Even though The Witcher 3 is 11 years old, its new expansion received a lot of attention at Gamescom 2026.

This year, Gamescom presented 19 official awards to the best games showcased at the Koelnmesse exhibition center in Cologne, Germany. CD Projekt RED (CDPR) and SEGA each took home three trophies from the awards ceremony held at the Gamescom Studio operated by IGN. Fans voted The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt‘s trailer for the remastered version and the Songs of the Past expansion as the best trailer/announcement. The pin and pendant available at the booth won the award for best merchandise. The jury also awarded CDPR the prize for Best Booth based on the game’s presentation at the expo.

SEGA’s trophies went to Alien: Isolation 2, which won the award for Best Audio, and Total War: Warhammer 40K, which took home the title of Best PC Game. The publisher’s broader game lineup was also recognized with the award for Best Game Selection. Capcom and Ubisoft each won two awards. Capcom’s Onimusha: Way of the Sword won the Best Gameplay and Best Sony PlayStation Game awards, and Ubisoft won the Best Nintendo Switch Game award for Rayman Legends Retold and the Jury’s Best Business Booth award for its Ubisoft Business Lounge.

This year’s Heart of Gaming Award, a special jury prize, went to Games Done Quick (GDQ). The charitable speedrun organization has raised more than $50 million for charitable causes over the years. GDQ held its first European event, Gamescom GDQ, from August 28 to 30. All proceeds from the event were donated to the Gaming for Democracy initiative, which promotes democratic values through gaming culture. Below is the complete list of winners of the 2026 Gamescom Awards:

Arts Group

Best Visuals: Metro 2039 — 4A Games/Deep Silver

Best Audio: Alien: Isolation 2 — Creative Assembly/SEGA

Best Gameplay: Onimusha: Way of the Sword — Capcom

Most Entertaining: Wanderburg — Randwerk/Sidekick Publishing

Most Epic: Tides of Annihilation — Eclipse Glow Games

Most Wholesome: Finding Polka — lidlocks/Parco Games

Games for Impact: SOKO 1977: Anti-Terror Task Force — Paintbucket Games/Federal Agency for Civic Education

Platform Group

Best Microsoft Xbox Game: Forza Horizon 6 — Playground Games/Xbox Game Studios

Best PC Game: Total War: Warhammer 40K — Creative Assembly/SEGA

Best Sony PlayStation Game: Onimusha: Way of the Sword — Capcom

Best Nintendo Switch 2 Game: Rayman Legends Retold — Ubisoft

Best Mobile Game: Where Winds Meet — Everstone Studio/NetEase Games

Global Group

Best Lineup (Jury Award): SEGA

Best Booth (Jury Award): The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt — Songs of the Past — CDPR

Best Booth (Consumer Award): Arknights: Endfield — Gryphline

Best Business Booth (Jury Award): Ubisoft Business Lounge

Best Merch (Consumer Award): The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt — Songs of the Past Pin & Medallion — CDPR

Best Trailer / Announcement (Consumer Award): The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Remastered & Songs of the Past DLC — CDPR

Heart of Gaming Award (Special Jury Award): Games Done Quick (GDQ)

Even before the awards ceremony, Gamescom 2026 made history. Organizers Koelnmesse and Game (the German Games Industry Association) confirmed that every square meter of the 233,000-square-meter exhibition space had been booked for the first time in the event’s 18-year history. More than 1,700 companies registered to exhibit ahead of the show, compared to 1,568 the previous year. However, the most significant event of the year was not just the exhibition space. On August 27, Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier became the first German head of state to attend Gamescom and opened the accompanying Gamescom Congress at the Confex in Cologne. In his opening remarks, Steinmeier noted that digital games are culturally significant and therefore significant for our democracy. Henna Virkkunen, the vice president of the European Union, also attended the event to discuss the EU’s broader gaming strategy.

This political attention resulted in a record number of visitors to the convention. According to the official press release, the 2026 Gamescom conference welcomed more than 1,100 visitors—the highest attendance in the event’s history—and 165 international experts delivered presentations on topics ranging from education and culture to the economy, science, and society. The total number of participants is not yet available. Next year, Gamescom will take place from August 23 to 29.

Source: WCCFTech