Saturday, 24 October 2026
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Game & Co.

Square Enix is accepting entries for SQUARE ENIX GAME CONTEST 2026 from December 15, 2026 through March 15, 2027, with a total prize pool of 1 billion yen. The contest follows gamescom 2026, which drew nearly 370,000 visitors.

Synthesized from 13 Yomimono stories · updated 2d ago

Square Enix opened SQUARE ENIX GAME CONTEST 2026 with a total prize pool of 1 billion yen, executive officer Yosuke Saito said. Entries run from December 15, 2026 to March 15, 2027, and the company says it will always pick winners from the submitted works. Saito, who supervises the contest operations office, said the contest is meant to support developers who build around original ideas regardless of team size, and he pointed to the 1982 Game Hobby Program Contest as precedent. There is no age limit.

The contest lands after a busy gamescom 2026 in Cologne. The event ran August 26 to 30 and drew nearly 370,000 visitors from 131 countries, with some 1,600 exhibitors. Organizers said the exhibition area sold out entirely through reservations, and gamescom dev opened as Europe's official B2B conference with over 220 sessions. Publisher 2P Games made its first gamescom appearance, while KRAFTON used the event for a world premiere of an unannounced PUBG IP action FPS. Opening Night Live returned with host Geoff Keighley.

The surrounding coverage is less about any single studio. Daybreak Game Company and Game Jawn launched EverQuest Legends with a multi-class system of over 560 build combinations. Stolen Valor Studios' $200 joke game sold about 6,700 copies before 99.9 percent were refunded. Inti Creates set Azure Striker Gunvolt Trilogy Enhanced for Switch 2 on October 22. Those stories sit apart from the contest and the Cologne event.

Key facts

Contest entry window
December 15, 2026 through March 15, 2027 ↗
Total prize pool
1 billion yen ↗
Contest supervisor
Executive officer Yosuke Saito ↗
gamescom 2026 attendance
Nearly 370,000 visitors from 131 countries, with some 1,600 exhibitors ↗
gamescom dev scope
Over 220 sessions, with an expected 2,500 participating companies and around 5,400 attendees ↗
2P Games booth
Hall 10.1 | B078 C079, its first gamescom appearance ↗
KRAFTON lineup
Five titles at gamescom 2026, including an unannounced PUBG IP action FPS ↗
EverQuest Legends multi-class builds
Over 560 combinations ↗
Gunvolt Switch 2 date
October 22 for Nintendo Switch 2 ↗
Refund collapse
99.9 percent of purchases refunded, leaving developer Michael Major about 2,000 dollars ↗

Timeline

Synthesized by Yomimono from the cited Yomimono stories below, each itself sourced, then editorially reviewed. Every fact links the story it came from.

Facts

Announced
will sell the high-end model of Pico-can on Amazon in November 2026 at 5,980 yen including tax · 2026-10-09

Connections

Produces
xross stars, pico can, pick a boo

Structured graph also available as JSON at /public/entities/game-co. CC BY 4.0.

All coverage

Oct 16

Square Enix Opens Game Contest 2026 With 1 Billion Yen Prize Pool

Square Enix will accept entries for SQUARE ENIX GAME CONTEST 2026 from December 15, 2026, through March 15, 2027, the company's executive officer Yosuke Saito said in an interview. The contest carries a total prize pool of 1 billion yen, and the company says it will always choose winning entries from the submitted works. Saito, who supervises the contest's operations office, described the plan as a way to support developers who build games around original ideas, whatever their team size. He pointed to Square Enix's Game Hobby Program Contest in 1982, where Yuji Horii and Koichi Nakamura won awards before Horii created Dragon Quest in 1986. There is no age limit on applications. Saito said the contest wants games that push a single concept hard, naming Astronoka and Voice of Cards as examples.

Sep 11

Hololive Pop Up Shop Tours Five Cities Starting October 3

Cover Corporation will open the "hololive production official pop up shop" at Ikebukuro PACKS from Saturday, October 3, 2026, with cooperative operation by MOVIC Co., Ltd. The tour covers Tokyo, Nagoya, Fukuoka, Osaka, and Sapporo, beginning with Ikebukuro through Sunday, November 1, 2026. Nagoya runs Friday, November 6 to Monday, November 23, 2026. Fukuoka follows Friday, December 11 to Sunday, December 20, 2026, Osaka Saturday, January 9 to Sunday, January 17, 2027, and Sapporo Friday, March 19 to Sunday, March 28, 2027. Original merchandise based on newly drawn bus guide visuals will be sold, with regional products: Tokyo carries three talents, and each later city carries two. Some hololive official goods and licensed merchandise will also be available. Admission restrictions using LivePocket-Ticket- are planned for the first two days in Ikebukuro, with possible numbered tickets afterward depending on crowding. Locations for Nagoya onward and business hours are to be updated on the special site.

Sep 7

Gamescom 2026 Drew 370,000 Visitors in a Five-Day Overflow of Playable Demos and Cosplay

gamescom 2026 ran for five days from August 26 to 30 in Cologne, drawing nearly 370,000 visitors from 131 countries. Some 1,600 companies exhibited, including many Japanese game firms. Automaton staff on the ground reported long lines for playable demos, merchandise, widespread cosplay, a streamed cosplay contest, and a calmer business area, while noting the venue's vast scale made scheduling difficult.

