2026 in video games
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In the video game industry, 2026 continues trends resulting from the large-scale layoffs from previous years, as well as impacts on hardware and consoles due to limitations on computer memory availability.
Top-rated games
Critically acclaimed games
The following table lists the top-rated games released in 2026 based on Metacritic, which generally considers expansions as separate entities. The original versions of these games were released in 2026.
| Title | Developer(s) | Publisher(s) | Release | Platform(s) | Average score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Big Walk | House House | Panic | August 4, 2026 | macOS, PS5, WIN, NS2 | 91 |
| Doom: The Dark Ages – Revelations | id Software | Bethesda Softworks | July 6, 2026 | PS5, WIN, XBX/S | 91 |
| Forza Horizon 6 | Playground Games | Xbox Game Studios | May 19, 2026 | WIN, XBX/S | 90 |
| Mina the Hollower | Yacht Club Games | May 29, 2026 | WIN, NS, NS2, PS4, PS5, XBO, XBX/S | 90 | |
Major events
| Month | Day(s) | Event |
|---|---|---|
| January | 13 | Meta announced the closure of the studios Armature Studio, Sanzaru Games, and Twisted Pixel. In addition, they announced more than 1,000 jobs would be laid off in their Reality Labs business.[2][3] |
| 21 | Ubisoft announced a major restructuring into five creative houses.[4] | |
| February | 10–12 | The Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences hosted the 2026 D.I.C.E. Summit and the 29th Annual D.I.C.E. Awards at the Aria Resort and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada.[5] |
| 20 | Microsoft Gaming's Phil Spencer and Sarah Bond left the company, with Asha Sharma replacing Spencer, and Matt Booty promoted to chief content officer. The division was later rebranded to simply Xbox.[6][7] | |
| March | 9–21 | The Game Developers Conference, branded as "Festival of Gaming", was held in San Francisco, California.[8] |
| 24 | Epic Games announced plans to lay off more than 1,000 employees in part due to reduced Fortnite engagement.[9] | |
| May | 21 | Following Sony issuing a $765 million impairment loss for Bungie, the studio announced it would be ending live support for Destiny 2 in June 2026, though it would remain playable.[10][11] Most of the Destiny's team and some from Marathon were laid off the following month as Sony restructured the studio.[12] |
| June | 5–8 | Summer Game Fest 2026 was held at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles.[13] |
| 16 | The European Commission declined to take any direct action following the Stop Killing Games initiative related to discontinuation of online games, but recommends developing voluntary practices with publishers and consumer groups.[14] | |
| July | 1 | Sony announced it would cease physical disc production for new PlayStation games in January 2028,[15] and would shutter the PlayStation 3 and Vita digital storefronts by July 2027.[16] |
| 6 | Following Asha Sharma's announcement of a major reset of the Xbox division at Microsoft in June 2026, including pulling back towards console exclusivity and improving the financial performance for both Xbox and Xbox Game Studios, Microsoft announced it was laying off 1,600 Xbox employees now and another 1,600 over the next year. Further, within Xbox Game Studios, Double Fine and Compulsion Games were reverted to independent studios, while Undead Labs and Ninja Theory were sold off, and Arkane Studios's fate was in negotiations.[17][18] | |
| 6 | To comply with European right to repair laws, Nintendo announced the discontinuation of the original Switch console, and the staged released of a Switch 2 console with a user-replaceable battery for the European region.[19] | |
| August | 4 | Electronic Arts closed its $55 billion leveraged buyout by a group of investors led by the Public Investment Fund.[20] |
| 26–30 | Gamescom 2026 was held in Cologne, Germany.[21] | |
| September | 12–13 | Blizzard Entertainment will host BlizzCon 2026 at Anaheim Convention Center in Anaheim, California.[22] |
