Nintendo Will Attend Gamescom 2026, Sparking Speculation For What They'll Show Off

1 week ago 5

Published May 18, 2026, 12:33 PM EDT

Jake Valentine is a Staff Writer at DualShockers with more than two decades of experience covering the video game industry. Since 2004, he has written about games across news, reviews, guides, lists, interviews, and event coverage, with experience covering major shows, preview events, breaking news, and one-on-one developer interviews.

Before joining DualShockers, Jake contributed to Outrun Gaming, GameRant, and The Game Fanatics. He has also worked in editorial, brand management, and operations roles, giving him a broad perspective on both games coverage and digital media. He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Electronic Media and Broadcasting.

While Summer Games Fest has (somewhat) replaced E3 as one of the premier gaming events in the summer, Gamescom is arguably just as big, if not bigger.

Geoff Keighley's "not E3" usually features plenty of surprise announcements and reveals. However, there's still plenty of news that comes out of Gamescom, which is running from August 26th to the 30th in Cologne, Germany.

Today comes the announcement of a somewhat surprising attendee: Nintendo, as confirmed on social media. "Nintendo will be back at Gamescom in 2026! We'll be in Cologne from August 26 to 30 and we are looking forward to seeing you there," the announcement reads.

The company attended the event last year after the launch of the Nintendo Switch 2 system. Their booth featured Metroid Prime 4, Elden Ring (which is still not available on the console at the time of writing), and Hollow Knight: Silksong, among others.

So with that in mind, what will they bring this year?

As it currently stands, the 2026 game lineup from Nintendo is pretty barren, and that's even after the surprise announcement of Star Fox.

In terms of upcoming video games, we have Fire Emblem: Fortune's Weave and...nothing! Star Fox, Splatoon Raiders, and Yoshi and the Mysterious Book will all have been released by the time Gamescom takes place. With that being said, it's time to speculate: what could we see at Nintendo's booth?

Well, there would be some irony in Elden Ring being playable once again, and I'd be shocked if we don't see several third-party games and indies as well. They were present last year, and I don't expect things to change this year.

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Beyond that, though, it's all up in the hair because Nintendo has been extremely tight-lipped. We normally get a large Nintendo Direct in the early months of the year, but we haven't had a "proper" Direct since September 2025. It begs the question: what major franchises are coming to the Nintendo Switch 2?

I wouldn't expect a 3D Mario game so soon after Donkey Kong Bananza, so we can probably rule that out. I'd love to see Super Smash Bros., but we're not even a full year after Kirby Air Riders. There's one franchise, though, that seems to make sense: Animal Crossing. Nintendo has clearly focused on cozy games as of late, following Tomodachi Life and Pokémon Pokopia. Animal Crossing is coming to the Switch 2 at some point. Will Gamescom 2026 be where it makes its grand reveal, or does Nintendo have something else up its sleeve?