gamescom dev expands 2026 program with second keynote and gamescom dev awards
gamescom dev has announced another major program update for its 2026 edition, taking place August 23-25 at the Confex Center in Cologne. The latest announcements include a second keynote by Anthony Gallegos, Creative Director at UnknownWorlds, two additional highlight sessions, and the gamescom dev awards, celebrating outstanding indie games and exceptional contributions to the games industry.
Following the announcement of opening keynote speaker Amir Satvat, gamescom dev continues to expand its conference program, which already features more than 200 confirmed speakers. Additional sessions and program updates will be announced in the coming weeks.
Second Keynote: Anthony Gallegos on creating the next chapter of Subnautica
Anthony Gallegos, Creative Director at UnknownWorlds, will deliver the conference's second keynote, ”The Perils and Freedom of Making a Sequel to 'Subnautica'”.
Drawing on his experience leading the development of Subnautica 2, Gallegos will explore one of game development's most familiar creative challenges: how to evolve a beloved franchise while preserving the qualities that made players fall in love with it. His keynote will offer insights into sequel development, creative risk-taking, player expectations, and the balance between innovation and familiarity.
Before joining Unknown Worlds, Gallegos worked across game design, games media, and consulting, contributing to premium and free-to-play titles on multiple platforms throughout his career.
Additional program highlights
The latest speaker announcement also adds two new sessions exploring leadership and emerging technologies in game development.
In "Be the Tank: The Leadership Dev Teams Deserve," Fleur Marty (Executive Producer, Gearbox Entertainment) reflects on the evolving responsibilities of leaders in today's games industry, examining how trust, clarity, and accountability have become essential qualities for guiding development teams through increasingly complex production environments.
Meanwhile, Duygu Cakmak (R&D Director, Creative Assembly) takes a practical look at one of the industry's fastest-moving technologies in "Careful What You Wish For: Shipping Games in the First Era of Coding Agents." Her session explores how AI-generated code is changing software development workflows and what studios need to consider when integrating coding agents safely into production.
gamescom dev awards celebrate outstanding teams and individuals
On Monday afternoon (August 24, Main Stage), the gamescom dev awards will recognize outstanding creativity, innovation, and talent showcased at this year's gamescom dev indie expo while also honoring exceptional contributions to the games industry through two speaker-selected awards.
Awards will be presented in the categories:
Visual Excellence Award
Most Innovative Game (powered by Epic Games)
Most Promising Game
Best Sound Design
Ambassador of the Year (Speakers’ Choice)
Excellence in Game Design (Speakers’ Choice)
The winners of the two speakers’ choice categories will be selected by the gamescom dev speaker community in recognition of individuals and teams whose achievements have made a lasting impact on the games industry.
Additional speakers, sessions, and program updates for gamescom dev 2026 will be announced in the coming weeks.