Gamescom is the largest in-person gaming event where developers show off the latest upcoming video games. This year’s Gamescom 2026, from August 24 to 30, was held in Cologne, where attendees could try out playable demos of upcoming game releases. This event also gives out trophy awards to the games that made the strongest impressions. These were some of the most exciting games showcased at Gamescom 2026.
Witcher 3: Wild Hunt – Songs of the Past
CD PROJEKT RED showed off the Witcher 3: Wild Hunt – Songs of the Past game during the Opening Night Live presentation at Gamescom 2026 with a new preview trailer. Songs of the Past is a Witcher 3 expansion that reopens Geralt of Rivia’s story within the new realm of Letten, a rural province hiding a dark, rotten secret under its surface. Thus, Songs of the Past will have a new regional map for players to explore, like the Blood and Wine DLC. The Songs of the Past trailer shows us Geralt fighting humans, skeletons, and other beasties within Letten.
Alien: Isolation 2
We knew there was going to be an Alien: Isolation sequel before Gamescom 2026, but this gaming event provided a first public Alien: Isolation 2 demo for players to sample. That demo featured a 30-minute prologue for the new Blake protagonist, a Weyland-Yutani chief executive who replaces Amanda Ripley as the star of the show. This moves away from the more confined Sevastopol space station into a more open Kurosaki planet for players to explore. Alien: Isolation 2 is one of the most exciting upcoming survival horror games because of its Unreal Engine 5 realism and terrifying exterior landscapes.
Final Fantasy VII Revelation
Square Enix unveiled its latest Final Fantasy game with a new trailer for Final Fantasy VII Revelation at Gamescom 2026. This is the third instalment of Square’s FF remake trilogy, which will cover the journey in locations like Medil Archipelago and Wutai. The Final Fantasy VII Revelation trailer reveals there will be an awakening of legendary superbosses like Ultima, Ruby, and Emerald in the game. It also shows us the new FITS system for changing character combat roles with outfits and open-world traversal vehicles and tools like the Highwind Airship and updated Chocobo mounts.
Metro 2039
Metro 2039 had been confirmed before Gamescom 2026, but 4A Games showed off a new gameplay trailer for this upcoming first-person shooter during the event. What we saw of Metro 2039 in that trailer highlights that this latest addition to its post-apocalyptic game series will bridge the more open-ended environments of Exodus with the tunnel-crawling roots from 2033. Metro 2039 will have a new protagonist, The Stranger, locked in a struggle against the Novoreich Regime led by the Spartan Hunter. Aside from that, it seems Metro 2039 will stick to the meticulous stealth and chaotic firefight combat mix formula for which its series is renowned.
Total War: Warhammer 40,000
Creative Assembly stole the show with a first playable demo for Total War: Warhammer 40,000 at Gamescom 2026. That latest addition to the Total War series will be the first on an intergalactic scale, with campaigns spanning planets and star systems. It will include playable Space Marines, Orks, Aeldari, and Astra Militarum factions from the Warhammer universe.
The playable TW: Warhammer 40,000 demo at Gamescom showcased the game’s WarCore game engine for more destructible sci-fi warfare. It was one of the most mechanically advanced RTS games showcased at Gamescom, with ranged mechanics, tactical orbit support, and reinforcements. It received the award for best PC game at Gamescom 2026.
Other Notable Games Shown at Gamescom 2026
There were many more games shown at Gamescom 2026 beyond those above. For example, Forza Horizon 6 scooped the Best Xbox Game award. Onimusha: Way of the Sword, a revival of the Onimusha samurai action-adventure series, received the Best PlayStation Game accolade. There was also an extended demo for Rayman Legends Retold, a reimagined remake of the classic Rayman Legends, at Gamescom 2026, which celebrated winning the Best Nintendo Switch 2 Game award.
So, Gamescom 2026 has provided us with a tantalizing glimpse of the most exciting upcoming video games with new trailers and playable demos. Witcher 3: Wild Hunt – Songs of the Past, Total War: Warhammer 40,000, Metro 2039, Final Fantasy VII Revelation, and Alien: Isolation 2 were five of the most hotly anticipated games seen at Gamescom 2026. They’re mostly games scheduled for a 2027 release, but a specific launch window for Alien: Isolation 2 has not been confirmed yet.
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