| 17–21 | Tokyo Game Show 2026 is scheduled to be held at the Makuhari Messe in Chiba, Japan.[23] | |
| December | 10 | The Game Awards 2026 is scheduled to be held at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles.[24] |
Notable deaths
- February 10 – Shutaro Iida (a.k.a. Curry the Kid), 52, one of the main programmers of various Castlevania titles and the creative director of Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night and its upcoming prequel — Bloodstained: The Scarlet Engagement.[25]
- February 13 – Hideki Sato, 75, Japanese businessman and engineer, recognized as major contributor to most of Sega's consoles.[26]
- February 16 – Robert Duvall, 95, actor, best known for portraying Tom Hagen in The Godfather and its video game adaptation.[27]
- March 17 – Yoran Heling (a.k.a. Yorhel), creator and maintainer of the Visual Novel Database.[28]
- March 19 – Jock Blaney, 76, voice actor who voiced Wolf O'Donnell and Bill Grey in Star Fox 64.[29]
- April 2 – Yoshihisa Kishimoto, 64, game developer and creator of the Kunio-kun and Double Dragon series.[30]
- April 25 – Bill Wise, 61, voice actor who voiced Knuckles the Echidna in the English dub of Sonic the Hedgehog OVA.[31]
- May 18 – Tom Kane, 64, voice actor with numerous roles in film, television, and video games including Yoda in several Star Wars titles.[32]
- June 16
- Daveigh Chase, 35, voice actress who voiced Kiwako Seto in the English dub of Let It Die and Lilo Pelekai in Lilo & Stitch and several tie-in games based on the movie, such as Disney's Lilo & Stitch (GBA) and Lilo & Stitch: Trouble in Paradise.[33]
- Bobby Prince, 81, composer for several id Software games including Doom, Wolfenstein 3D and Duke Nukem games.[34]
- June 19 – Claude Guillemot, 69, co-founder of Ubisoft.[35]
- July 22 – İpek Yavuz, 54, co-founder of Turkish indie developer and publisher TaleWorlds Entertainment.[36][37]
- August 16 − Hayden Panettiere, 36, actress who portrayed Samantha "Sam" Giddings in Until Dawn and its remake. She was also the English voice of Kairi and Xion in some of the Kingdom Hearts games.[38]
- August 25 − Tim Curry, 80, actor who portrayed Colonel Anatoly Cherdenko in Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3 and the titular role in the Gabriel Knight series, along with roles in Brütal Legend and Dragon Age: Origins. [39][40]
- August 26 − Peter Cullen, 85, the voice of Optimus Prime in the Transformers franchise and Eeyore in various Winnie the Pooh works, including video games.[41]
Hardware releases
| Date | Console | Manufacturer | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|
| June 29 | Steam Machine | Valve Corporation | [42][43] |
| TBA | Steam Frame | [42] |
Games released in 2026
Cancelled games
| Title | Platform(s) | Genre(s) | Developer(s) | Publisher(s) | Month cancelled | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Assassin's Creed Singularity | WIN, iOS, DROID | DCCG | Ubisoft Halifax | Ubisoft | January | [44][a] |
| Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time | Unknown | Action-adventure | Ubisoft Montreal | [4] | ||
| Project Aether | Unknown | Ubisoft Halifax | [45][a] | |||
| Project Crest | Unknown | Extraction shooter | Ubisoft Stockholm | [45][a] | ||
| Project U / Project Pathfinder | WIN | TPS | Ubisoft Annecy | [45][a] | ||
| Alterra | Unknown | Social sim | Ubisoft Montreal | April | [46][a] | |
| Untitled Dungeons & Dragons game | WIN | Action-adventure | Giant Skull | Wizards of the Coast | May | [47] |
| Untitled Lord of the Rings MMORPG | Unknown | MMORPG | Amazon Games Orange County | Amazon Games | [48] | |
| Spellcasters Chronicles | WIN | MOBA, Action, Strategy | Quantic Dream | [49] | ||
| Ubusuna | PS4 | Shoot 'em up | M2 | [50] | ||
| Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Last Ronin[b] | WIN, PS5, XBX/S | Action RPG | Black Forest Games | THQ Nordic | June | [51] |
Discontinued games
Games highlighted in bold indicate that the full game will be shut down.
