Gamescom 2026 Sim Racing: What To Expect

Cologne hosts the biggest gaming show on earth from 26 to 30 August, and for sim racing it has quietly become the launch venue that matters. Here is what is already confirmed, what the recent history suggests, and why the MotoGP angle is the one to watch.

Gamescom is not a sim racing show. It is a 230,000 square metre video game trade fair that pulls in over a thousand exhibitors and more than 300,000 visitors. And yet, over the last few years, the last week of August in Cologne has turned into one of the two or three moments in the calendar when sim racing hardware brands actually put new products on the table.

Gamescom 2026 runs from 26 to 30 August at Koelnmesse, with Opening Night Live on the evening of Tuesday 25 August. Wednesday the 26th is primarily a trade and press day, with the general public only admitted from 1pm and only with a premium Wildcard ticket. Thursday to Sunday are full public days.

Here is what we already know is heading there.

MOZA is bringing everything, including the bikes

MOZA confirmed that the entire wave of products it launched on 28 July will be at Gamescom for visitors to try. That means the new R16 Ultra and R5 Pro wheel bases, plus its first motion platform, its AI powered motion feedback system and its AI driving coach. If you want to see where those sit in the range, the current MOZA R16 and the entry level R5 bundle are the models they build on.

That alone would make the booth worth visiting. But the more interesting part is the other thing MOZA is understood to be taking to Cologne: hardware related to its MotoGP partnership.

This has been a long time coming. MOZA announced the MotoGP deal at Gamescom 2025, with a tagline that left very little to the imagination: having conquered the track on four wheels, it was time for two. At the time, no product, no price and no date were communicated. A year on, the company has been openly signalling the direction. Its own CES 2026 messaging described motorcycle simulation as an official new avenue, explicitly framing it as a technical challenge around simulating lean angle and balance feedback.

There is one wrinkle worth flagging. MotoGP 26 is already out. Milestone released it on 29 April 2026 for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch, Switch 2 and PC, built on Unreal Engine 5 with a rider based handling system that manages the rider’s weight and movement. So any MOZA bike hardware shown in Cologne is arriving into an existing game rather than alongside a launch. Whether Milestone patches in native support, whether it waits for MotoGP 27, or whether MOZA targets other titles entirely, is one of the genuine unknowns going into the show.

If MOZA does put a bike rig on the floor, it will be the first serious attempt by a major sim racing manufacturer to build a mass market product for two wheeled racing. That is a bigger story than another wheel base.

Asetek has a launch window pinned to the show

This one is concrete. Asetek SimSports CEO André Eriksen confirmed that three new peripherals, a sequential shifter, an H-pattern shifter and a handbrake, will be available to buy around the time of Gamescom.

Those three products fill the most obvious gap in the Asetek ecosystem. The Danish brand has spent years building out bases, wheels and pedals across the La Prima, Forte and Invicta tiers while leaving shifting and handbrake duties to third parties. Rally and drift drivers running Asetek pedals have had to mix and match, usually with a Heusinkveld sequential, a MOZA HBP handbrake or a Fanatec SQ v1.5 bolted alongside. That ends in Cologne.

Asetek also has form here: it used Gamescom 2025 to officially launch its entry level Initium range, starting with the 5.5 Nm Initium Wheelbase, which was announced with future Xbox compatibility via an Xbox specific steering wheel.

Why Gamescom became a sim racing launch pad

It is worth understanding how this happened, because it tells you what to expect.

The sim racing hardware calendar used to revolve around CES in January and SimRacing Expo in October. Gamescom sat awkwardly in between, a consumer games show where peripheral makers turned up to let people play rather than to announce anything.

MOZA changed that. At Gamescom 2025 the company unveiled the R21 Ultra and R25 Ultra wheel bases with 21 to 25 Nm of true torque, debuted the Lamborghini Revuelto replica wheel, and announced partnerships with both Mercedes-Benz and MotoGP inside the same week. That is a CES sized news dump delivered in August, and it forced everyone else to pay attention to the date.

The logic is straightforward. Late August is roughly six weeks before the new sim racing season kicks into gear, with the iRacing September build, NASCAR 26 on 18 September and the run up to SimRacing Expo Frankfurt in October. Announcing in Cologne gives a product a full autumn selling window. Announcing in October does not.

What we do not know yet

A few honest caveats before you plan your week around this.

• Fanatec has not confirmed anything for Gamescom. Its pattern in recent years has been to save flagship launches for SimRacing Expo, where it launched the Podium DD and Podium Pedals in 2025. Frankfurt in October is the more likely venue for whatever comes next.
• Thrustmaster has a September habit rather than an August one. Its Xbox compatible T598 went to pre-order on 10 September last year, so the brand’s news may land just after the show rather than during it.
• Booth locations and hall numbers are not public yet at the time of writing. If you are attending, check the official Gamescom exhibitor list closer to the date.
• Nothing about MOZA’s bike hardware is officially confirmed. The partnership is real and the intent has been stated repeatedly, but no product has been shown.

Practical details if you are going

• Dates: 26 to 30 August 2026, Koelnmesse, Cologne.
• Opening Night Live: evening of Tuesday 25 August, streamed free worldwide.
• Trade day: Wednesday 26 August, public entry from 1pm with a Wildcard ticket only.
• Public days: Thursday 27 to Sunday 30 August.
• Getting there: Koelnmesse sits beside Köln Messe/Deutz station, walkable from Cologne Hauptbahnhof.
• Tickets: only through the official Gamescom site. Saturday sells out first.

What you can already buy while you wait

If you are upgrading for the new season rather than waiting on a reveal, most of what MOZA will be demoing in Cologne is already on sale, and the current Asetek range is available ahead of the shifters and handbrake arriving. A few sensible starting points depending on where you sit:

• Getting started: the MOZA R5 or the Asetek Initium are the two most complete entry level direct drive packages right now.
• Mid range: the MOZA R16 and the Asetek Forte cover the 16 to 18 Nm bracket where most people stop.
• High end: the MOZA R21 Ultra, the Asetek Invicta and the Fanatec Podium DD are the current reference points.
• Pedals first: if your base is fine and your braking is not, the Asetek Invicta pedals or Heusinkveld Ultimate+ will do more for your lap times than any wheel base upgrade.
• Rally and drift: until Asetek’s arrive, the MOZA SGP sequential, the MOZA HGP H-pattern and the Heusinkveld handbrake are the safe picks.

Our full MOZA R21 Ultra review and R16 review go deeper on the bases the new Ultra models are built on, and our Fanatec Podium DD review is the reference point at the top end. For a wider look at where the market sits this year, start with our 2026 sim racing hardware guide.

MOZA’s PlayStation move, which we covered when Polyphony clarified Fanatec’s position in the Gran Turismo World Series, is the other thread likely to develop in Cologne.

We will be covering Gamescom 2026 as it happens. This article will be updated with every confirmed sim racing announcement from Cologne.

See you on the track!