Gamescom 2024 feels like both a recent memory and a distant checkpoint. I remember watching the awards stream, refreshing pages, and arguing with friends about which trailer deserved the spotlight. Now, in 2026, the dust has settled, and looking back at that winners list is a strange, satisfying exercise. Capcom's Monster Hunter Wilds dominated, Little Nightmares 3 crept up with multiple wins, and a handful of indies and mobile giants stole categories that could have gone to blockbusters. Did we know then how much these awards would foreshadow the next two years? Maybe not. But the list still tells a fascinating story about taste, hype, and craft.
๐ The Full Winners List, Revisited
| Award | Winner | Notable Nominees |
|---|---|---|
| Best Trailer | Monster Hunter Wilds | โ |
| Best Booth | Microsoft / Xbox / Bethesda / Blizzard | โ |
| Best Visuals | Little Nightmares 3 | Crimson Desert, Dune: Awakening, Empire of the Ants, Star Wars Outlaws |
| Best Audio | Little Nightmares 3 | Dune: Awakening, Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2, Nine Sols, Star Wars Outlaws |
| Best Gameplay | Frostpunk 2 | Blue Prince, Empire of the Ants, PVKK: Planetenverteidigungskanonenkommandant, The Alters |
| Most Entertaining | Monster Hunter Wilds | inZoi, Palworld, PVKK: Planetenverteidigungskanonenkommandant, Star Wars Outlaws |
| Most Epic | Monster Hunter Wilds | Crimson Desert, Dune: Awakening, Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2, Star Wars Outlaws |
| Best Indie | Tavern Talk | Creatures of Ava, Tiny Bookshop, Urban Jungle, Woodo |
| Best Family | Creatures of Ava | GreenGuardiansVR, Out & About, REKA, Tiny Bookshop |
| Best Xbox Game | Little Nightmares 3 | Age of Mythology: Retold, Creatures of Ava, Star Wars Outlaws, The Alters |
| Best PC Game | Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 | Dune: Awakening, Empire of the Ants, Frostpunk 2, The Alters |
| Best PlayStation Game | Monster Hunter Wilds | Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero, Little Nightmares 3, The First Berserker: Khazan, Unknown 9: Awakening |
| Best Mobile Game | Genshin Impact | Digital Animals Game, Dungeons of Dreadlock 2 - The Dead King's Secret, Monster Hunter Now, Zenless Zone Zero |
๐ Monster Hunter Wilds: The Unstoppable Winner
Was Monster Hunter Wilds simply too big to ignore? Absolutely. It won Best Trailer, Most Entertaining, Most Epic, and Best PlayStation Game. That is four awards, and it did not lose a single category it was nominated in. In 2026, I can say the hype was not empty. Capcom's vision of a living, breathing ecosystem felt like the natural next step for the series, and the awards were an early signal that the industry was ready to follow it into the wild.
What I find interesting is how the wins were spread across different kinds of appeal. Best Trailer rewards marketing. Most Entertaining rewards the fantasy of play. Most Epic rewards scale and ambition. Best PlayStation Game rewards platform confidence. Monster Hunter Wilds checked every box, and it did so before most of us had even held the controller. That is rare.
๐ Little Nightmares 3: Small Nightmares, Big Audio and Visuals
Little Nightmares 3 won three out of the four categories it was nominated for: Best Visuals, Best Audio, and Best Xbox Game. Only Best PlayStation Game slipped away, and it lost to Monster Hunter Wilds. That is not exactly a shameful defeat. Supermassive Games and Bandai Namco proved that a co-op nightmare could still feel intimate, creepy, and beautifully composed.
Did Little Nightmares 3 deserve every audio and visual nod? I think so. The series has always excelled at using sound to make small spaces feel enormous and hostile. In 2024, that craft was obvious even in trailers and hands-off demos. By 2026, it remains a reminder that atmosphere is not a luxury feature. It is the whole point.
๐ง The Quiet Victories: Frostpunk 2, Tavern Talk, Creatures of Ava, and More
Not every winner was a blockbuster. Frostpunk 2 took Best Gameplay, beating Blue Prince, Empire of the Ants, PVKK: Planetenverteidigungskanonenkommandant, and The Alters. That win felt like a nod to systems-driven design, moral pressure, and the kind of strategy game that makes you stare at a screen for ten minutes before making one decision.
Tavern Talk won Best Indie over Creatures of Ava, Tiny Bookshop, Urban Jungle, and Woodo. Creatures of Ava won Best Family over GreenGuardiansVR, Out & About, REKA, and Tiny Bookshop. Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 won Best PC Game over Dune: Awakening, Empire of the Ants, Frostpunk 2, and The Alters. And Genshin Impact won Best Mobile Game over Digital Animals Game, Dungeons of Dreadlock 2 - The Dead King's Secret, Monster Hunter Now, and Zenless Zone Zero.
What does it mean when a mobile game like Genshin Impact beats dedicated handheld and mobile nominees? It means live-service worlds are not a side show. They are a main stage. It also means gamescom voters were willing to reward games that live in our pockets, not just on our TVs.
๐ What the 2024 Awards Tell Me in 2026
Looking back, the gamescom 2024 awards were not just a scoreboard. They were a mood board. They showed a year where monster hunting, horror co-op, survival strategy, and free-to-play anime worlds could all share the spotlight. They also showed that platform-specific categories matter, even if Nintendo was excluded from the platform awards that year. Xbox, PC, PlayStation, and mobile each had a distinct identity, and each winner said something about that audience.
Do I still care about award lists two years later? I do, but for different reasons. In 2024, I cared about predictions. In 2026, I care about memory. I can look at Monster Hunter Wilds and remember the excitement before launch. I can look at Little Nightmares 3 and remember how much I wanted to play it with headphones on. I can look at Frostpunk 2 and remember that strategy games can still surprise a broad audience.
If you are like me and keep a mental shelf of gamescom moments, the 2024 winners list is worth another look. It is a time capsule of what we were excited about before the releases, delays, patches, and surprise updates. In 2026, it is less a prediction and more a mirror. And honestly? I still enjoy staring into it. ๐ฎ