Future Games Show Highlights: Gamescom Edition

Future Games Show has gradually become one of the best place for AA and indie games. Away from the pomp of Geoff Keighley‘s showcases, it happens four times a year and always feature a pair of voice actors previewing dozens of video games, many of which viewers have never heard of. This time, their fall showcase was timed to debut with Gamescom and featured well over forty different projects, either from brand-new titles or updates on existing ones.

The opening reveal was the next game in Expression Games’ Hell Let Loose series. Hell Let Loose: Vietnam skips ahead to the Vietnam war, challenging players with giant maps where massive teams battle it out to achieve victory. Offering six maps, new aerial units and patrol boats, this new title looks to give FPS fans another realistic war game to play.

Edge of Memories comes from Midgar Studio, the studio known for their work on Edge of Eternity. Though Edge of Eternity wasn’t very strongly received, Edge of Memories looks considerably better with its gorgeous visuals and exciting action combat. That said, it is being delayed into 2026, which is great since the remainder of 2025 looks absolutely packed.

Publisher Dear Villages also confirmed another game: an action-adventure title set in 14th century Italy called 1348 Ex Voto. Developed by Sedleo, it follows Aeta, a knight fighting her way across the Italian Peninsula to find her “closest one”, Bianca. The game looks absolutely stunning, while coming with the surprising release date of early 2026.

It feels like side-scrolling platformers about cute animals and young kids have become common for indie titles. Nonetheless, when they look as pretty and as heartfelt as Deer & Boy, it’s hard to say the gaming industry doesn’t need more of them. This trailer also confirmed the game is being published by Deaer Villagers, and hopefully releasing in 2026.

Normally, Future Games Show’s “Ones to Watch” section doesn’t feature all that much in the way of legitimately new content. However, developer Rebel Wolves is invested in getting The Blood of Dawnwalker out by 2026, so they’re going all out with the PR. This trailer not only offers a breakdown of the title’s basic premise, but features snippets of new gameplay as well.

Recur is probably one of the most clever games I’ve seen in a long while. It’s a side-scrolling puzzle game, where moving backwards rewinds time, while moving forward allows time to travel forward. Though it sounds simple, the trailer demonstrates how complex the puzzles can get. If this game lives up to its promise, it’s certain to be one of the better titles of 2026.

Like dungeon diving? Ever wished games cut out literally every other aspect of fantasy RPGs except dungeon diving? Chief Rebel and Arc Games are presenting just such an experience with Fellowship, which goes into Early Access on October 9th.

DINOGOD and Annapurna Interactive have been showing off Bouty Star: The Morose Tale of Graveyard Clem for over two years now. Finally, Future Games Show offered potential players a release date trailer. The game comes to PlayStation 5, Xbox Series, Steam, and the Epic Games Store on October 23rd.

As for the game itself … ever wanted to control a giant robot in a post-post-apocalyptic wasteland? Bounty Star puts players in the role of Clem, a veteran and former mech pilot who just wants to live out the rest of her life in peace. She spends most of her time working on her homestead, but occasionally takes on bounties to improve her home or her giant robot.

Mech games are often focused on action and leave out the character, so its nice to have something like Bounty Star to offer both.

Lost Hellden is a beautifully hand painted RPG from developer Artisan Studio, previously known for their work on Astria Ascending.

While Astria Ascending didn’t light the world on fire, smaller games like this allow development studios to keep growing and improving. This game already looks noticeably better than Astria Ascending both in art style and combat.

Serial World is very much Not!Pokemon, but its Not!Pokemon with roguelike and deckbuilder elements to shake things up, along with a surprisingly jazzy soundtrack. That’ll probably be enough to keep Nintendo off their back, but will it be enough to garner interest when the game releases in 2026? That’s not as clear, but it certainly deserves the spotlight.

Near the end of the Future Games Show, Envar Studio revealed a new title, Witchspire, a co-op survival experience where players take on the role of novice witches and wizards. It’s anime cinematic is undeniably memorable, though it’s a little unfortunate there wasn’t a glimpse at the gameplay. So far, the best that’s available is some screenshots on the game’s Steam page.

So far, it looks like Eternal Strands with survival elements. It’s scheduled for a 2026 release though, so there’s plenty of time to show gameplay.

Developer Team Matter and publisher Gaijin Entertainment popped back up with another look at their PvPvE first-person game nspired by SCP lore, Active Matter. The game takes place in a multiverse torn apart by a quantum disaster, leaving everyone stuck in a time loop. Each time someone dies, they come back to life in the same spot, leaving them stuck trying to gather enough active matter to hopefully change things.

It’s interesting how popular extraction games have become as of late, but most of them don’t quite nail down what fans love the most. This is another fast-moving game that seems like there’s too much going on at once, but maybe it’ll be one of the few to achieve similar success to something like Escape from Tarkov.

All-in-all, a fairly exciting show with just the highlights alone, although there were plenty more available for fans who want to sit through the full four hour experience.