At gamescom 2026, RAW TALENT will once again bring student-made games to the Indie Area in Hall 10.2. This year, more than 380 students from 18 public universities across Germany, Iceland, Norway, Austria and Switzerland will present more than 90 games developed as part of their studies.

The initiative was launched in 2024 by Prof. Dr. Greta Hoffmann, Professor for Game Design at the Cologne Game Lab and Head of the AG Nachwuchsförderung der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Spielwissenschaft e. V. (DGSW). She is also leading the organization of this year’s RAW TALENT appearance. For the first time, the DGSW is the official organizer of the stand.

The games presented at RAW TALENT cover a broad range of genres, gameplay mechanics and artistic approaches. Among them are projects such as Koshari Defense from Graz University of Technology, which combines tower defense with the construction of an electrical grid in ancient Egypt, Taflheim from ETH Zurich, which transforms the historical Viking board game Tafl into a pixel-style strategy game, and PinPals from Nord University, a multiplayer game set in a virtual pinball arena.

The Cologne Game Lab is represented by 12 teams from Broken Paternoster Games, the student-run publishing label established at CGL. Their projects include Tony the Mole, Snout About and Abraca Drunk, showcasing the diverse range of games developed by CGL students.

RAW TALENT provides an opportunity for students to present their work to an international audience, meet other developers and industry professionals, and exchange ideas with gamescom visitors.

The 2026 RAW TALENT stand is supported by MFG Medien- und Filmgesellschaft Baden-Württemberg, Film- und Medienstiftung NRW and Universitätsverein Bayreuth.