Gamescom Opening Night Live 2026 kicks off with Geoff Keighley

Geoff Keighley hosts Gamescom Opening Night Live (ONL) 2026 on Tuesday, August 25, broadcasting from Hall 1 at Koelnmesse in Cologne, Germany. Co-hosted by Eefje "Sjokz" Depoortere, the two-hour show opens Gamescom 2026 with new gameplay, trailer debuts, and a handful of unannounced titles.

Key game confirmations and developer stage appearances

Director Naoki Hamaguchi is on stage with a new look at Final Fantasy VII Revelation, the closing chapter in Square Enix's remake trilogy, currently slated for a 2027 launch across PC, PS5, Xbox Series X, and Switch 2. CD Projekt Red brings gameplay footage from its upcoming expansion, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt – Songs of the Past, the RPG's first major DLC in a decade.

4A Games and Deep Silver show the first gameplay footage for Metro 2039, which sends a new protagonist back into post-apocalyptic Moscow six years after Metro 2033. Xbox debuts a new story trailer for Gears of War: E-Day. Also confirmed: Game of Thrones: War for Westeros, Ananta, Tides of Annihilation, and Warlock: Dungeons & Dragons, bringing the confirmed lineup to eight titles. The spread covers Square Enix, CD Projekt Red, Xbox Game Studios, and 4A Games, and Keighley has hinted the show holds more beyond what's been announced.

Streaming schedule and show-floor transition

A 30-minute pre-show hosted by Depoortere starts at 7:30 PM CEST, with the main broadcast following at 8:00 PM CEST, which lands at 2:00 PM EDT and 11:00 AM PDT for US viewers. It streams free on YouTube and Twitch, with no ticket or sign-up required to watch from home. In-person tickets for the Cologne broadcast sold out well ahead of the show.

ONL leads directly into the opening of the Gamescom show floor on August 26. More than 1,600 exhibitors from 67 countries will run hands-on demos across Koelnmesse's exhibition space, which has sold out completely for the first time in the event's 18-edition history at 233,000 square meters. Organizers are already looking at hall expansions for 2027 to keep pace with demand.