2025 is almost over, folks; gone, done, finito, so it’s time to look ahead at what’s to come. Alright, so, what can we expect in 2026? As usual, a lot of games have been announced but most of them don’t have a solid release date; a practice becoming more and more common. We are now five years into the ninth generation of consoles, with Nintendo only just recently joining it with the Switch 2, and could, quite possibly, be the last one that Microsoft is a part of. Sony, meanwhile, just continues to do what it does.

As we’ve seen the last couple of years, there just aren’t a lot of concrete release dates past March. Game development takes way too long now, which likely is a key factor in why we might have to start shelling out $100 bucks for them, and the old “hype cycle” just doesn’t work like it used to. Not to mention, constant delays make any announced release date/window feel more like a guess, anyway. Enough about that, let’s see what we can expect from the first quarter of 2026 and beyond. Grab your notepad and set aside some cash now folks because, as always, it’s going to be an expensive year in gaming.

January:

The first couple weeks of January are pretty slow, as they generally are, so there’s isn’t really much to look forward to until the North American release of the Japanese role playing game The Legend of Heroes: Trails Beyond the Horizon. Another big Japanese title coming in January is Code Vein II and, in the world of small titles, we’re getting MIO: Memories in Orbit and Cairn.

January isn’t without its ports, with Dynasty Warriors: Origins and Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade making their Switch 2 debuts, while DLC for Origins arrives the same day as its Switch 2 port. An expansion is also coming to Cult of the Lamb, while Animal Crossing: New Horizons gets a massive update and a Switch 2 upgrade.

February:

February is poised to give us our first Game of the Year contender with the highly anticipated Resident Evil Requiem, the ninth entry in the main line series for the 30 year old franchise. If one RE game isn’t enough for you, Resident Evil VII and Resident Evil Village will be coming to Switch 2 on the same day that Requiem launches. Continuing with the spooky action genre, Nioh 3 will release in February, hoping to satisfy all your ‘Souls-like’ needs. Going further, video game auteur Suda51 has a new creepy game coming out called Romeo is a Dead Man.

It isn’t all spooks & frights in February, though, as Nintendo graces us with Mario Tennis Fever for Switch 2, while the laughs (and groans) will come to you in High on Life 2. If you’re looking for a massive RPG to play in February, Dragon Quest VII: Reimagined should fit the bill nicely. Finally, we’re getting Yakuza Kiwami 3 & Dark Ties, the third version of the game to release in North America. On a personal note, this will be the FOURTH time I’ve started Yakuza 3; maybe I’ll finish it this time.

March:

Bungie’s long delayed online shooter Marathon is supposed to come out in March; we’ll see. RPG fans have another game to check out in March, Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection, and another oft delayed game, Mouse P.I. for Hire, is arriving in March and looks to take advantage of the lapsed copyright on Steamboat Willy era Mickey Mouse. Rounding things out in March, we have the much anticipated Slay the Spire 2, the next entry in the popular deck building rouge-like.

March isn’t without its high profile re-releases, starting off with Fatal Frame II: Crimson Butterfly Remake, followed by Dynasty Warriors 3: Complete Edition Remastered, and lastly, Mega Man Star Force Legacy Collection. 2025 had its fair share of remakes, remasters, and collections and I don’t think the trend is going to show any signs of slowing down in 2026.

“Confirmed” for 2026:

There are a handful of games that have announced release dates in 2026 but we should, of course, take these all with a grain of salt. April gives us the new Capcom sci-fi title Pragmata, the fighting game Invincible Vs., and the Diablo 4 expansion, Lord of Hatred. May is slated to give us 007 First Light and Lego Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight, while September is supposed to give us the action RPG Phantom Blade Zero. However, the biggest release of 2026 is a game that was supposed to come out in 2025 before it got delayed…twice. I’m, of course, talking about Grand Theft Auto VI. Will this actually make its November 26th release date or will Rockstar delay it for a third time?

The rest…

As always there are a ton of games that have been announced but have no release date aside from either a generic “2026” or “Coming Soon”. Some of these I expect to arrive this year, like Yoshi & the Mysterious Book and Ace Combat 8: Wings of Theve, while some I would not be surprised to see in 2027 (or later) like Insomniac’s Wolverine or the RTS game Total War: Warhammer 40,000.

• Ace Combat 8: Wings of Theve
• Avatar Legends: The Fighting Game
• Beast of Reincarnation
• The Blood of Dawnwalker
• Bloodstained: Scarlet Engagement
• Control Resonant
• Coven of the Chickenfoot
• Danganronpa 2 x 2
• The Dark Pictures Anthology: Directive 8020
• Dave the Diver: In the Jungle

• Fable
• Fire Emblem: Fortune’s Weave
• Gang of Dragon
• Gears of War: E-Day
• Human Fall Flat
• King of Tokyo
• Lords of the Fallen II
• Marvel Tokon: Fighting Souls
• Mixtape
• Onimusha: Way of the Sword

• Persona 4: Revival
• Pokémon: Pokopia
• Rhythm Heaven Groove
• Silent Hill Remake
• Super Meat Boy 3D
• Tomb Raider: Legacy of Atlantis
• Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream
• Total War: Warhammer 40,000
• Toxic Crusaders
• Wolverine
• Yoshi & the Mysterious Book

What are the odds we see something wild come out this year, like Dragon Quest XII, Elder Scrolls VI, The Wolf Among Us 2, or Beyond Good & Evil 2 which is, like, vaporware at this point now, right? Be sure to call out anything I’ve missed, and chastise me soundly if I’ve messed anything up. I won’t pay attention to it, but it’ll make you feel better.

Next week will see this column go back to regular coverage, however I would not expect it to be full of notable or big titles, so maybe catch up on your 2025 backlog for now. Be safe this week, have a happy New Year’s Eve, and here’s to another great year of gaming and taking regular walks to avoid DVT.