| Title | Platform(s) | Genre(s) | Developer(s) | Publisher(s) | Shutdown date | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Startplay | WIN | GameMaker | Startplay | January 1, 2026 | [52] | |
| Anthem | WIN, PS4, XBO | Action RPG | BioWare | Electronic Arts | January 12, 2026 | [53] |
| Panzer Kliker | WIN | Idle | Peruns Forge | January 18, 2026 | [54] | |
| The Sims Mobile | iOS, DROID | Social sim | Maxis, Firemonkeys Studios, Slingshot | Electronic Arts | January 20, 2026 | [55] |
| Beat Saber | PS4, PS5 | Rhythm | Beat Games | Beat Games, Oculus Studios | January 26, 2026 | [56] |
| Boundary Warriors | WIN | DCCG | NetEase Games | January 28, 2026 | [57] | |
| Onmyoji:The Card Game | [58] | |||||
| NBA Live 19 | PS4, XBO | Sports | EA Tiburon | Electronic Arts | January 30, 2026 | [59] |
| Orake Classic | WIN | MMO | PigLion Games | February 1, 2026 | [60] | |
| Blade & Soul Heroes | WIN, DROID, iOS | NCSoft | February 19, 2026 | [61] | ||
| Super People | WIN | Battle royale | Wonder Games | Wonder People | February 23, 2026 | [62] |
| Project CARS 3 | WIN, PS4, XBO | Racing | Slightly Mad Studios | Bandai Namco Entertainment | February 26, 2026 | [63] |
| Supervive | WIN | Battle royale | Theorycraft Games | [64][65] | ||
| Football Club Manager 26 LIVE | WIN, OSX, PS5, XBX/S, iOS, DROID | Sports | Halfspace Games | February 28, 2026 | [66] | |
| Pandoland | iOS, DROID | Action RPG | Game Freak, WonderPlanet | WonderPlanet | March 6, 2026 | [67] |
| Highguard | WIN, PS5, XBX/S | Hero shooter | Wildlight Entertainment | March 12, 2026 | [68] | |
| Chronicles of the Celestial Way | WIN | Action RPG | Tiandao | [69] | ||
| Howlbreath | MMORPG | Howlbreath | [70] | |||
| King Arthur: Legends Rise | RPG | Kabam Games | NetMarble | [71] | ||
| Lightphobe | Shooter | Allan Chew | March 13, 2026 | [72] | ||
| Dirt 3 | WIN, OSX, PS3, XB360 | Racing | Codemasters | Codemasters, Feral Interactive (OSX) | March 16, 2026 | [73] |
| Dirt 4 | WIN, OSX, LIN, PS4, XBO | Codemasters | [74] | |||
| Occupy White Walls | WIN | Art | Kultura | [75] | ||
| The Finals | PS4 | FPS | Embark Studios | March 18, 2026 | [76] | |
| Real Racing 3 | iOS, DROID | Racing | Firemonkeys Studios, EA Mobile | Electronic Arts | March 20, 2026 | [77] |
| PUBG: Blindspot | WIN | Tactical shooter | ARC Team | PUBG Corporation | March 30, 2026 | [78] |
| WWE 2K24 | WIN, PS4, PS5, XBO, XBX/S | Sports | Visual Concepts | 2K | March 31, 2026 | [79] |
| WBSC eBaseball: Power Pros | NS, PS4 | Konami, Joymoa | [80] | |||
| Zombie Army VR | WIN, PS4, Quest | FPS, Survival horror | Rebellion, Xtended Realities | Rebellion | [81] | |
| INVERSE | WIN | Horror | MASSVR | [82] | ||
| DuoQ | FPS, Dating sim | The Duo Crew | USC Games | April 1, 2026 | [83] | |
| Rift Investigations | RPG | fp32.ai | April 4, 2026 | [84] | ||
| FRENZIES | Quest | Shooter | nDreams | April 7, 2026 | [85] | |
| Genshin Impact | PS4 | Action RPG | miHoYo | HoYoverse | April 8, 2026 | [86] |
| King of Meat | WIN, PS5, XBX/S | Action | Glowmade | Amazon Games | April 9, 2026 | [87] |
| Fortnite: Ballistic | WIN, OSX, NS, PS4, PS5, XBO, XBX/S, DROID | FPS | Epic Games | April 16, 2026 | [88] | |
| Fortnite: Battle Stage | Rhythm | Harmonix | Epic Games | [88] | ||
