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Gamescom Opening Night Live: 3 confirmed games and 6 predictions
From Final Fantasy VII to The Witcher 3, here are the games confirmed for Gamescom Opening Night Live, plus the surprise announcements we’re hoping to see.
Summer may be almost over, but as we head into the cooler months, the games industry is heating up. As we move towards peak game release season, publishers have one last chance to show off the games that we’ll be playing next year and beyond.
Gamescom is the setting and Geoff Keighley - the journalist, producer and presenter behind The Game Awards and Summer Game Fest - will host the show as the annual event kicks off with Opening Night Live, a live-streamed showcase packed with world premieres, teasers and gameplay demos. Here’s what we know will be on show, some safe predictions, and, of course, a few wildcard hopes for what we’ll see in Cologne on August 25.
Gamescom Opening Night Live 2026 at a glance
- Date: August 25, 2026
- Host: Geoff Keighley
- Event: Gamescom Opening Night Live
- What to expect: World premieres, new trailers, gameplay footage and updates on upcoming games
- The confirmed picks: Final Fantasy VII, The Witcher 3, Metro 2039
- Our predictions: Gears of War, Alien Isolation 2, Spyro, Crazy Taxi, Jet Set Radio, OD/Physint
01
Final Fantasy VII Revelation
Status: Confirmed
The third and final instalment in the Final Fantasy VII Remake trilogy will appear at Gamescom ONL. Director Naoki Hamaguchi will take to the stage to introduce a new look at the RPG sequel, hopefully going into more detail about new playable characters Cid Highwind and Vincent Valentine as well as the new FITS system. We’re hoping we’ll get a look at some locations we haven’t seen yet, such as Rocket Town, as well as some new looks at the Kaiju-like WEAPONs.
02
The Witcher 3 Wild Hunt: Songs of the Past
Status: Confirmed
Geralt returns for a final adventure in a new expansion for The Witcher 3
© CD Projekt Red
Legendary RPG makers CD Projekt Red surprised the world in June when they announced that their 11-year-old title The Witcher 3 would be getting a final expansion. This premium DLC is intended as a swansong for the series' protagonist, Geralt of Rivia, before his daughter, Ciri, takes up the mantle in The Witcher 4.
At Gamescom 2026, we’ll get our first look at this expansion, which is dropping in 2027. This would also be the perfect opportunity for the Polish studio to segue into a new look at the long-awaited Witcher sequel, which was announced in 2024. For this, we can only cross our fingers and hope.
03
Metro 2039
Status: Confirmed
The next entry in 4A Games’ immersive first-person shooter series will be hitting consoles and PCs in February, and we’re in for a deeper look at it during Gamescom ONL. The game is a full, current-gen sequel to 2019’s Metro Exodus, featuring a new protagonist who fights the fascistic Novoreich regime for control of post-apocalyptic Moscow. The Metro series is known for its vast and intricately detailed environments that bring depth to its explosive, desperate combat encounters. Expect to see the next evolution of the Metro series with an extended gameplay preview.
04
Gears of War: E-Day
Status: Highly likely
Xbox typically brings at least one first-party title to Gamescom ONL, and this year, we’re putting our money on the Gears prequel finding its way into the show. Set for release on October 6, this new title from the Coalition follows series protagonists Marcus Fenix and Dominic Santiago as they battle through the first emergence of the brutal enemies of humanity – the Locust. A multiplayer Beta is already live, and players are loving the fine-tuned combat. We reckon we’re in for a closer look at the campaign’s story and possibly some new modes to supplement the already-announced 12-player Horde Siege mode.
05
Alien Isolation 2
Status: Likely
One of the big surprise reveals of Summer Games Fest was a sequel to 2014 cult classic Alien Isolation. This horror title made a huge splash due to how well it captured the sense of terror of being hunted by the relentless Xenomorph. Now, more than a decade later, players will be able to experience a new evil, trapped in a Weyland-Yutani facility with new breeds of the infamous creatures. So far we’ve only seen a brief teaser trailer, but journalists have played the game behind closed doors, so it's likely that we’ll get our first look at gameplay at ONL, and possibly a release window.
06
Spyro: A Realm Beyond
Status: Likely
After months of rumours, Activision finally confirmed that the lovable dragon Spyro is returning with a new game at Summer Games Fest. Spyro: A Realm Beyond looks to be a return to the classic platforming formula of the beloved game series with Pixar-like visual flair. We only saw a brief teaser in June, so we reckon we’re due for a full gameplay reveal, along with a firm release date, at Gamescom ONL.
07
Crazy Taxi: World Tour
Status: Likely
At The Game Awards 2023, SEGA announced that they would be reviving old IP for a new generation of gamers – starting with arcade classic Crazy Taxi. We got a look at Crazy Taxi: World Tour at Summer Games Fest, and it looks like an absolute blast from the past. The trailer showed off the classic San Francisco setting and teased that the new game would take us to cities around the world. Here’s hoping we get a new trailer that shows off some of these locations, along with a firm release date for next year.
08
Jet Set Radio
Status: Wildcard
No doubt the biggest shocker of SEGA’s 2023 sizzle reel was the return of cult favourite Jet Set Radio. Fans have been calling out for a sequel or remake of this retro classic for decades and are desperate for any crumb of new information relating to it. No new information has been shared since that initial reveal three years ago, but with the launch of Crazy Taxi: World Tour imminent, we’re crossing our fingers and toes that Jet Set Radio skids back into view at ONL.
09
OD / Physint
Status: Wildcard
Auteur game maker Hideo Kojima has been quiet since the launch of Death Stranding 2: On the Beach in 2025, but we know he is actively working on two projects – a first-person horror title called OD and an espionage-action game called Physint. OD seems further along than Physint, due to the fact that we got a gameplay teaser earlier this year. As Kojima is a personal friend of ONL host Geoff Keighley, it’s in the realm of possibility that we get some solid details on at least one of these projects at the show.
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