On August 26, Gamescom 2026 officially opened at the Koelnmesse in Cologne, Germany. The nomination list for the Gamescom 2026 Annual Game Awards was announced early on the 24th. Duckside, a domestic top-down extraction shooter developed by Team Soda and published by bilibili Games, was successfully nominated for the "Most Entertaining" award. This marks the first time a domestic indie game has been nominated for a Gamescom Annual Game Award in the history of the exhibition!
Breaking Through with Genre Innovation: Stylized Extraction Shooter Gains International Recognition
As the world's largest and most prestigious comprehensive gaming industry exhibition, the Gamescom Annual Game Awards nominations are selected by a professional jury in conjunction with the community. The nomination itself is an industry affirmation of the game's fun factor and gameplay design. Duckside's inclusion marks further attention and recognition from the mainstream overseas industry for domestic creative indie games.
Traditional extraction shooters often focus on hardcore realism and high-barrier PvP combat. Duckside breaks away from the genre's conventional design framework by adopting a cute duck theme and a pure PvE top-down perspective to reimagine the extraction shooter experience. This innovation, with its unique humor and strategic depth, has won the hearts of players worldwide. The nomination also proves that domestic developers are not only capable of replicating mature genres but also have the ability to localize and stylize innovative expansions on established gameplay, providing differentiated design ideas for the extraction shooter genre.
Filling the Nomination Gap in the Genre, Paving a New Path for Domestic Indie Games Going Global
As is well known, past exposure for domestic games going global has mostly focused on mobile and open-world game sectors. Duckside's nomination is the first time a domestic original game has entered the "Most Entertaining" award category. Duckside does not pursue intense confrontation, instead placing gameplay fun on exploration, looting, and survival adventure, balancing fun with the hardcore experience of extraction shooters. This aligns perfectly with the "Most Entertaining" award's criteria for outstanding gaming entertainment experiences.
This result also marks that the path for Chinese games going global is not limited to heavily commercialized products. Fun and creative indie games also have the strength to impress global judges and overseas players. Domestic indie games produced by small and medium-sized teams have every opportunity to take their place on the international gaming stage. It can be said that Duckside has opened up a new path for domestic indie games to go global.
Limited-Time 20% Discount Now Live, Steam China Price After Discount: 46.4 CNY
To celebrate Duckside's nomination for the "Most Entertaining" award at Gamescom 2026, the game is offering a limited-time 20% discount on Steam during the event from August 27 to September 3. The discounted price in the Steam China region is 46.4 CNY. The base game includes all currently released content, and existing players can enjoy past updates, DLCs, and the Escape from Tarkov collaboration content for free. For new players who haven't experienced the game yet, this is an excellent opportunity to jump in.
A Long-Lasting Acclaimed Domestic Indie Game, Continuous Updates Bring Fresh Adventures
In October 2025, Duckside was officially released. Since then, the development team has maintained a steady pace of version iterations, continuously optimizing game content based on player feedback, gradually growing into a long-lasting acclaimed domestic indie masterpiece. As of January 2026, Duckside topped the 2025 annual sales chart for domestic games with 3.8 million copies sold.
Since its release, the Duckside development team has continued to deliver fresh game content, constantly enriching the player experience and maintaining the game's long-term vitality. In June 2026, Duckside launched a major update with an island theme, adding a new island challenge map along with exclusive weapons, equipment, and enemy units. The limited NPC "Meiqiu," previously beloved by players, also returned to the island to accompany and assist players on their new adventures, receiving widespread acclaim.
Conclusion
From development to launch, and now earning a nomination for an international award at Gamescom, Duckside's journey is a microcosm of small and medium-sized domestic indie game teams persisting in gameplay innovation. Without relying on grand narratives or exorbitant production costs, they build a relaxed and fun gaming atmosphere based on innovative gameplay, which can also win the love of players worldwide. In the future, with more content releases and deeper cross-platform layouts, Duckside is expected to carve out a broader space in the extraction shooter genre, providing more inspiration for the global expansion of domestic indie games.