov 2026	Gravhounds (early access)	pc, Xbox Series X\|S
10 Dec 2026	Stage Tour	Consoles and PC
11 Dec 2026	Path of Exile 2 (1.0)	PS5, Xbox Series X\|S, PC
15 Jan 2027	Ananta	PC, PS5, mobile
Feb 2027	Metro 2039	PC, PS5, Xbox Series X\|S
7 Apr 2027	Exodus	PS5, Xbox Series X\|S, PC
27 Apr 2027	Pony Island 2: Panda Circus	PC
Spring 2027	Final Fantasy VII Revelation	PS5, Xbox Series X, Switch 2, PC

Dates announced or confirmed at Gamescom 2026. Nodus Fall, Songs of the Past, Heroes of Might & Magic 3 Remake, Rainbow Six Tactics, Mega Man: Dual Override, Zoopunk, DUST: Origins, Lofsöng and Tides of Annihilation have no firm date.

What this edition leaves behind

Three readings that rise above the noise of the trailers.

September is overloaded. Four major releases in six days, and two of them — Control Resonant and Silent Hill: Townfall — are horror games arriving on the same 24 September. Somebody is going to come off worse in that collision, and it will not be whoever has the bigger marketing budget.

Nintendo Switch 2 is no longer a footnote. It shows up in the platform line-up for Final Fantasy VII Revelation, in the native version of The Witcher 3 Remastered, in Onimusha, in Worms, in Rayman Legends Retold and in Mega Man: Dual Override. A year ago these announcements would have been made without mentioning it.

And the business model is shifting. Path of Exile 2 goes free-to-play as it leaves early access, Ananta launches free, and CD Projekt Red is giving away two expansions it has spent a decade selling. Different decisions with the same thinking behind them: the entry price as an acquisition tool rather than the main source of revenue.