Gamescom Opening Night Live 2026: The Biggest Announcements and Moments
Gamescom 2026 is officially underway, and as we've come to expect, Geoff Keighley took to the stage for Gamescom Opening Night Live. The two-hour show featured trailers, new announcements, gameplay reveals and a few rather big surprises.
I watched the show myself, and there was quite a lot to take in. Not everything caught my attention, but several games immediately stood out. Gears of War E-Day, Metro 2039 and, of course, the big Witcher news were among my personal highlights.
Gears of War E-Day Still Looks Brutal
Gears of War E-Day received a new campaign trailer taking us back to Emergence Day, the moment when the Locust invasion begins. The trailer showed more of the war and gave us our first look at the Locust leader behind the invasion.
The game was already shown extensively during the Xbox Games Showcase, so it didn't exactly feel like a completely new reveal. Still, it's hard not to get excited when seeing the game in action again. During the stream I actually had the same thought: Didn't we already see this during the Xbox show?
Gears of War E-Day launches on October 6, 2026 for Xbox and PC.
Ananta Brings Anime, Open-World Chaos and More
Ananta also made another appearance. The free-to-play open-world RPG from NetEase combines a modern city with anime characters, vehicles, action and plenty of chaos.
I'm personally not the biggest fan of anime games, and that came up during the stream as well. Still, I have to admit that Ananta looks incredibly ambitious. The world seems huge and there always seems to be something happening on screen.
The game now has a release date as well: January 15, 2027.
Silent Hill Townfall Brings the Horror
For anyone wondering where the horror games were after the pre-show joked that there weren't any this year, don't worry. Silent Hill Townfall eventually showed up with a new trailer.
The footage was considerably darker than many of the other trailers during the night. The game appears to once again focus heavily on psychological horror and a mysterious story. Some of the footage even briefly reminded me of War of the Worlds.
Metro 2039 Makes a Strong Impression
One of my personal highlights was undoubtedly Metro 2039. The new game from 4A Games received an extended trailer and looks incredibly atmospheric.
The story once again takes us into a world filled with tunnels, monsters, radiation and human conflict. 4A Games also spoke openly during the show about developing the game in Ukraine while the country is still dealing with the war. That makes what the team has created perhaps even more impressive.
There was also a rather striking detail for collectors: the collector's edition includes a large Spartan helmet that can actually be worn. I saw it during the show and immediately thought: that's not exactly subtle.
Warlock: Dungeons & Dragons Surprised Me
Warlock: Dungeons & Dragons wasn't exactly a game I was eagerly waiting for. However, the first proper gameplay footage surprised me.
The game follows Katri, a warrior who makes a pact with Tasha, an ancient witch queen. This gives her access to forbidden magic. Gameplay combines combat, magic and exploration in the world of Darkon.
I honestly expected Warlock to be something completely different, but the gameplay looked much more interesting than I expected.
Rayman Legends Retold Gets a Major Makeover
Rayman Legends Retold is celebrating Rayman's 30th anniversary this year, and Ubisoft is marking the occasion with a major reimagining. The remake features new 3D visuals, new story content, fully voiced cinematics and an additional realm.
There are also new musical stages. During the show, we got a glimpse of one clearly inspired by MC Hammer's U Can't Touch This.
And yes, that came completely out of nowhere. Rayman has always been known for its humor, but even during the stream I had to think: What is happening here? ๐
Final Fantasy VII Revelation
One of the biggest moments of the night was the new trailer for Final Fantasy VII Revelation. Game director Naoki Hamaguchi appeared on stage to reveal more information about the next and final chapter of the remake trilogy.
The trailer focused heavily on the enormous Weapons, which will play an important role in the story. The game promises a much larger world and another big mix of story, action and exploration.
Final Fantasy VII Revelation is planned for spring 2027 and will launch simultaneously on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch 2 and PC.
And Then Came The Witcher 3...
But the biggest surprise of the night came right at the end. CD Projekt Red revealed not only its new expansion, The Witcher 3: Songs of the Past, but also a major free remaster update for The Witcher 3.
The update launches on September 29, 2026 and introduces improved textures, updated rendering, advanced path tracing, improved foliage and more modern combat.
The ability system is also being completely revamped, giving players more options. On top of that, Hearts of Stone and Blood and Wine will become free for everyone who owns the base game.
And then there's Songs of the Past. The new expansion brings Geralt back for one final adventure before the series passes the torch to Ciri. Geralt will also receive a new chain weapon, which surprisingly enough was already shown in the intro of the original The Witcher.
The expansion is coming in 2027 and introduces a completely new region filled with new monsters, quests and a major mystery.
More Notable Announcements
Alongside the biggest names, the show featured plenty of other games. Rainbow Six Tactics was announced as a turn-based single-player game set in the Rainbow Six universe. We also received new looks at Tides of Annihilation, Exodus, Mega Man Dual Override, Game of Thrones: War for Westeros, Crazy Taxi and Path of Exile 2.
Path of Exile 2 also received an important update: version 1.0 is scheduled to launch on December 11, 2026.
There were also completely new games such as Notice of Fall, Dust Origins, 101 Threads of Mizan, Zupunk, Roco Kingdom and Exterminadox.
My Take
Gamescom Opening Night Live 2026 was ultimately a very packed show. There weren't dozens of games that immediately made me think I absolutely had to play them, but there were more than enough interesting titles.
My personal highlights were Metro 2039, Gears of War E-Day, Warlock and, of course, The Witcher 3: Songs of the Past. Metro 2039 especially caught my attention because of its atmosphere, while Warlock was a pleasant surprise.
And The Witcher 3? Well... a free remaster update and a brand-new expansion for a game from 2015. I honestly didn't see that coming.
Gamescom itself has now officially started. There will be plenty more streams, trailers and gameplay throughout the week, so Opening Night Live was really only the beginning.
Screenshots: All screenshots featured in this article are from Metro 2039.
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Webmastahhh is the creator of Mastanet, a gaming and technology website where he shares news, reviews, guides and personal insights about games, hardware, software and the future of digital entertainment.
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