- From 4 Indie Expo Categories to Speakers’ Choice, 6 Games, Teams, and Individuals Awarded
- ‘Blue Prince’ and Amir Satbat selected by Gamescom Dev Speaker community vote
At the ‘Gamescom Dev Awards 2026′ held in Cologne, Germany, a total of six games, teams, and individuals received awards across the Indie Development and Speakers’ Choice categories.
The awards ceremony, held on the afternoon of the 24th local time, was hosted by Markus Wilding. Winners were selected in four categories—visuals, innovation, potential for growth, and sound design—from projects submitted to this year’s Gamescom Dev Indie Expo. Separately, two Speakers’ Choice winners, determined by pre-voting by speakers for Gamescom Dev 2025 and 2026, were also announced.
[Winners in 4 Categories at Indie Expo]
Visual Excellence Award: MUTTER
‘MUTTER’ , currently under development by DeadlyCrow Games in Santiago, Chile, is a horror game set in the English countryside immediately after the outbreak of World War II.
The player takes on the role of Maddox Holloway, a 9-year-old boy left alone after his father leaves for the battlefield, and must survive with his mother, who is slowly turning into a monster.
The tactile visuals created using stop-motion techniques emphasize the game’s unique atmosphere and emotional tension, and the development team stated that they focused on delivering suspense and a lingering emotional resonance rather than simple jump scares.
The game’s demo is currently available on Steam, but the official release date has not yet been announced.
* Innovation Award: PRAVDA (concept25)
‘PRAVDA(concept25) ‘ is a narrative stealth puzzle game that deals with the process of continuing journalistic activities under a totalitarian regime.
The player takes on the role of Saga, a protagonist branded a ‘liar’ by the regime, and helps the resistance. At night, the player roams the curfew streets of Avil Gudit collecting rumors, photographs, and traces of missing persons, while during the day, the player uses the collected information to construct a ‘constructed truth’ rather than facts to complete the story.
The winning team of this Innovation Award, sponsored by the Epic Games Store, was awarded 3,000 euros in prize money. The award was presented by Kyle Billings, Director of Portfolio and Strategy at Epic Games, who also served as a judge.
Possibly: Cards & Cannons
‘Cards & Cannons’ , the debut work of Berlin-based 6-person developer Flamehead Games, is a game that combines deck-building, roguelike, and tower defense.
It is a gameplay style where players directly build a world, deploy and reinforce defensive facilities, and defend the kingdom against swarms of monsters and powerful bosses using cards and combinations that are newly configured each time.
The game was also nominated for Best Prototype in the Newcomer category at the 2026 German Computer Game Awards (Deutscher Computerspielpreis). The judging panel highly praised the unique art style, which combines cartoon-style visuals and shaders, as well as the humor and imagination infused throughout the game.
* Sound Design Award: INVASIA
Rocat Games ‘ ‘INVASIA’ is a third-person sci-fi survival horror game currently under development, based on an original six-volume novel series.
The protagonist is Frank Colton, a private military company (PMC) contractor from Celt. After waking from hibernation on the research vessel Clausewitz, he discovers that the entire ship is overrun with parasitic infections.
It is influenced by survival horror games such as ‘Dead Space’, ‘Resident Evil’, and ‘The Callisto Protocol’, and also features body horror elements inspired by the movie ‘The Thing’ and the works of HR Giger.
It is currently being developed by a small team of senior developers based on Unreal Engine 5.6, and the official release date has not been announced.
[ Speakers’ Choice ]
Game Design Excellence Award: Blue Prince
Released in April 2025, Dogubomb’s debut title ‘Blue Prince’ is a puzzle adventure game where you explore the constantly changing Mount Holly mansion and find the hidden 46th room.
Players will explore every corner of the mansion, solve puzzles, and uncover secrets from the past surrounding blackmail, political conspiracies, and the disappearance of a local children’s literature author.
Since its release, ‘Blue Prince’ has received high acclaim and is consistently cited as one of the representative puzzle adventures of 2025. This award is also significant in that it was selected through direct voting by the Gamescom Dev Speaker community rather than by a general judging panel.
* Ambassador Award: Amir Satbat
Amir Satvat, Director of Business Development at Tencent Games, has been operating a free support network for game industry professionals through ASGC (A Support Group for Creatives), which he founded.
He was selected as the Ambassador Award winner through a vote by the Gamescom Dev Speaker Community in recognition of his consistent provision of career support, community activities, and practical assistance amidst growing industry-wide change and uncertainty.
The ‘Gamescom Dev Awards 2026’ was an event where various indie projects submitted to the Gamescom Dev Indie Expo received attention in their own ways.
Games of various genres were named winners, ranging from stop-motion horror depicting the breakdown of a family amidst war to stealth puzzles based on the media of a totalitarian society, works combining deck-building and tower defense, and already highly acclaimed puzzle adventures.
Through this, it is being evaluated that this year’s Gamescom Dev has established itself as a stage to once again confirm the potential of indie games that showcase original ideas and individuality, transcending scale and genre.
Gamescom dev awards 2026 – Winners
- Visual Excellence Award:
MUTTER – DeadlyCrow Games - Most Innovative Game – powered by Epic Games:
PRAVDA(concept25) – Floating Stone Studio - Most Promising Game:
Cards & Cannons – Flamehead Games - Best Sound Design:
INVASIA – Rocat Games - Game Design Excellence Award – Speakers’ Choice:
Blue Prince – Dogubomb / Raw Fury - Ambassador Award – Speakers’ Choice:
Amir Satvat – Business Development Director at Tencent Games and founder of ASGC
