2026 is shaping up to be a big year in gaming. Studios are rolling out long-awaited sequels, bold new IPs, and finally releasing games that have been teased for more than a decade. It may be time to start mentally preparing to clear out your weekends. Below, we round up the new games releasing in 2026 that deserve a spot on your radar—and maybe a pre-order or two.
It’s been nearly 14 years since the last major James Bond game, and we’re finally getting another. This one tells an original story, following a 26-year-old agent before he earns his 00 status—explaining the younger, more boyish look we’re not used to. The real reason to get excited, though, is who’s making it. It just makes sense for IO Interactive, the studio behind the modern Hitman series, to be the one architecting a proper AAA Bond game.
Scheduled release: 27 March 2026
Platforms: PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, PC, and Nintendo Switch 2
Set against the backdrop of a fractured, modern London that’s been invaded and merged with a mythical Arthurian-inspired realm, the game follows Gwendolyn, a lone human survivor. On the journey to find the Holy Grail, she’s confronted with demi‑gods and corrupted Knights of the Round Table along the way. Tides of Annihilation is a high-octane visual spectacle with combat so fluid it’ll have you questioning whether you’re watching a cutscene or in full control.
Scheduled release: ~2026
Platforms: PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC
Close enough…welcome back Bully (2006).
Inspired by the early 2000s teen movies, you can expect raunchy humour, pop-punk blasting in the background, and absurdly overgrown characters who look closer to pushing 30 than they are graduating high school. Based on the trailer, it’s rather obvious that the make-up of the game probably isn’t exactly premium—character models have that thousand-yard stare, and the voiceover leans suspiciously close to being AI-generated—but it’s the closest thing we’re getting to a Bully sequel, so it'll remain on the periphery for now. At the very least, it looks like the kind of game that’ll be fun to thrash.
Scheduled release: Early 2026
Platforms: PC
Here’s a brief synopsis of the ninth entry in Capcom's survival horror series: Grace Ashcroft is an introverted FBI technical analyst and daughter of journalist Alyssa Ashcroft (Resident Evil Outbreak). She’s called to the abandoned Wrenwood Hotel in a post-apocalyptic city to investigate a string of mysterious deaths tied to the original outbreak. It’s at this same hotel that her mother met her demise, giving the case an unavoidably personal edge. The horror and psychological dread are amplified by next-gen fidelity and hyper-realistic animations—but you probably already expected that.
Scheduled release: 27 February 2026
Platforms: PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, PC, and Nintendo Switch 2
Set in a fantastical version of Tokyo where supernatural beings walk amongst humans, you play as a barista. Each night, your role is to brew coffee and listen to the characters who walk into your café as they unload their personal stories and struggles. In a tiny café bar with wooden counters and vinyl hanging from the walls, lo-fi beats will play in the background, creating a cosy atmosphere designed to soothe the nerves and unwind with the characters who patronise you. Think Murakami, but in a pixelated fantasy world in video game form, and you end up with Coffee Talk Tokyo.
Scheduled release: 5 March 2026
Platforms: PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, PC, and Nintendo Switch 1 & 2
If you’ve ever dreamed of working a convenience store as a store clerk in ‘90s Japan, now’s your chance to live it out. The game scratches that part of the brain that receives endorphins through completing tasks. Stock shelves, organise displays, and handle deliveries, all in a relaxing routine that emphasises a meditative management skill. Similar to Coffee Talk Tokyo, you’ll get to interact with customers who enter your humble store, where you can then listen to their troubles and potentially influence their lives.
Scheduled release: April 2026
Platforms: PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, PC, and Nintendo Switch
If Pragmata’s art direction and character models look eerily similar to the ones from the Resident Evil franchise, that’s because it’s Capcom’s newest IP—it’s first original one in years. Set on a hostile lunar research station overrun by rogue AI, you play as a spacefarer who’s been separated from his team. He’s accompanied by an android who resembles a young girl called Diana as they attempt to escape to Earth. The name of the game is hack and shoot, so you’ll be solving puzzle grids in real-time, while simultaneously avoiding gunfire and aiming shots of your own. Between the multi-tasking and potential faux-father-daughter bond that’s just ripe for demolishing, your brain will receive plenty of stimulation.
Scheduled release: 24 April 2026
Platforms: PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC
First announced in 2017, Witchbrook has been in development for nearly eight years, so expectations are running high on this one. The game’s categorised as a magical life simulation and social RPG that’s set in a wizarding college. Players will have to balance campus life with studies like alchemy, herbology, and divination, on top of building relationships and attending festivals like pumpkin competitions. We’re all thinking it—this has the potential of being the unofficial official all-encompassing video game that satiates our repressed Harry Potter fantasies.
Scheduled release: ~2026
Platforms: Xbox Series X|S, PC, and Nintendo Switch 1 & 2
Since Sims 4—the latest iteration in the Sims franchise, which released nearly 12 years ago—many a developers have tried supplanting the life simulation juggernaut, but nothing seemed to ever stick. Paralives seeks to change that. With a detailed character creator, unique art style, intuitive home-building interface, and avatars that seem to actually possess emotions, we’re putting our money on Paralives to finally be the challenger that dethrones the Sims.
Scheduled release: 25 May 2026
Platforms: PC and Mac
It’s been 13 years…
Scheduled release: 19 November 2026
Platforms: PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S
In case you didn’t know, Insomniac Games—the same people behind Marvel’s Spiderman—have been toying with the idea of starting a video game equivalent of the MCU for years now. The release of their second superhero video game, Marvel’s Wolverine, finally sets this ambitious project into motion. Expect fluid combat, gore-filled rage, and plenty of dismembered limbs, as the game takes you across hubs like Madripoor, Canadian wilderness, and the streets of Tokyo.
Scheduled release: Fall 2026
Platforms: PlayStation 5
Following the enormous success of AdHoc Studio’s Dispatch, decision-based games might finally be making a comeback. As the fifth entry to Supermassive Games’ Dark Pictures series, Directive 8020 is set in a future where Earth is dying. To find a potential new home, humanity sends a reconnaissance ship to survey an exoplanet. The aliens they find, however, have the ability to manipulate their cell structure to mimic a human’s. This premise sets the potential for mistrust and paranoia to all-time levels, so good luck making the right decisions.
Scheduled release: ~2026
Platforms: PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC
The premise of Crimson Desert sounds pretty basic: a mercenary in a fantasy setting, who’s also the leader of a company, gets ambushed by a bunch of Vikings. So he sets on a path to seek vengeance in a vast, open world. On the outside, it appears its selling point is its high fidelity and gorgeous combat—but early reviews say otherwise. The game is said to have immense depth in its combat, a complex simulation system, and a dynamic environmental system that even tracks the stars in the night sky as the planet rotates. By all accounts, people seem to only have good things to say about Crimson Desert. The only question is: can it live up to its lofty ambitions?
Scheduled release: 19 March 2026
Platforms: PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, PC, and Mac
Announced at recent The Game Awards, 2026 sees the return of Control—well, kinda. It's the same IP, but everything, from the setting and combat to the protagonist, is different from the first game. It takes place seven years after where the first game left off, and instead of Jesse Faden, you'll play as her brother, Dylan. With new abilities at your disposal and a shapeshifting melee weapon known as the Aberrant, the aim is to find Jesse while dealing with supernatural threats overrunning the streets of Manhattan. The best part is, you don't have to be a returning player to understand the story here, so it's not too late to introduce yourself to the franchise if you haven't already.
Scheduled release: ~2026
Platforms: PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, PC
