The gamescom dev awards 2026 recognized six games, teams and individuals for their creativity, innovation and contributions to the games industry during a ceremony held on Monday afternoon in Cologne. Hosted by Markus Wilding, the event presented four awards to projects featured at this year's gamescom dev indie expo, while two additional honors were decided through votes from the gamescom speaker community across the 2025 and 2026 editions.

MUTTER, developed by DeadlyCrow Games, received the Visual Excellence Award, recognizing its visual work among the projects featured at the indie expo. The Most Innovative Game award, powered by Epic Games, went to PRAVDA(concept25), from Floating Stone Studio, while Cards & Cannons, developed by Flamehead Games, was selected as the Most Promising Game.

INVASIA, from Rocat Games, won the Best Sound Design award, completing the selection of honors dedicated to projects from the gamescom dev indie expo. The Game Design Excellence Award, determined through the speakers' choice, was presented to Blue Prince, developed by Dogubomb and published by Raw Fury.

Amir Satvat, from Tencent Games and ASGC, received the Ambassador Award, also selected by the speaker community. The category recognized his long term contribution to the games industry and was determined through a vote involving professionals who participated in the 2025 and 2026 editions.

The ceremony also concluded with a tribute to Stephan Reichart, founder of the event and former Managing Director of game events, who was invited on stage to receive recognition for his career and contributions to the development of the community. Reichart created the event in 2017, originally under the name devcom, and oversaw its development over the following years.

Lars Janssen, chairman of gamescom, and Frederik Hammes, Managing Director of game events, highlighted Reichart's commitment, creativity and leadership throughout his career. "Stephan's legacy simply cannot be overstated", said Frederik Hammes, his successor as Managing Director. "His incomparable enthusiasm, his way of connecting instantly with so many people has shaped the identity of this event as something special. The fact that this year it stands alongside with the worldwide phenomenon that is gamescom as gamescom dev is testament to his achievement".

The tribute brought the ceremony to a close with a retrospective of important moments from the event's history and the people who helped shape it over the years, reinforcing the transformation of the initiative created in 2017 into an established part of gamescom's professional program.