The 9 games you can't afford to miss in 2026
From superheroes to fantasy comebacks — and some little thing called Grand Theft Auto 6? — 2026 is going to be a massive year for gamers.
2025 was absolutely jam-packed with fantastic video games, but if you feared that meant that there would be nothing left on the slate for 2026, well, you’d be very wrong indeed.
There’s every chance that the best games we’re going to be playing in the next 12 months aren’t even on this list. In fact, we might not even know that some of them exist yet. And of course, some will inevitably get delayed into 2027. But we've scoured the tentative release calendar to see what is confirmed right now, and there’s a lot to get excited about, from the return of a beloved British RPG series, to a Marvel game that doesn’t feature Spider-Man and a little known open-world title from a studio called Rockstar. Not really sure what to make of that last one...
Time to get your 2025 backlog out of the way before it gets loaded up with this lot — here are nine games to watch out for in 2026, plus, where available, how to pre-order them, too.
1. Resident Evil Requiem
Capcom has been on a hot streak with Resi since 2017’s Resident Evil 7: Biohazard, so we have every reason to feel very confident about Resident Evil Requiem. The ninth mainline game in the long-running survival horror series features a new protagonist named Grace Ashcroft, an FBI analyst who’s sent to what remains of Raccoon City to investigate a series of mysterious deaths.
Resident Evil Requiem also brings back fan favourite Leon S. Kennedy as a playable character. The campaign will have us switching between Grace and Leon, with the former’s sections serving up the scares, while Leon’s segments will seemingly be combat-driven and closer to Resident Evil 4 in style.
In the last decade, Capcom has shifted towards a first-person perspective for Resident Evil, but Requiem will offer third-person and first-person from the off, allowing you to switch at any time. It sounds like a bit of a Resi grab bag, then, and it’s only a few months away.
- Due: February 27th
2. 007: First Light
2024 saw Indiana Jones burst back onto the big-budget video game scene in some style, and in 2026 it’s the turn of another pop culture giant. 007: First Light is the first James Bond game of any significance for well over a decade, and it’s being developed by IO Interactive, best known for the Hitman series. Unlike the majority of 007’s video game outings, First Light isn’t a movie tie-in, but something of an origin story, in which we’ll play as an up-and-coming agent likely still working out his cocktail preferences.
Patrick Gibson will portray the 26-year-old James Bond still chasing his 00 status, and the story will feature plenty of other familiar characters. Gameplay shown off so far points towards a game that blends the player freedom that is signature to IO’s Hitman games with the cinematic flair we expect from Bond. Expect shooting, sneaking, wise-cracks and plenty of fast cars.
- Due: March 26th
3. Mouse: P.I. for Hire
Of all the games due to come out in 2026, few are as irresistibly stylish as a Mouse: P.I. for Hire, a black-and-white FPS inspired by 1930s rubber hose cartoons. You play as Jack Pepper (voiced by Troy Baker), a private investigator and, crucially, mouse, in what appears to be as much as a rodent-themed detective sim as a shooter. There will be plenty of the latter too, though, with combat that’s apparently inspired by the likes of Doom and BioShock.
Mouse: P.I. for Hire is also inevitably going to be compared to Cuphead, the rock-hard 2017 run-and-gun platformer that channels the same era of American animation with its stunning hand-drawn visuals. Time will tell if Mouse: P.I. for Hire makes as much of an impact as Studio MDHR’s masterpiece, but if its sleuth ‘em up gameplay is as mesmerising as its art, this one could be quite special.
- Due: March 19th
4. Saros
The first major first-party PS5 game of 2026 is set to be Saros, the next game from Returnal developer Housemarque. Like its predecessor, Saros is a sci-fi third-person action game with roguelike elements, in which you play as Arjun Devraj, a Soltari Enforcer investigating an off-world colony on the planet Carcosa.
Returnal is one of the best games of the PS5 generation, but it’s also mercilessly difficult. Luckily, it sounds like Saros could be a bit more forgiving. Unlike Returnal, you’ll be able to permanently upgrade your gear and weapons after each death, so while the game’s procedurally generated world will ensure you never get too comfortable, you’ll at least head into every run a bit more powerful than you were before.
From what we’ve seen of it running so far, Saros is going to be another AAA technical showcase for the PS5 with refreshingly indie sensibilities, and there aren’t many games you can say that about.