Aug 29

gamescom 2026 Aims for First Fully Booked Exhibition Area

gamescom 2026 exhibitor registrations rose 15% year-on-year at the end of the early-bird period, setting a record for the third consecutive year. Organizers say the exhibition area will be completely full for the first time in 2026, and they are already planning venue expansions for 2027 and beyond.

Aug 28

Gamescom Dev Opens in Cologne as Europe's B2B Developer Conference

Europe's largest developer conference, gamescom dev, opened at Koelnmesse in Cologne ahead of gamescom 2026. Formerly the devcom Developer Conference since 2017, it was renamed and absorbed into the gamescom brand as the event's official B2B conference. The two-day event features over 220 sessions, with an expected 2,500 participating companies and around 5,400 attendees.

Aug 21

2P Games Brings Sultan's Game and New Slate to First gamescom Appearance

Publisher 2P Games announced it will exhibit for the first time at gamescom 2026, running August 26 to 30 in Cologne, Germany. The booth, Hall 10.1 | B078 C079, will feature playable versions of released hits including Sultan's Game and Girls and Academy Castle, plus a lineup of upcoming titles like the daughter-raising sim How to Raise a Beloved Daughter in Immortal Village.

Aug 17

Gamescom 2026 Organizers Detail Hybrid Event Plans in Interview

Gamescom 2026 runs August 26-30 in Cologne, Germany. Organizers Tim Endres and Stefan Heikhaus told Denfaminicogamer the event is pursuing a hybrid model, citing growth in digital views from over 200,000 in 2022 to over 1.1 billion by 2025. New programs include the first gamescom GDQ speedrun event and an IGN-produced indie showcase.

Aug 10

Gamescom 2026 Dates Set for August 26-30, Opening Night Live Returns

Gamescom 2026 will run from August 26 to 30 in Cologne, Germany, with the opening night event scheduled for August 25 at 3:00 AM Japan time (August 26 local). The German Games Industry Association (game) and Koelnmesse report that this year's exhibition space sold out entirely through reservations for the first time, despite last year's expansion, making it the largest gamescom to date. Exhibitors include Japanese companies Nintendo, Bandai Namco, Capcom, Sega, and Konami, alongside EA, Ubisoft, Xbox, CD PROJEKT RED, Deep Silver, Focus Entertainment, KRAFTON, NC, HoYoverse, NetEase, and Tencent Games. Several titles will offer their first public playable demos, including Capcom's Dragon's Dogma 2: Dark Arisen, Konami's Castlevania: Belmont's Curse, and Sega's Stranger Than Heaven. The event will also feature a dedicated Games Done Quick speedrun stage, with live programs running about ten hours daily from Friday to Sunday. Opening Night Live, hosted by Geoff Keighley and Eefje "sjokz" Depoortere, will include new trailers, gameplay reveals, and information on Metro 2039 and The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt expansion "Melody of Memories."

Aug 8

Steam Joke Game's 1.4 Million Dollar Sales Collapse to 2,000 After Refunds

Stolen Valor Studios' joke game 'This Game Costs 200 Dollars' sold about 6,700 copies, earning roughly 1.4 million dollars, but 99.9 percent of purchases were refunded, leaving developer Michael Major with about 2,000 dollars. Nearly all buyers were in China, and Major suspects a promotion or scheme drove the surge.

Aug 6

EverQuest Legends Launches With Multi-Classing and Solo Play

Daybreak Game Company and Game Jawn have launched EverQuest Legends, a modernized take on the 1999 classic. The game keeps the original's retro visuals, soundtrack, and areas but revamps systems for solo and casual play, including a multi-class system with over 560 build combinations. It is available now via a base package.

Aug 5

KRAFTON to Reveal Unannounced PUBG IP Action FPS at gamescom 2026

KRAFTON announced on August 5, 2026 that it will exhibit five titles at gamescom 2026, including an unannounced new project from PUBG STUDIOS based on the PUBG IP. The new title is an action FPS set in the deep forests and small towns of the American Pacific Northwest, against what the company calls an important era in American cultural history. KRAFTON positions the game as inheriting the DNA of the PUBG series and aims to provide a game experience where new stories are born each time the player plays. The company's special page for gamescom 2026 states that a world premiere will take place at the event. The other four titles in the lineup are NO LAW, an immersive open-world FPS RPG set in the cyber-noir port city Port Desire; Project ZETA, a multi-team tactical arena where three-person teams of four compete; Age Twisters, a two-player cooperative narrative adventure about a grandfather and granddaughter in near-future Barcelona; and TARAE: The Unbound, an original Eastern dark fantasy action RPG inspired by the worldview of the Six Paths of Reincarnation. gamescom 2026 will be held in Cologne, Germany, from August 26 to August 30 local time.

Jun 24

Azure Striker Gunvolt Trilogy Enhanced Launches for Switch 2 on October 22

Inti Creates announced that the Azure Striker Gunvolt Trilogy Enhanced collection will launch for Nintendo Switch 2 on October 22. The Switch 2 Edition adds a new story mode, 'Azure Striker Gunvolt GX,' featuring a tag-team duo with new abilities and an Inspiration system. A paid upgrade pack is available for existing Switch owners, and the developer is considering releasing the new mode as DLC for other platforms.

Jun 8

Aliens: Fireteam Elite 2 Demo Shows 4-Player Co-Op and Expanded Classes

A playable demo of Aliens: Fireteam Elite 2 at Summer Game Fest: Play Days 2026 reveals the sequel expands from three-player to four-player co-op, overhauls the class system to six classes including a flexible Specialist, adds crouch and electric shock baton melee, and introduces temporary health and team-shared supply items.