Pearl Abyss' Crimson Desert has been named to the list of nominees for the gamescom Awards 2026, announced on August 24 local time. It earned nominations in two categories: Most Epic and Best PC Game.

The awards target entries showcased in the Entertainment Area during the event. The organizing committee stated that an international jury composed of gaming journalists and content creators selected the nominees from among the submissions.

There are five nominees for Most Epic, including Crimson Desert. It will compete against METRO: 2039 (4A Games / Deep Silver), STRANGER THAN HEAVEN (RGG Studio / SEGA), Tides of Annihilation (Eclipse Glow Games), and Total War: WARHAMMER 40,000 (Creative Assembly / SEGA). In Best PC Game, it faces off against Alien: Isolation 2, Guns of Eskerton, METRO: 2039, and Total War: WARHAMMER 40,000.

Age Twister (Piccolo Studio), published by Krafton, was also selected as a nominee in the Most Wholesome category.

METRO: 2039 earned the most nominations. In addition to Best Visuals and Most Epic, it was named across all upcoming platform categories, securing a total of five nominations. Indie title Denshattack! (Undercoders / Fireshine Games), which was revealed at gamescom Opening Night Live 2025, and Alien: Isolation 2 (Creative Assembly / SEGA) received four nominations each. Adding two nominations each for Total War: WARHAMMER 40,000 and STRANGER THAN HEAVEN to those two titles, SEGA secured a total of eight nominations as a publisher.

gamescom 2026 will run from August 26 to 30 in Cologne, Germany. Winners in the ARTS and PLATFORM groups, along with Best Booth (Consumer Award), Best Merch, and Best Trailer/Announcement, will be decided by fan votes. Voting takes place from August 26 through August 27 at 2:00 PM (9:00 PM KST) via the official website (gamescom.global) and on-site QR codes. Best Lineup, Best Booth, Best Business Booth, and HEART OF GAMING are categories determined by the jury.