Friday’s ceremony at the gamescom studio handed out 19 trophies for the gamescom awards 2026, and an 11-year-old game came out on top. The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt took three awards on the strength of its show presence, with SEGA matching that total across its lineup, while Capcom and Ubisoft claimed two apiece and Games Done Quick received this year’s Heart of Gaming Award.
The Witcher 3’s haul was split between fan votes and the jury, with the trailer for The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Remastered and the Songs of the Past DLC winning Best Trailer / Announcement at Opening Night Live and the pin and medallion sold at the Songs of the Past booth taking Best Merch. The jury then rounded it out with Best Booth. As we noted when covering last year’s winners, the results can look a bit strange since released and unreleased games compete in the same categories, and a 2015 RPG leading the field is a prime example of that.
As for SEGA, Alien: Isolation 2 won Best Audio, Total War: Warhammer 40,000 won Best PC Game, and the publisher’s overall slate earned the jury’s Best Lineup award. Capcom’s two trophies both went to Onimusha: Way of the Sword, which won Best Gameplay and Best PlayStation Game. Ubisoft picked up Best Business Booth for its Business Lounge and Best Switch 2 Game for Rayman Legends Retold, a game we admitted in our June preview to approaching with some skepticism, given how well the 2013 original’s illustrated artwork still holds up.
The remaining categories spread the wealth around. Metro 2039 won Best Visuals, Forza Horizon 6 won Best XBOX Game, Where Winds Meet won Best Mobile Game, and Tides of Annihilation won Most Epic. Consumers voted Arknights: Endfield as Best Booth, and the indie side of the ledger saw Wanderburg take Most Entertaining, Finding Polka take Most Wholesome, and SOKO 1977: Anti-Terror Task Force take Games for Impact.
The Heart of Gaming Award, the ceremony’s special jury prize, went to Games Done Quick, whose charity speedrunning marathons have raised more than $50 million over the years. The recognition is well timed, since GDQ is holding its first European event as gamescom GDQ from August 28 to 30 as part of the show itself. This time around, all donation and sponsorship proceeds go to Gaming for Democracy, an initiative promoting democratic values and social engagement through gaming culture.
Full List of gamescom Awards 2026 Winners
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 XBOX Game: Forza Horizon 6 (Playground Games / XBOX Game Studios)
- Best PC Game: Total War: Warhammer 40,000 (Creative Assembly / Sega)
- Best PlayStation Game: Onimusha: Way of the Sword (Capcom)
- Best 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 (CD Projekt Red)
- 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 (CD Projekt Red)
- Best Trailer / Announcement (Consumer Award): The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Remastered & Songs of the Past DLC (CD Projekt Red)
- Heart of Gaming Award (Special Jury Award): Games Done Quick
