Gamescom Is Officially the Biggest Gaming Event in the World. So What’s Next?

2026 will be a big year for the Germany-based event

Gamescom, formerly known as the Games Convention, has existed as Europe's primary video gaming trade show since 2002. It spent six years in Leipzig, Germany, before moving west to the Koelnmesse in Cologne in 2009, where it has occurred annually ever since. Since E3 closed its doors following the COVID-19 pandemic, Gamescom has become the largest industry event in the world.

As a result, more eyes than ever have been on the event, especially since Opening Night Live (which features game reveals, trailers, and announcements) also draws the attention of a global audience. However, that hasn't changed the plan for the event over the last seven years, and the team behind it isn't feeling any additional pressure to deliver.

"Gamescom has grown continuously over recent years, in scale, international relevance and digital reach, and that is the result of long-term development," Tim Endres, the director of Gamescom at Koelnmesse, told Polygon via email. "We continued to take place every year, expanded our hybrid model and built formats such as Gamescom Opening Night Live, the Gamescom Awesome Indies Show as well as global editions, namely Gamescom Asia x Thailand Game Show and Gamescom LATAM. With E3 no longer taking place, Gamescom has naturally taken on a larger share of the global spotlight. But we don’t feel any pressure. It’s quite the opposite: We are happy and excited to see more people from around the world looking at Gamescom."

Meanwhile, Stefan Heikhaus, the director of Gamescom at the German Games Industry Association, explained that they "feel a strong responsibility to deliver for the community and the industry every year," but it's "more a level of excitement, not pressure." Part of that is "listening closely to feedback from visitors, exhibitors, and partners," and for the 2026 iteration, that includes "closer integration of the developer conference, further development of the indie showcase, the addition of Games Done Quick, and an even stronger focus on community formats such as the social stage."

Games Done Quick appearing at Gamescom 2026 is a huge moment for the number one speedrunning event in the world, because it marks the first in-person GDQ event outside of North America. And it is a fully-fledged GDQ event as we know and love: three days straight of speedrunning, from Aug. 28-30, live at Gamescom and streamed on both Twitch and YouTube, not to mention a charity initiative supporting Gaming for Democracy.

With the context of GDQ expanding overseas, I asked whether we could see Gamescom do the same in the future. Endres explained that "the ideal future is hard to describe," because his 2009 vision for the event is vastly different to what it has become in 2026. He confirmed plans are being made for the next few years, but according to Heikhaus, they don't include a North American expansion. "Our focus is on Cologne as the central meeting point for the global industry and community, supported by our digital formats and our existing international events in Latin America and Asia."

Dozens, if not hundreds, of games are confirmed to be appearing at Gamescom 2026, including but not limited to The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt - Songs of the Past, Dragon's Dogma 2: Dark Arisen, The Blood of Dawnwalker, Alien: Isolation 2, Fable, Star Wars: Galactic Racer, and Metro 2039. Keep your eyes peeled on Polygon for reporting from the show, including news, previews, interviews, and more.