Elta: Defy All Gods, announced during the Opening Night Live of Gamescom 2026, is a 3D action-adventure game developed by Afterburner Studios (Dreamscaper) and published by Focus. It blends beat 'em up combat with metroidvania-style exploration, where players navigate a world filled with secrets and challenges. The game begins on a coastal battlefield, where the player controls a robot or a warrior, using boxing techniques to fight waves of creatures. The protagonist can dodge, accumulate energy, and unleash special moves like fiery explosions and powerful uppercuts. After defeating a giant boss, the player becomes a red-armored warrior searching for Elta, a cute little lizard who acts as a grappling hook, enabling access to new areas and activating hidden mechanisms. The gameplay structure draws inspiration from Metroid Prime, incorporating a scanner that interacts with the environment, while also emphasizing fast-paced combat. As the story progresses, players can collect crystals to boost health, gain permanent attack upgrades, and apply elemental effects to their strikes, such as fire, which can generate tornadoes of flame. The visual style is painted and stylized, reminiscent of Babylon's Fall, with vibrant colors and paint trails on every movement, making key elements easy to spot. Smooth animations enhance both combat and defensive actions, adding to the game's dynamic feel. Set in a distant future, the game follows Victus, a champion sent by an alien civilization to find the missing deity Elta, whose return is crucial to saving his people. Victus crash-lands on a cold, desert planet filled with ruins and abandoned structures. The narrative is conveyed through visual storytelling, with minimal dialogue and silent interactions, especially in the player's encounter with Elta. Combat features a range of moves, including attacks, dodges, blocks, and parries, with a skill gauge that builds as the player lands hits. Special abilities are triggered via controller buttons, consuming energy segments. A demo released after Gamescom 2026 includes a short boss fight that showcases dash, parry, and counter mechanics. The game's movement system includes jumping, double-jumping, aerial dashes, and wall runs, with Elta's wings allowing flight after a key event. Exploration is encouraged through the discovery of hidden objects like red crystals, which increase health and add RPG-style progression. The art direction uses textured environments that resemble hand-painted layers, creating a stylized but not photorealistic look. The soundtrack complements the action with simple, effective themes. The demo covers the game's introduction and tutorial, with more combat styles, advanced skills, and Elta's role set to be explored in future updates. Elta: Defy All Gods is scheduled for release in the first quarter of 2027 on PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series.