The most anticipated games of 2026

This year is already shaping up to be a great year when it comes to games, and not just because that one game we’ve all been waiting for is probably finally coming.

There are already a lot of other things planned for 2026, and this list doesn’t even include the things we don’t know about yet for obvious reasons.

If we get even two-thirds of this list by the end of the year, we’ll have a lot to look forward to.

Editor’s note: All games on this list are traditional ‘Web2’ games with no crypto or blockchain integrations. But you might enjoy it anyway!

Resident Evil: Requiem

Release date: February 7, 2026

After two solo games, Resident Evil is once again a game with two protagonists.

You play as Grace Ashcroft and the show’s stalwart Leon S. Kennedy as they investigate a series of mysterious deaths at a Raccoon City hotel.

This game takes place 30 years after the original games. Grace’s story will be more of a survival horror story where she tries to avoid the villain Gideon and other monsters, while Leon’s will be an action story, complete with jump kicks.

Games like Resident Evil 2 have made an excellent case for multi-protagonist Resident Evil games, while Leon’s most recent appearance was in Resident Evil 6, a widely hated entry in the series by critics and fans.

LEGO Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight

Release date: May 29, 2026

Wait, don’t go! Legacy of the Dark Knight is a LEGO game about Batman, but it’s not a LEGO Batman game in the sense we’ve seen.

This one is for Batman fans: people who love the Animated Series and the Nolan films and every part of Batman. This is an open world game with a good combat system and a tribute to all the different versions of Batman over the years.

The game will build on ideas from various films and stories. The clips shown in trailers show Batman walking the Joker into Arkham, as in the original Arkham Asylum game; fighting mimes à la Batman from 1989; meeting Catwoman from Batman Returns; and training with Ra’s Al Ghul in the mountains of Batman Begins.

If you’ve ever been a Batman fan, this is the LEGO Batman game to watch.

Phantom leaf 0

Release date: September 9, 2026

This beautiful game is from the Chinese studio S-GAME.

You play as an elite assassin named Soul and use a combat style influenced by Wuxia action films. Still, the gameplay loop isn’t clear yet.

The studio says the game will feature interconnected regions, with gameplay more similar to Ninja Gaiden than Soulslike (despite the main character’s name).

With Black Myth Wukong still in our memories and Phantom Blade 0 having a lot of potential, Chinese studios are making a name for themselves as a great source of single-player action games.

Grand Theft Auto VI

Release date: November 19, 2026

It’s definitely coming out this year.

Three delays sounds good for a Rockstar game. If Grand Theft Auto 6 lives up to the legacy of GTA5 and Red Dead Redemption 2, it will be a stunningly realized version of Vice City (aka Fake Miami), in details only the locals know, with a lot to happen before you even get to the main storyline.

And that’s not even counting what a hit GTAVI Online will probably be. This game is going to sell like crazy and will probably be the biggest entertainment launch ever.

Marvel’s Wolverine

Release date: Fall 2026

Insomniac Games proved with Marvel’s Spiderman that anyone could make a good Marvel game, bringing us the best web-slinging action yet with a new story that felt like it would fit right into the comics.

Now they’ve set their sights on Wolverine, the lone X-Man. This game promises to be much more violent and darker: Logan spills more blood and stabs more faces in the two-minute gameplay trailer than Spidey did in two full games. We get glimpses of classic Wolverine enemies like Omega Red and Mystique, and shots of Logan fighting both in and out of his suit.

This game promises to be a very different beast from the Spider-Man games, although we’re still hoping Insomniac will connect the two in a meaningful way.

Control Resonant

Release date: 2026

Remedy has a lot to work on at the moment, with both the Max Payne remake and Control Resonant, a sequel to Control, on the way.

As a follow-up to the 2019 game, you take on the role of Dylan Faden, Jesse Faden’s formerly comatose brother, as he searches for his missing sister.

The game takes place in the town surrounding the oldest house, and you can wander around, explore the town and fight enemies.

Dylan will be a melee fighter, with his own shape-shifting weapon called the Aberrant. We’re incredibly excited to see how weird Remedy can get with this entry.

Forza Horizon 6

Release date: 2026

As with Assassin’s Creed Shadows, Forza Horizon fans have been begging for a game set in Japan for years.

Japan has a legacy of street racing, drift racing and tuner culture, making it a perfect setting for a game where you race your fantasy cars through winding mountain passes and along busy highways.

We just hope they get it right: there’s a time and place for lap-based racing, but many of the coolest races take place point-to-point, whether it’s from the top of a mountain or along a stretch of highway.

And mountains have to be a big part of that too. This one can’t be mostly flat like some of the previous titles are.

Max Payne 1+2 remakes

Release date: 2026

Remedy is best known these days for Alan Wake and Control, but the bullet-time action shooter Max Payne is how the studio got its name for us.

The studio developed Max Payne 1 and 2 before licensing the franchise to Rockstar for Max Payne 3.

The studio is working with Rockstar on these remakes, which could disrupt the schedule, but otherwise Remedy seems on track to release them in 2026.

Although voice actor James McCaffrey has passed away, his voice work in the original games remains iconic, and no one has been able to fully recreate the series’ signature gunplay inspired by The Matrix and the work of director John Woo.

Tomb Raider: Legacy of Atlantis

Release date: 2026

We’re excited about next year’s all-new Tomb Raider game, Tomb Raider: Catalyst.

In the meantime, though, we can look forward to Crystal Dynamics and Amazon Studios’ first game, Tomb Raider: Legacy of Atlantis.

This game builds on the story of the original 1996 game and creates an all-new action game, rendered in Unreal Engine 5. It’s both familiar and fresh.

It seems to be a great mix of combat and puzzles. And yes, there is a Tyrannosaurus Rex.

Honorable mentions

Release dates: 2026, we hope!

We’re looking forward to a number of games this year, but we couldn’t fit them all here.

Other games we’re looking forward to include 007: First Light, a James Bond story from the team behind the Hitman series. If they use their experience, it could create a truly unique spy game.

Onimusha: Way of the Sword is a fantastic looking samurai action game that continues the series but puts you in the shoes of the legendary kensei (sword saint) Musashi Miyamoto. Capcom worked with the estate of the late Toshiro Mifune to secure the beloved actor’s likeness for the game as the face of Musashi.

Galactic racing? That’s pod racing! We haven’t had a good pod racing game in decades, and the trailer for this looks absolutely amazing.

The Blood of Dawnwalker is a vampire-themed RPG from some of the people behind The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt.

Microsoft’s Fable should finally be released this year, although we’ll believe it when we see it.

Meanwhile, Ontos is a spiritual successor to the excellent horror game SOMA, from Frictional Games, the team behind SOMA and the Amnesia series.