Gamescom ONL 2026: Every Game Announced, Reviewed

Two hours of trailers plus a half-hour pre-show, more than fifty games, and one surprise at the end that reframed the whole night. Geoff Keighley opened with a tribute to his late father and a nod to the layoffs and hardware chaos this industry has waded through since last August. Then the trailers started and didn't stop.

I watched the whole thing with a notebook, and I've sorted the lot below with a verdict on each. Some of these I'll buy on day one. Some I'd forgotten by the next trailer. Both reactions count as data.

The five that mattered

Nodus Fall (HoYoverse, 2027)

Nodus Fall opened the show, and opening with a photoreal co-op hunting game from the Genshin Impact studio was the correct call. Weavers, Dreadnodus, Unreal Engine 5, three players tearing into mythic beasts under a burning sky. HoYoverse spent Genshin money on an engine change and a genre it has never touched, and the trailer earned its slot. My one open question stays the business model, which nobody addressed on stage. I've written up the full breakdown in its own piece.

Warlock: Dungeons & Dragons (Invoke, 2027)

Warlock: Dungeons & Dragons got its own block, which Wizards of the Coast has earned after eight months of silence since The Game Awards. Maggie Robertson introduced it as Tasha, then Kaatri spent close to eight minutes casting Black Tentacles as a wall platform, swapping places with monsters, and calling down a rain ritual to make Witch Bolt chain through soaked enemies. Spells work as tools rather than cooldown buttons. That single design principle moved me from sceptical to invested.

Metro 2039 (4A Games, February 2027)

Metro 2039 brought Jon Bloch and Pavel Ulmer to the stage before the footage, and both spoke about the war in Ukraine without turning it into a marketing beat. Ulmer described development as tough and left it there. "Proudly made in Ukraine" filled the screen before the gameplay rolled: tunnels, filters, weapon customization out of a backpack, and Hunter's voice repeating that the enemy must be destroyed. I've loved this series since 2010 and I still pause the game when something moves in the dark. February can't come soon enough.

Final Fantasy 7 Revelation (Square Enix, Spring 2027)

Final Fantasy 7 Revelation closed the trailer run with Naoki Hamaguchi calling it the final chapter. Rufus talks about Meteor, the whole party turns up, and Square put Ruby Weapon, Emerald Weapon and Ultima Weapon front and centre. Submarine combat and airship combat both appeared. Aerith did not, which the internet will discuss for the next nine months whether Square wants that conversation or not.

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Remastered (CD Projekt Red, September 29)

Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Remastered saved the night. Nobody saw it coming. CD Projekt announced a free upgrade for anyone who owns the game, with new textures, revamped rendering, modernised combat, new finishers and a rebuilt ability system. Hearts of Stone and Blood and Wine went free for base-game owners as of tonight. Then Songs of the Past followed for 2027, with a chain weapon for Geralt and a region that level design lead Miles Tost described as uncannily idyllic. Giving away two of the best expansions ever made, on a Tuesday, with no warning, buys more goodwill than any trailer on this list.

The big-budget middle

Gears of War: E-Day (The Coalition, October 6, 2026) showed its campaign trailer and the first look at the Locust leader. I've never been a Gears person and I still recognise a confident trailer when I see one. October 6 puts it six weeks ahead of GTA 6, which is either brave or the only slot Microsoft could find.

Exodus (Archetype Entertainment, April 7, 2027) has a date at last, and it spent its screen time on Salt, the awakened octopus mech sniper who has become a fan favourite before the game exists. Salt's line about hunting for pay landed the character in one sentence. Archetype's time-dilation pitch still interests me more than the Mass Effect comparisons everyone reaches for.

Rainbow Six Tactics (Ubisoft, 2027) is XCOM with Rainbow Six operators, and I have no complaints. The turn-based revival keeps producing good games from unexpected places, and Ubisoft has a roster of characters sitting idle. My worry is monetisation, since that sentence and that publisher have history.

Silent Hill: Townfall (Konami, September 24, 2026) revealed its cast with actors pulled from The Odyssey and Lost. Fog, creepy critters, a man called Simon told to come back and put things to rest. September 24 is close, and Konami's recent Silent Hill record gives me more confidence than it did three years ago.

Control Resonant (Remedy, September 24, 2026) shares that date, which someone at either publisher should reconsider. Big hammer, strange physics, the Remedy house style intact. I couldn't follow the narrative from the trailer and I've stopped expecting to.

Monster Hunter Outlanders (Capcom) appeared with untranslated text on screen, which tells you how much Capcom wanted the moment. Worth noting the timing: Nodus Fall opened the same show aiming at the same appetite.

Game of Thrones: War for Westeros (2027) looks like Age of Empires in Westeros, with dragons burning fortresses and wights from beyond the Wall. The Night King on the Iron Throne closed it. RTS in a licensed setting has a poor batting average, and I want this one to break the streak.

The Blood of Dawnwalker (Rebel Wolves, September 3, 2026) showed gameplay for a game that arrives next week. Odd to spend an ONL slot on something that close, though a new vampire IP from ex-CD Projekt developers needs every eyeball it can get.

Ananta (NetEase, January 15, 2027) got its date. Flying cars, snarky dialogue, a city that never sits still, and a UFO in the closing shot. I've watched three trailers now and I still couldn't describe the gameplay loop. Free-to-play in January, two months after GTA 6, which is a plan with real nerve behind it.

Path of Exile 2 (Grinding Gear, December 11) leaves early access with its 1.0 update after two years, and swords arrive with it. Grinding Gear has run one of the more honest early-access campaigns in the genre.