| Call of Duty: Warzone Mobile | iOS, DROID | FPS | Activision | April 17, 2026 | [89] | |
| Granblue Fantasy: Versus | WIN, PS4 | RPG | Arc System Works | Cygames | April 20, 2026 | [90] |
| R2Beat | WIN | Rhythm, Racing | Valofe | April 23, 2026 | [91] | |
| Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodhunt | WIN, PS5 | Battle royale | Sharkmob | April 28, 2026 | [92] | |
| Dragon Age: Inquisition | PS3 | Action RPG | BioWare | Electronic Arts | [93] | |
| Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare | TPS | PopCap Vancouver | [94] | |||
| CounterSide | DROID, iOS, WIN | RPG | StudiobSide | April 29, 2026 | [95] | |
| Dragon Arena | WIN | MOBA | EOAG Games | April 30, 2026 | [96] | |
| Raid One: 1 vs 5 Online Boss Battle | [97] | |||||
| Warhammer 40,000: Warpforge | DROID, iOS, WIN | DCCG | Everguild | [98] | ||
| Wildgate (China) | WIN | Shooter | Moonshot Games | Netease | [99] | |
| Striden | Sandbox | 5 Fortress | Yahaha Games | April 2026 | [100] | |
| Stormgate | Frost Giant Studios | [101] | ||||
| Bobcos | Phoave | May 1, 2026 | [102] | |||
| Faehnor Online | MMO | Wyrd Ark | May 3, 2026 | [103] | ||
| Tombstone MMO | MMOPRG | Well Bucket | RedTigerSpread | May 5, 2026 | [104] | |
| The Cube, Save Us | TPS | XLGames | May 8, 2026 | [105][106] | ||
| Ayakashi Rise | DROID, iOS | RPG | Clover Games | May 9, 2026 | [107][108] | |
| Heaven Hells | [107][108] | |||||
| Lord of Heroes | [107][108] | |||||
| Push3 | WIN | Puzzle | Torii Gate | May 11, 2026 | [109][110] | |
| Forsaken Island | Survival | [110][111] | ||||
| Stone Age | [112][110] | |||||
| Village Heroes | MMO | CUNX | May 18, 2026 | [113] | ||
| Warface: Clutch | FPS | Crytek Kiev, Blackwood Games | May 27, 2026 | [114] | ||
| Source Wars | MMO | YD Games | May 30, 2026 | [115] | ||
| Match Gem 99 | Battle royale, Match-3 | Minimum Studio Corp | [116] | |||
| Ninja Party | Beat 'em up | Nekki | May 31, 2026 | [117] | ||
| Stagdraft | Hack and slash | SteakSoft | May 31, 2026 [c] | [118] | ||
| Rec Room | WIN, OSX, NS, PS4, PS5, XBO, XBX/S, DROID, iOS | Sandbox | Against Gravity | June 1, 2026 | [119] | |
| Mage Noir – Infinity | WIN | DCCG | Double Combo Games | [120] | ||
| Pinball M | PS4, XBO | Pinball | Zen Studios | June 1, 2026 [d] | [121] | |
| Pinball FX | [121] | |||||
| Blade & Soul Heroes | WIN, DROID, iOS | MMO | NCSoft | June 16, 2026 | [122] | |
| Spellcasters Chronicles (Early access) | WIN | MOBA, Action, Strategy | Quantic Dream | June 19, 2026 | [49] | |
| Soccer Clubs | WIN | Sports | Beijing Crazy Sports Industry Management Co., Ltd | June 21, 2026 | [123] | |
| Battlefield Hardline | PS4, XBO | FPS | Visceral Games | Electronic Arts | June 22, 2026 | [124] |
| Plants vs. Zombies HD | iOS | Tower defense | Electronic Arts | June 24, 2026 | [125] | |
| ASTRA: Knights of Veda | WIN, DROID, iOS | RPG | FLINT | June 26, 2026 | [126] | |
| Blade & Soul 2 | MMORPG | NCSoft | June 30, 2026 | [127] | ||
| Link! Like! Love Live! | DROID, iOS | Rhythm | ODD No. | [128] | ||
| The Elder Scrolls: Blades | NS, iOS, DROID | Action RPG | Bethesda Game Studios | Bethesda Softworks | [129] | |
| Shadowverse | WIN, DROID, iOS | DCCG | Cygames | [130] | ||
| League of Angels – Heaven’s Fury | WIN | Action RPG | Chengdu Dreamcaller Technology | Youzu Singapore | July 7, 2026 | [131] |
