gamescom Award 2026: Metro 2039 Wins Best Visuals, Onimusha Takes Two, Witcher Nabs Awards

The organizers of Europe’s largest gaming expo, gamescom 2026, have announced the winners of the annual gamescom award. Awards in 19 categories were determined by a combined vote of an expert jury and hundreds of thousands of expo visitors. The ceremony’s biggest stars were the post-apocalyptic shooter Metro 2039, the revived samurai action game Onimusha: Way of the Sword, and announcements from The Witcher universe.

Nomination Leaders and Major Wins

Going into the show, the favorite with the most nominations was the shooter Metro 2039 from 4A Games and Deep Silver, which was up for five awards. In the end, the game took one of the expo’s most prestigious honors — Best Visuals, beating out rivals in visual technology quality.

Japanese studio Capcom celebrated a double triumph: the slasher Onimusha: Way of the Sword was named Best Gameplay and also took home Best PlayStation Game. The award for Best Audio went to the horror title Alien: Isolation 2 from Creative Assembly.

Full List of gamescom Award 2026 Winners

According to the official gamescom protocol, awards were distributed across three main sections:

Arts (Art and Game Design):

• Best Visuals — Metro 2039;
• Best Audio — Alien: Isolation 2;
• Best Gameplay — Onimusha: Way of the Sword;
• Most Entertaining — Wanderburg;
• Most Epic — Tides of Annihilation;
• Most Wholesome — Finding Polka;
• Games for Impact — SOKO 1977: Anti-Terror Task Force.

Platform:

• Best PC Game — Total War: WARHAMMER 40,000;
• Best PlayStation Game — Onimusha: Way of the Sword;
• Best Xbox Game — Forza Horizon 6;
• Best Nintendo Switch 2 Game — Rayman Legends Retold;
• Best Mobile Game — Where Winds Meet.

Global (Special and Expo Awards):

• Best Lineup — SEGA;
• Best Trailer or Announcement — The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Remastered & Songs of the Past DLC;
• Best Booth (Jury Award) — The Witcher 3: Songs of the Past;
• Best Consumer Booth — Arknights: Endfield;
• Best Merchandise — The Witcher 3: Songs of the Past commemorative medallion and pin;
• Best Business Area — Ubisoft Business Lounge.

SEGA and CD Projekt RED Dominate

In the overall publisher standings, SEGA and Poland’s CD Projekt RED led with three awards each.

SEGA proved the strength of its portfolio, taking the grand prize for Best Lineup, backed by individual wins for the cosmic horror Alien: Isolation 2 and the massive strategy Total War: WARHAMMER 40,000.

The Polish studio swept the key audience awards thanks to the loud return of the Geralt franchise: the trailer for the The Witcher 3 remaster with the large Songs of the Past expansion was named the expo’s biggest media moment.

Industry Contribution Award

This year’s special HEART OF GAMING award went to the charity speedrunning marathon Games Done Quick (GDQ). Expo organizers noted that the marathon community has raised and donated over $50 million to charity over its lifetime, and this week Cologne is hosting the first European in-person gamescom GDQ session.