Pearl Abyss's open-world action title "Crimson Desert" is nominated for Most Epic and Best PC Game, while "Age Twisters," a two-player adventure developed by Krafton subsidiary Piccolo Studio, is competing for Most Wholesome.
The nominations give Korean developers another shot at a Gamescom award after several years of near misses.
"Lies of P" became the first Korean game to win three Gamescom awards in 2022, taking Best Action Adventure Game, Best Role Playing Game and Most Wanted Sony PlayStation Game. No Korean title has won since.
Competition is stiff again this year.
"METRO 2039," from 4A Games and Deep Silver, leads the field with five nominations. "Alien: Isolation 2" and "Denshattack!" have four each, while Sega titles collected eight nominations in total.
Fans and visitors can vote for nominees in the Arts and Platform categories from Wednesday through Thursday. Winners will be announced Friday at the Gamescom award show.
The awards race comes as Korean game companies expand their presence at Gamescom beyond their traditional strength in online and mobile gaming and push more heavily into PC and console titles for global markets.
Krafton is bringing five playable titles to its own booth, including "Age Twisters," "NO LAW," "Project ZETA" and "TARAE: The Unbound." The company will also unveil an unreleased title from PUBG Studios based on the PUBG intellectual property.
"AION 2" is scheduled to begin global early access on Sept. 30, while ArenaNet's "Guild Wars 3" will be presented in the business-to-business exhibition area.
Pearl Abyss is putting "Crimson Desert" in front of visitors at Samsung Electronics' booth, where the game will run on the Odyssey G8. Samsung describes the 32-inch display as the world's first 6K gaming monitor.
The bigger Korean presence comes as Gamescom itself heads for another record year.
More than 1,600 companies from 67 countries are participating in the 2026 event, while its 233,000 square meters of exhibition space have been fully booked for the first time. About 70 percent of exhibitors are based outside Germany. Last year's Gamescom drew 357,000 visitors from 128 countries.
Artificial intelligence is also taking a more prominent place in the industry's discussions this year.
The focus comes as adoption of generative AI spreads even while resistance among game developers grows.
The 2026 State of the Game Industry survey found that 36 percent of industry professionals use generative AI in their work. But 52 percent said the technology is having a negative impact on the industry, up from 30 percent a year earlier.
Concerns have also spread to digital storefronts. An analysis of more than 53,000 Steam releases found that 30.8 percent of new games released so far this year carried disclosures indicating the use of artificial intelligence, adding to concerns that low-cost AI production could make it harder for smaller studios to stand out.
For Korean publishers, however, the immediate test in Cologne is more conventional: whether their expanding global push can finally produce another Gamescom trophy.
AJP Takeaways
• South Korea is seeking its first Gamescom award since Neowiz's "Lies of P" won three trophies in 2022, with "Crimson Desert" and "Age Twisters" nominated this year.
• Krafton, NC and Pearl Abyss are bringing a broader lineup of PC and console titles to Gamescom 2026 as Korean game makers accelerate their push into global markets.
• Gamescom 2026 will draw more than 1,600 exhibitors from 67 countries, while artificial intelligence is emerging as a major industry theme amid growing developer resistance to generative AI.
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