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Level up

your ideas and strategies

Meet the international game dev scene at gamescom dev 2026, from young founders to legendary industry veterans.

Expand your knowledge with exclusive talks, panel discussions, fireside chats, and roundtables, or participate in insightful workshops.

The conference program will feature around 220+ sessions by 390+ speakers.

Session types

Talks and keynotes

From best practices and insightful case studies to keynotes, reports and post mortems – our talks revolve around a large variety of focus topics, ranging from game, narrative, or visual design over business, leadership, audio, and many more.

20 min or 50 min sessions
incl. 5-10 min Q&A

Panel discussions

No proper conference without engaging panel discussions on current trends and challenges within the global games industry.

50 min session incl. 5-10 min Q&A

Fireside chats

Interview-style conversations with the industry’s veterans, thought leaders, pioneers, and straight-up legends. Our Fireside Chats explore the journey of innovation, leadership, and the future of game development.

20 min or 50 min sessions incl. 5-10 min Q&A

Roundtables

Our interactive discussion rounds allow attendees to not only listen but actively engage in conversations on current hot topics, as well as mentoring sessions. These are neither streamed nor recorded in order to create a more intimate and safer atmosphere – some things you just don’t want to discuss on-stage.

60-80 min session incl. Q&A

Workshops

From hands-on courses to extended Q&As – under the supervision of our handpicked lecturers our workshops will allow you to dive deeper into specific topics of interest, and allow you to hone your very own craft.

60-80 min session incl. Q&A

Tracks & topics

AI in Gameplay*
AI in Production*
Animation*
Arts, Visuals & VFX
Audio & Sound Design
Business
Community Management
Culture

Diversity, Accessibility & Inclusion
Game Design
Leadership***
Legal**
Level Design*
Mental Health
Mobile

Multiplayer
Narrative Design
PR & Marketing
Production
Research & Education
Tech & Coding
UX / UI
VR / XR

Tracks & topics

AI in Gameplay*
AI in Production*
Animation*
Arts, Visuals & VFX
Audio & Sound Design
Business
Community Management
Culture
Diversity, Accessibility & Inclusion
Game Design
Leadership***
Legal**
Level Design*
Mental Health
Mobile
Multiplayer
Narrative Design
PR & Marketing
Production
Research & Education
Tech & Coding
UX / UI
VR / XR

*Specialized co-curated tracks

gamescom dev 2026 will feature several co-curated tracks designed to provide focused learning and discussion around specific areas of game development. Created in collaboration with experienced industry professionals, these tracks combine expert-led sessions, case studies, and practical insights.

AI in Gameplay & AI in Production

Spanning both conference days, the AI Track will explore one of the industry’s fastest-evolving topics through two major lenses: AI in Gameplay and AI in Production.

Co-curated with the team behind AI and Games Conference, the track is led by Tommy Thompson, Shraddha Gupta, Duygu Cakmak, Dr. Gabriel Robert, and Matthias Siemonsmeier. Sessions will feature perspectives from companies including Tencent Games, Electronic Arts, Wargaming, JetBrains, Room 8 Group, Katapult Ridge, and additional contributors to be announced.

→ See sessions: AI in Gameplay

→ See sessions: AI in Production

Animation

Co-curated in collaboration with Mike Jungbluth (Animation Director at Compulsion Games), the Animation Track brings together leading animation specialists to explore character performance, animation pipelines, technical workflows, and production challenges.

Featured speakers include Mike Jungbluth, representatives from Fumi Games (MOUSE: P.I. For Hire), Julius Gierbig (CD PROJEKT RED), Gethin Aldous, Kevin Boyer (Rogue Factor), Ramin Safarpour (Ubisoft Mainz), and additional speakers to be announced.

→ See sessions: Animation

Level Design

For the first time, gamescom dev will present a dedicated Level Design track, co-curated by Blake Rebouche (Guerrilla Games), Miles Tost (CD PROJEKT RED), and Seth Marinello (Double Fine).

The track focuses on world-building, player guidance, environmental storytelling, and modern level design practices, featuring speakers including Konstantinos Dimopoulos (Zero Parades: For Dead Spies), Magnus Brauckhoff (KING Art Games), Alexandre Zenga (Rogue Factor), Donald Barrett (Insomniac Games), and representatives from Pearl Abyss (Crimson Desert), and Infold Games (Infinity Nikki).

→ See sessions: Level Design

**gamescom legal summit

For the first time, gamescom has a dedicated program for games lawyers. Embedded in gamescom dev, the inaugural legal summit takes place on Tuesday, Aug 25 on Stage 4, offering practitioners from around the world both a reason to make the trip to Cologne and a full afternoon of substance once they get there.

From EU legislative developments and the Digital Fairness Act to inhouse insights, self-regulation updates and a US policy perspective: the gamescom legal summit brings together the people shaping games law in Europe and beyond, organised by game – The German Games Industry Association and Video Games Europe.

See legal summit sessions

***gamescom dev leadership summit @ Cologone

The Cologne edition of the gamescom dev leadership summit will once again be integrated into the conference program, taking place on Monday, 11:15 am – 4:30 pm, and featuring exclusive sessions tailored to C-level professionals and senior decision-makers in the games industry.

This summit is a closed, invitation and VIP pass holder only afternoon for senior leaders in the games industry. No press, no recordings, nothing quoted outside the room. Around 60 to 80 founders, studio heads and executives spend the afternoon on the conversations that don’t happen on a conference stage.

See leadership summit sessions