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.

The GTA 6 reveal

The GTA 6 reveal isn’t technically part of Gamescom, but it’s the biggest thing happening 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.

Gamescom GDQ

Like seeing games, but done quick? The famed Games Done Quick speedrunning event has a Gamescom edition, streaming on Twitch and YouTube across three days, August 28-31.

Top Gamescom news

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.”

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.

More news

• 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

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.

“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.”

A ‘gacha’ question

The just-announced Nodusfall from Hoyoverse looks cool, but prospective players who aren’t into the gacha scene the company is known for—games that are monetized primarily through loot box-like random rewards—may be put off by the assumption it’ll be more of the same.

This game will be different, though, according to the developers, though the only specific commitment made is that characters won’t be unlocked by random draws.

“Nodusfall will be a free-to-play, long-term game,” the devs tell us. “What we can share at this time is that characters are not obtained through random draws. We hope to allow players to unlock this core gameplay experience through continued play. Cosmetic monetization is an important avenue we will be considering.”