During Gamescom 2026, I had the opportunity to preview SAW: Genesis, and it was terrifying to say the least. Check out how it went below.
SAW: Genesis is an upcoming horror multiplayer title being developed by Broken Mirror Games and Anshar Studios, and published by Bloober Team. The events of the game take place 100 years before the original movies, allowing the developers to take a few creative liberties with the title. Here’s how my playthrough went.
SAW: Genesis Required Great Collaboration Between the Team to Move Forward
So, SAW: Genesis is a 3v1 title with one Judge and three Accused. The Judge is required to observe, isolate the players, and strike; they can also customize traps, perks, and tools for each match. The Accused need to survive under pressure, and the timer goes down very quickly, so the pressure is high. The Accused need to explore and escape by finding tools and solving puzzles.
For the preview, one of the devs served as the Judge, while the previewers served as the accused. We were all strangers, and some didn’t speak the same language, so that wasn’t ideal. The session begins with the accused escaping a trap and then exploring a particularly eerie manor. The goal of the Accused is to identify objective items to move forward; however, completely splitting up with each other is not ideal.
- More Insider Gaming: Mimic PREVIEW: Among Us Meets Alien Isolation in This Intense Multiplayer Horror
While exploring, you will find different tools that can help fight the Judge, help with your tasks, add time, recover health, or reduce pressure. If the Judge finds the player, they can trap them, and the player will have the option to either lose a body part and escape or gamble that their teammates reach them in time to save them.
In my session, we first had to get rid of flames blocking a door, which we did with the help of a huge wheel that we had to lug back to the main room from a really distant room. The exploration is the scariest part, as you are alone; the atmosphere and environment they have built do cause some intensity, and everything you need to do takes some time, so the Judge could always be around the corner to grab you.
In my two sessions, we weren’t able to win the game or get too far, which was either due to less coordination or teammates dying, but I got some idea of what they were trying to achieve, and it does sound really fun when you are playing it with your friends.
We were just able to open the first door and reach the first maze, which required some players to climb up and turn valves to stop the flames in the maze corridors, while the players who were down headed inside the maze and obtained the objective item. That’s where my teammates died, so that’s all I could experience in the SAW: Genesis Gamescom 2026 preview.
What are your thoughts on SAW: Genesis? Leave your thoughts down in the comments, and join the official Insider Gaming Discord server.
For more information from Insider Gaming, read about the series creator saying Hello Neighbor 3 and the first game are the most connected. Don’t forget to sign up for our weekly newsletter.
Comments