Microsoft has set out a 25-game lineup for Gamescom 2026 in Cologne, Germany, next month, Polygon reports. The company will run 140 gaming stations across its booth, with several of its longest-awaited projects appearing in front of the public for the first time.
Chief among them is Fable. Playground Games will give the reboot its first live gameplay demonstration for a public audience, though the game will not be directly playable on the show floor; the presentation is built around showing the combat. Fable was first announced in 2020 and is currently scheduled for release on Feb. 23, 2027.
Alien Isolation 2 will be playable, a quick turnaround for a sequel that was only formally announced in June. Creative Assembly, the studio behind the 2014 original, is developing it again with Sega publishing, and the project has been in early development since at least October 2024. Polygon notes the Gamescom build may be the same demo shown to press at Summer Game Fest, which featured atmospheric outdoor environments and an encounter with a Xenomorph.
RGG Studio's Stranger Than Heaven is also getting a playable demo. Xbox described the slice it is bringing in its lineup blog post:
Face down fate in the 50-year, action-adventure saga's demo showcasing the innovative combat system that has you independently control the left and right sides of protagonist Makoto Daito across 3 of the 5 immersive Japanese cities & eras found in the full game.
The game's story trailer drew a strong initial response, according to Polygon, though the decision to digitally recreate Tupac Shakur as part of the cast was criticized as tone-deaf.
The rest of the booth
Several other unreleased titles will be at the Microsoft booth:
- Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4
- Gears of War: E-Day
- Minecraft Dungeons 2
- Metro 2039
- The Blood of Dawnwalker
- Castlevania: Belmont's Curse
- Valor Mortis
Gamescom runs from Aug. 26 to Aug. 30 and opens with Gamescom Opening Night Live, the Geoff Keighley-hosted livestream that traditionally carries new announcements. The show is the largest games convention in the world by attendance, drawing more than 300,000 visitors and 1,500 exhibitors last year.
The scale of Microsoft's presence lands against a difficult year for the company, which has cut more than 3,000 jobs during the current fiscal year.
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