Aion 2 (NCSoft, October 5, 2026) looked better than I expected. The camera work and the underwater section caught me, and I say that as someone with no history in the original.

The reveals I'll be watching

Turok Origins (Spring 2027) arrived with Patrick Stewart narrating, which is a sentence I did not plan to write today. The combat looked bloody and the trailer told me nothing about how it plays.

NO LAW (Neon Giant, 2027) is grime and neon and violence from the Ascent team, and it scratches the itch Cyberpunk 2077 left in some players. Neon Giant makes tight, focused games with small teams, so I trust the scope.

Dust: Origins (Airship Syndicate) reads as Doom-flavoured Diablo with lighting work I liked and a bloody streak. Airship has been consistent since Darksiders Genesis.

Lego Skylines wins my personal award for the pitch I want to play tomorrow. City building through Lego's lens with the Cities: Skylines simulation underneath. No date yet.

Heroes of Might and Magic 3 Remake promises a faithful rebuild of one of the great strategy games. I'd rather have this than another spin-off, and I'd like to know how faithful "faithful" turns out to be.

Afterworld (Paradox) leaked yesterday and turned up tonight matching the leak in every detail: Fallout crossed with Crusader Kings. Paradox doing post-apocalyptic character-driven strategy has my attention.

Pony Island 2: Panda Circus (2027) comes from the Inscryption team, so I'm going in blind and telling nobody anything about it afterward.

1001: Threads of Mizan takes One Thousand and One Nights somewhere between Prince of Persia and Forspoken, and it's playable on the show floor this week. That's a good sign for a game at this stage.

Tides of Annihilation returned with its story trailer and a new voice for Gwendolyn, since Jennifer English left the project. The Grace Ashcroft actor from Resident Evil Requiem steps in. Fog that turns into a sword, Bayonetta-scale fights against enormous creatures. I understood none of the plot and enjoyed all of the action.

A Plague Tale: Resonance showed a protagonist having a terrible time, which is the series delivering on brand. Asobo has never missed on atmosphere.

Sea of Remnants mixes ship battles, creature fights and puzzles in a puppetry art style. Pre-registration is open and I've signed up on the strength of the visuals.

Gravhounds is co-op action with space dogs and base building. Sjokz barked after the trailer, which is the correct response.

Exterminauts looks like Lethal Company crossed with Helldivers, and the pitch about the crew that gets paid for the jobs nobody else takes writes its own marketing.

Showa American Story returned with samurai zombies and a citypop soundtrack, and I remain unable to explain it to anyone.

Zoopunk, Cinder City, Ontos, Project Zeta, Silver Palace, Tarae the Unbound, The Defiant and Like or Die! all flew past in the closing stretch. Some of those will find audiences. Most of them needed more than fifteen seconds to make a case, and the back half of an ONL is a brutal place to debut.

The pre-show, which was better than usual

Kyle Bosman's half hour carried real reveals this year. Worms: Galactic Tactics turns Worms into XCOM for 2027, and a second Worms game is in development alongside it. RollerCoaster Tycoon: Wonderworks brings the park sim back with the spreadsheets intact. Acornia: Mirror World from the Tinykin team looked like Kirby crossed with The Binding of Isaac plus shop management, and it charmed me in thirty seconds.

Valor Mortis, the Napoleonic soulslike, showed more of its grotesque side. Murals from Dlala Studios stars Bob Mortimer, arrives in 2027, and has a line about being married to hundreds of mimes that I'm still thinking about. Humankind 2 brings Amplitude back for another attempt at the formula in 2027. Elta: Defy All Gods puts a heavy automaton protagonist somewhere between Sifu and God of War for early 2027, and the dragon turns out to be a friend.

Onimusha: Way of the Sword shadow-dropped an expanded demo with a new duel, playable now. Mariachi Legends dated itself for April 27, 2027, and its creative director pointed out that Alucard's suit already looks like mariachi formalwear. Age Twisters from Krafton is co-op where a bracelet changes your age, framed as a birthday treasure hunt from mum. Perceptum handles the horror slot for Spring 2027, TankRat brings Kepler tanks with a William Blake poem attached, and Aniimo and Train Sim World 7 rounded out the half hour.

Three things the night told me about the industry

Dates cluster now. October 6 holds Gears, September 24 holds both Silent Hill: Townfall and Control Resonant, and 2027 has swallowed Warlock, Nodus Fall, Turok Origins, Rainbow Six Tactics and a dozen more. Every publisher spent this year dodging one November release, and the crowding on the other side of it will cost somebody sales.

Studios are also done hiding gameplay. Warlock ran eight minutes, Metro ran a full sequence, and Nodus Fall showed hunts rather than a logo reveal. Compare that with the 2025 show, where cinematics carried most of the running order.

And free content buys more attention than any trailer. CD Projekt proved that at 8pm and the internet has talked about nothing else since.

Where I've landed

GamesRadar called the show light on heavy hitters, and I understand the reaction. Six weeks out from The Game Awards and three months out from GTA 6, a lot of publishers held back.

My read is different. Nodus Fall, Warlock and Metro 2039 each delivered substance rather than a logo, Exodus and Ananta committed to hard dates, and CD Projekt gave away two expansions and a remaster for free. Four of those five moments cost their publishers something, which is more than most showcases manage.

The rest of Gamescom runs through Sunday in Cologne. Metro 2039 opens its demo in Hall 9.1 on Thursday, 1001: Threads of Mizan sits on the floor, and Ziggurath is there for the week. Hands-on impressions land as I get them.

We'll have full coverage of the biggest releases as they land. Check the complete release calendar on Ziggurath for every release date, trailer, and platform detail.