Game Devs of Color Expo Direct 2026: What to expect and how to watch

Game Devs of Color Expo wraps up on September 25 with a show featuring more than 60 games. Only a handful have been confirmed beforehand. Blazing Soft is bringing The Forgotten Ones, BornMonkie has Dodo Duckie in the lineup, and The Sheep's Meow is saving its next game reveal for the stream itself.

The rest of those 60 remain a mystery until the Direct begins. Previous Directs gave us games like Aikyam, Die in the Dungeon, Kulebra and the Souls of Limbo and 1000 Deaths, alongside new trailers, release dates and first looks at projects that had barely been shown before.

This year, we expect at least some exclusive gameplay, along with new reveals and a few release dates during the Direct.

We do not have a running order for Friday yet, and only a small part of the 60-plus lineup has surfaced beforehand.

What does help is knowing what GDoCExpo asks developers to bring. Direct appearances are supposed to include new or exclusive gameplay, while games that are already out generally need something new to show, such as DLC or a major update. Games still in development have more room for first footage, release dates or a bigger reveal.

That already gives the confirmed games very different reasons to be there. Dodo Duckie has been available since July, The Forgotten Ones is still heading toward its first public demo, and The Sheep's Meow is keeping its next game completely under wraps until the stream. Of those three, Blazing Soft has already shown us the most.

Blazing Soft last showed The Forgotten Ones at Gamescom in August, where it brought a newer build of the game while continuing work on sound and audiovisual feedback. The studio is now preparing its first public demo for Q4 2026, so the Direct arrives while that playable version is still being finished.

The game itself follows 16-year-old Leidy after violence forces her and her mother to leave their rural home for Valledupar. Much of the story unfolds through the Cantor family home, where photographs, letters and unfinished belongings reveal different versions of the family's past.

Some of those objects become puzzles, while conversations can close off other interactions depending on who Leidy chooses to approach.

Blazing Soft has confirmed The Forgotten Ones for Friday's Direct without saying exactly what it will show. With the public demo coming later this year, the most likely focus is the current build, whether that means new gameplay, another look at the family home or a clearer idea of what players will be able to try when the demo arrives.

Dodo Duckie launched on PC and Xbox on July 23, so BornMonkie is bringing an already released game into the Direct. The studio has also confirmed a 30% Steam discount around the event, while PlayStation 5 and Switch versions are still listed as coming soon.

BornMonkie has not announced a specific DLC pack or major update for Friday's slot, which leaves a few possibilities open. The Direct could introduce the game to a wider audience, show new footage from the existing release or finally put a date on one of those console versions.

The game itself follows Dodo after aliens abduct the chicken family that raised him. A magical cap from Capie the Capybara lets you switch levels between 2D and 3D, opening 

different routes depending on the perspective. Dodo can also glide, swim and float through stages, with the rescue story carried mostly through animation and character expressions.

Whatever BornMonkie brings on Friday, anyone interested will not have to wait to play it. The full game is already available.

The Sheep's Meow is saving its new game announcement for Friday, but the studio has not been completely quiet about what it has been building.

Its Patreon devlogs have spent much of the past year following a mystery project set aboard a space station. The team has shown work on a maze-like layout, visual and verbal puzzles, temporal anomalies and individual areas including Security, Medbay, the Training Room and the Commander's Office. More recent updates mention a narrative introduction and puzzle rooms that are already being finished.

The Sheep's Meow has not confirmed that this is the game appearing in the Direct, so there is still room for another project to appear. Hold On, its other current unreleased game, is already public on Steam and therefore seems less likely to be the "new game" the studio says it will announce during the show.

If the space-station project is what appears on Friday, the Direct could be the first time those scattered development updates are pulled together into a proper reveal with a title, trailer and clearer idea of how the puzzles connect.

Friday starts a little earlier on Steam. The GDoCExpo Steam Sale opens at 10 a.m. PDT / 1 p.m. EDT, five hours before the Direct, and runs through October 2 with hundreds of games and demos from the wider Expo.

Do not expect the sale page to spoil the full Direct lineup, though. Blazing Soft is a good example: The Forgotten Ones appears in the stream, while Beat the Heat is part of the Steam Sale. Dodo Duckie is in both, with BornMonkie offering a 30% discount during the event.

So if something catches your eye during the Direct, it is worth checking Steam afterwards. Some games will already be available to buy, others will have demos, and unreleased projects can be added to your wishlist.

The Game Devs of Color Expo Direct starts on Friday, September 25 at 3 p.m. PDT / 6 p.m. EDT. If you are watching from Europe, this is a late one. The stream begins at 11 p.m. BST in the UK and crosses into Saturday at midnight CEST in Central Europe.