Gamescom 2026 live hub: The latest news and previews from the biggest gaming event of the year
Your one stop hub for everything happening at Gamescom.
This coverage brought to you by Fable, out February 23, 2027 for PC, Xbox Series X/S, and PlayStation 5.
Gamescom 2026 is underway. In this E3-less world, Gamescom is the biggest gaming convention of the year, and we've got multiple reporters on the scene in Cologne, Germany to check out as many games as they can.
I've also heard tell of a "horse controller" appointment. That's all the detail on that I currently have, and if you also want to know more, check back here for updates throughout the week.
Gamescom runs through August 30, and we'll be maintaining this hub even beyond that date as our writers continue to file stories, and we learn more about the games revealed and announced at the show.
Gamescom events
Opening Night Live recap
Gamescom kicked off with the Opening Night Live showcase hosted by Geoff Keighley. Here's our recap of all the big ONL trailers and announcements.
Future Games Show schedule
Our friends at the Future Games Show are putting on three shows at Gamescom this year; see the full FGS Gamescom schedule here.
Awesome Indies show
The Gamescom Awesome Indies Show airs on August 27 at 9 pm CEST (7 pm BST/2 pm EST/11 am PST). IGN has the details on how to watch.
The GTA 6 reveal
The GTA 6 reveal isn't technically part of Gamescom, but it's the biggest thing this week: The GTA 6 showcase will air on Netflix on Thursday, August 27 at 3 pm EST, and will appear on YouTube six hours later.
The Witcher 3 Remastered announced
In September, Witcher 3 owners will get another huge free update called The Witcher 3 Remastered. It's not just graphics: the patch will touch combat, traversal, and more. We also saw the new Witcher 3 expansion that's coming next year.
Finally, a Lego city builder
It just makes sense, doesn't it? Lego Skylines was revealed at Opening Night Live, and is described as a "cozy, customizable city-builder."
Top Gamescom news
Paradox's next grand strategy game revealed
Instead of history, Paradox is exploring post-history with its next strategy game, Afterworld, which is set in a post-apocalyptic North America.
- Warlock, the next big D&D game, got a lengthy gameplay trailer
- Rainbow Six Tactics revealed: the first singleplayer R6 game in a long time
- There's a new PUBG game and it's set in the '90s
- Nodusfall, a new game from Hoyoverse, looks like Monster Hunter wearing Elden Ring's clothes, and does not feature the developer's usual gacha-style random draws to unlock characters
- Metro 2039 devs say the ongoing war in Ukraine has changed how they write morality: 'The franchise's very nature is getting too close to reality'
- Path of Exile 2 will hit its 1.0 launch in December
Live blog
"Is it AI?"
Whether or not you care about the giant argument playing out over generative AI, the discourse is pretty inescapable during big videogame reveal events like Gamescom. Alongside "when's it out" and "can you pet the dog," the internet now also wants to know: Is it AI?
Sometimes, it is AI. But false positives happen, too. One trailer accused of being AI-generated on social media—and I admit that it also triggered my mental AI detector—was the live action announcement trailer for Humankind 2.
But the studio says that, actually, the trailer was filmed with "real actors, practical sets, and custom-made props."
The Witcher 3: Songs of the Past interview
PC Gamer's Josh Wolens is presently at Gamescom in Cologne, but before the convention, he travelled to Warsaw, Poland to talk to CD Projekt all about The Witcher 3's new expansion. Check out that interview above.