- Due: April 30th
5. Lego Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight
It’s been more than 10 years since Rocksteady signed off its legendary Arkham series with Batman: Arkham Knight, and while we have had a VR game and Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League since then, a proper Bat-focused continuation of the beloved trilogy feels a long way off. Lego Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight might be the next best thing. Lego Batman games are nothing new, but this one looks like a celebration of the character’s entire history across comics, TV, films and games.
You’re given a huge open-world Gotham to explore, and while Legacy of the Dark Knight is obviously taking itself a lot less seriously than Rocksteady’s games, it certainly looks like developer Traveller’s Tales is riffing on the Arkham combat. If you’re a Batman fan of any kind, Lego Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight will likely have something for you, and if you’re still not sold, know that UK comedy icon Matt Berry is voicing Bane. What more could you ask for?
- Due: May 29th
6. The Duskbloods
It was pretty clear from the moment Nintendo unveiled the Switch 2 that it wants third-parties to flock to its console this generation, but I’m not sure anyone would have had a Switch 2-exclusive FromSoftware game on their bingo card. The Dark Souls and Elden Ring developer is currently working not on a Bloodborne sequel (that we know of anyway), but the equally Gothic-y The Duskbloods, a multiplayer action RPG that lets up to eight players fight it out across various maps.
You choose from over a dozen playable characters known as the Bloodsworn, vampire-like creatures that can wield guns, and as in other From games, you can summon in companions to aid you in a particularly testing fight. Hidetaka Miyazaki’s recently released Elden Ring Nightreign, a co-op-focused spin-off of its 2022 RPG with roguelike elements, and with The Duskbloods being a PvPvE experience, it is clearly keen to keep branching out.
Whether the Switch 2 exclusive will be able to tempt the FromSoftware diehards over to Nintendo’s platform remains to be seen, but it will be fun to watch it all play out.
- Due: 2026
7. Fable
There are countless fantasy RPG series out there, but to my knowledge there's only one that places as much importance on the dedicated fart button as the one you press to swing your sword. For all of the overpromising of its famed creator Peter Molyneux, the Fable series is beloved by its fans, and the upcoming reboot has been Xbox’s most hyped game since it was announced more than five years ago.
The keys to Albion have been handed to Forza Horizon developer Playground Games, which has already proved on numerous occasions that it knows a thing or two about designing open worlds. But an RPG? That’s new territory for the Leamington Spa-based studio. We’ve seen precious little gameplay of the new Fable since it was announced, but expect another third-person action RPG with magic-enthused combat, lots of player freedom and a host of immediately familiar British actors in the voice cast. I just hope that it A) retains the slapstick humour of its predecessors and B) actually does finally come out in 2026.
- Due: 2026
8. Grand Theft Auto VI
Grand Theft Auto VI has already been the victim of two delays in 2025, and if it gets pushed any further than its current release date of November 19, 2026, then we’re surely getting dangerously close to GTA skipping this troubled generation altogether. But assuming Rockstar does manage to get its game out next year, the long wait will only add to what is almost certainly going to be the biggest video game launch of all time.
GTA 6 is set in the fictional state of Leonida (essentially Florida) and will let us finally return to the Miami-inspired Vice City for the first time since 2006. The game follows the law-breaking lovebirds Jason Duval and Lucia Caminos, and the trailer released so far hints at a more grounded story, a la Red Dead Redemption.
That said, it wouldn’t be GTA without all the open-world silliness that made it the biggest series in the world, and whatever Rockstar is cooking up with GTA 6, you can be pretty sure that it will raise its own very high bar once again.
- Due: November 19th
9. Marvel’s Wolverine
With its superb Marvel’s Spider-Man series, Insomniac Games has cemented itself as one of the most exciting AAA studios in the world, and arguably the most prolific that PlayStation has. Spidey is taking a bit of time off, but while we wait for the next one of those, the studio has been hard at work on its first Wolverine game, and it looks as unflinchingly violent as you’d hope.
Judging by the information Insomniac has released so far, Marvel’s Wolverine is going to be a love letter to the angriest mutant, with Logan (Liam McIntyre) on a mission to uncover the secrets of his past that takes him to the Canadian wilderness, the neon streets of Tokyo and the lawless fictional nation of Madripoor. Basically if you’ve ever read an X-Men comic, you’re in good hands here.
We already know how good Insomniac is at combat, and if you thought webbing up goons as Spider-Man was satisfying, I’d imagine that jamming adamantium claws right into someone’s face is going to feel even better. No game is a complete banker, but Insomniac’s Logan simulator is probably as close to one as you’re going to get.
- Due: 2026
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