Gamescom 2026 officially began with its Opening Night Live (ONL) livestream, hosted by Geoff Keighley, featuring a surprise reveal of The Witcher 3 Remastered and new trailers for highly anticipated titles like Final Fantasy 7 Revelation and Rainbow Six Tactics. The two-hour event, which precedes the public gaming convention, showcased a mix of updates on existing games and a few smaller reveals.
Final Fantasy 7 Revelation and other highlights
Arguably the biggest announcement, alongside The Witcher 3, was a new trailer for Final Fantasy 7 Revelation, with an appearance by director Naoki Hamaguchi. However, he provided little new information, only narrowing the release window to spring 2027. As the final part of the Final Fantasy 7 remake trilogy, Revelation will be multiformat from the start, launching on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch 2, and PC.
The first two games in the trilogy have been surprisingly well-received, balancing nostalgia with fresh storytelling and gameplay. The experience is so different from the original in story, gameplay, and visuals that it hardly feels like a remake at all, leaving fans eager to see how the saga concludes.
Other notable reveals and updates
This year's ONL seemed to have fewer on-stage appearances, with long sequences of trailers, often for already-announced games. Among the intriguing reveals was Nodus Fall from HoYoverse, a FromSoftware-influenced title that looked interesting if unoriginal. Ubisoft's Rainbow Six Tactics, a big-budget turn-based tactics game, was also announced for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC, with a release slated for next year.
Indie game Lofsöng caught attention for its visuals, reminiscent of the acclaimed Cocoon. War For Westeros continues Warner Bros.' avoidance of a console Game of Thrones game, being a PC-only real-time strategy. Warlock: Dungeons & Dragons appeared as enjoyably campy, part of Wizards Of The Coast's push into video games, though recent talk from parent company Hasbro suggests those ambitions may be curtailed.
More trailers and announcements
Afterworld from Paradox Interactive appears to be a grand strategy game set in a Mad Max-style America, while Stage Tour will evoke memories of Guitar Hero. Lego Skylines, shown briefly, makes a peculiar but sensible pairing as a city builder based on the adult-oriented series. Path Of Exile 2 1.0 was also featured for a moment, revealing it will exit beta and get a full release on December 11.
Heroes Of Might And Magic 3 is receiving a full remake, and No Law looked violent and reminiscent of Cyberpunk 2077, with impressive visuals and a release next year. The most disturbing trailer was for Ontos, the spiritual sequel to Soma from Frictional Games, which showcased puzzle-based gameplay alongside survival horror thrills.
Overall, the line-up was decent, but with Tokyo Game Show next month unlikely to yield major announcements, attention now turns to The Game Awards in December or potential publisher livestreams.
