Lauren spends most of her time dead in League of Legends, or equally as dead in Valorant. Don’t ask her about Vampire: The Masquerade.
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I have a confession to make; one that’s maybe a little too personal. At Gamescom 2026, I sniffed a sheep in Minecraft – there, I said it. On virtual paper, this sounds particularly heinous; arrestable, one could argue. In practice, however, it’s not bad at all. Trust me.
Amid the flurry of Gamescom preview invites I received, one caught my eye: Scentbar. “What’s that?” I asked myself; “weird name for a new game.” Upon closer inspection, it turns out that Scentbar is effectively smell-o-vision but for videogames, powered by unique AI tech that analyzes the virtual environment around you, and emits odours that match it. Sure, there was Warlock, Castlevania, even The Witcher – but this, right here, is the fastest appointment I’ve ever locked in.
So how does Scentbar work? Created by Zestum, a Neuss-based startup, the bar – which is vaguely reminiscent of the old Xbox Kinect – contains various different scent capsules, each with their own unique ‘flavor.’ During my demo I encountered everything from smoke to grass and flowers, as well as a menthol-inspired scent that represented ice. You can select up to ten of these and slot them into the Scentbar, which disperses the smells using fans.
The aim is pretty simple: “smell your games.” CEO Salomo Bertram and CFO Samuel Wiebe boot up Minecraft, and drop me into a forested biome with a nearby shoreline and some lava to boot. I’m left alone to explore, and I watch in awe as Zestum’s AI algorithm begins to recognize my surroundings.
As expected, the forested areas smell like a mixture of grass and trees, with some floral notes when I stare at some bright pink flowers. As I begin to chop wood, things begin to smell like a lumberyard, and as I venture towards the lava fields, my nose tingles with smoke and brimstone. The scents aren’t overpowering – admittedly we were in a heavily air-conditioned booth, which likely did cause a bit of particle dispersal – but they’re definitely there.
After a quick jaunt to the beach, the duo whisk me away to – you guessed it – a herd of sheep. “Let’s sniff some sheep,” I say, far too loudly, prompting a laugh. “I love to smell all the sheep,” Bertram joins in, making me feel slightly less weird. Initially there’s the smell of dirt, which quickly begins to mingle with the grossly familiar scent of manure. I’m quick to return to a nearby flower patch, but I was genuinely struck by just how authentic said small balls of wool smelled. I’m not sure how Zestum conducted its market research there, and honestly, I think I’m blissful in my ignorance.
While Wiebe informs that that Scentbar works across various games – including League of Legends, where you can smell the Jungle – it also works on your browser. He brings up an image of a pineapple and swaps out one of the capsules, and immediately everything begins to smell vaguely like piña colada. The AI tech works by looking at a photo and identifying it using a percentage recognition system. Then, it pairs it with its respective scent. It’s clever, but most of all, it’s just fun, and God knows we need more fun these days.
The bar is also fully programmable – Bertram gives me the example that I could, if I wanted to, trigger it to “smell like cola when [you] see zombies in Minecraft.” You can also adjust the intensity of scents, and mix and match them as you go.
With over 33 scents and a successful Kickstarter, Scentbar is currently available in pre-order phase for PC, and will be coming to console a little further down the line. The base model is priced at €299 (~£284) and you can choose from Nature, Action, or Racing-focused scents. The pro comes in at €389 (~£334), and includes reactive LEDs that reflect the colors on your screen, as well as the Scentbar Sync Module, which allows you to connect multiple Scentbars to your Pro if you want to experience ‘surround scent’ (it’s like surround sound, but with smells – I should trademark that). You can pick up a Scentbar via Zestum’s website, with pre-orders set to ship in Q4 2026 (between October 1 and December 31).
The Scentbar is, of course, a premium product – you don’t need it to play games, and it’ll likely only appeal to a select niche of high-level players. But, as someone who genuinely wasn’t sure what to expect, I would argue that it’s more than just a silly gimmick. It’s fun, it adds another layer of immersion to your experience, and it feels like a great product for a cozy gaming night in. Or, alternatively, if you’ve ever just wondered what a Minecraft sheep smells like, it gives you an excuse to sate that curiosity; for better, or worse.