| Skyworld: Kingdom Brawl | DCCG | Vertigo | July 11, 2026 | [132] | ||
| Legend of Heavenly Destiny | MMO | Cygames | July 12, 2026 | [133] | ||
| Madden NFL 23 | WIN, PS4, PS5, XBO, XBX/S | Sports | EA Tiburon | EA Sports | July 13, 2026 | [134] |
| Eonica Chess Battle | WIN | Chess | StandArts | July 23, 2026 | [135] | |
| Ancible Online | MMOPRG | The Giants Drink | July 26, 2026 | [136] | ||
| Book of Travels | RPG | Might and Delight | July 31, 2026 | [137] | ||
| Apex Legends | NS | Battle royale, Hero shooter | Respawn Entertainment, Iron Galaxy | Electronic Arts | August 4, 2026 | [138] |
| Aliens: Fireteam Elite | TPS | Cold Iron Studios |
|
August 5, 2026 | [139] | |
| Tokyo 7th Sisters | DROID, iOS | Rhythm | Donuts | August 12, 2026 | [140] | |
| Crazy Arcade | WIN | Maze | Nexon | August 13, 2026 | [141] | |
| WWE 2K Battlegrounds | WIN, NS, PS4, XBO | Sports | Saber Interactive | 2K | August 20, 2026 | [142] |
| NBA 2K Playgrounds 2 | [142] | |||||
| Warface: Clutch | NS, PS4, XBO | FPS | Crytek Kiev, Blackwood Games | August 25, 2026 | [114] | |
| Dong Wu: Odyssey | WIN | Roguelike | Dong Wu Studio | SapStaR Games | August 31, 2026 | [143] |
| NHL 22 | PS4, PS5, XBO, XBX/S | Sports | EA Vancouver | EA Sports | [144] | |
| NHL 23 | [144] | |||||
| Let It Die | WIN, PS4 | Roguelike, Hack and slash | Supertrick Games | GungHo Online Entertainment | September 1, 2026 | [145] |
| Castlevania: Grimoire of Souls | iOS | Metroidvania | Konami | September 3, 2026 | [146] | |
| Grid Legends | PS4, PS5, XBO, XBX/S | Racing | Codemasters | Electronic Arts | September 11, 2026 | [147] |
| Firewall Ultra | PS5 | FPS | First Contact Entertainment | Sony Interactive Entertainment | September 17, 2026 | [148] |
| Sociable Soccer 25 | WIN, PS5, XBX/S, NS | Sports | Tower Studios | September 28, 2026 | [149] [150] | |
| Final Fantasy XIV Mobile (CN)[e] | DROID, iOS | MMORPG | LightSpeed Studios | Square Enix | September 30, 2026 | [151] |
| Mario Kart Tour | Kart racing | Nintendo EPD | Nintendo | [152] | ||
| Final Fantasy VII: Ever Crisis | WIN, DROID, iOS | RPG | Applibot, Square Enix | Square Enix | October 6, 2026 | [153] |
| Star Conflict | WIN | MMO | Star Gem | Gaijin Network | October 10, 2026 | [154] |
| Looney Tunes: World of Mayhem | iOS | RPG | Aquiris Game Studio | Scopely | October 15, 2026 | [155] |
| Tower of Fantasy | PS4 | RPG | Hotta Studio | Perfect World | October 20, 2026 | [156] |
| Fortnite: Rocket Racing | WIN, OSX, NS, PS4, PS5, XBO, XBX/S, DROID | Racing | Psyonix | Epic Games | October 2026 | [157] |
| NBA 2K25 | WIN, NS, PS4, PS5, XBO, XBX/S | Sports | Visual Concepts | 2K | December 31, 2026 | [158] |
| TopSpin 2K25 | WIN, PS4, PS5, XBO, XBX/S | Hangar 13 | [159] | |||
| Kingdomfall | WIN | Fantasy | Labrintine | 2026 | [160] | |
| Sky Clash: Lords of Clans 3D | Tower defense | Abolutist | AIVIK | [161] | ||
Video game-based film and television releases
Notes
- Reported by Mike Straw.
- A new version of the game is currently being developed by PlatinumGames, with Paramount Games Studio as publisher.
- Only affects EU and Singapore servers and going forward the US server will be the main server
- Only affects updates and new seasonal content
- Also the global version is no longer in development.