Ask ten gamers what they’re most excited about for 2026 and you’ll get ten different answers — and that’s the point. Next year looks set to be a collision of blockbuster auteurs and stubbornly inventive indies, with familiar franchises returning alongside unexpected experiments in tone, mechanics and platform focus.
Big-budget returns and platform tentpoles
You can’t talk about 2026 without mentioning Grand Theft Auto VI. Rockstar’s long-gestating open-world crime epic — centering on a criminal couple and Rockstar’s biggest-scope satire yet — is arguably the year’s cultural tentpole. Nearby, longtime franchises aim to deliver fresh takes: Insomniac’s Marvel’s Wolverine promises brutal comic-book combat on PlayStation hardware, and Capcom’s Resident Evil Requiem shifts perspective to a terrified protagonist in a rebooted Raccoon City experience.
Bond fans are getting IO Interactive’s 007 First Light, which wants to recapture the stealth-and-spectacle blend of classic spy games. And if Sony’s appetite for audacious single-player action continues, expect Saros — from the makers of Returnal — to push atmospheric sci-fi into tense, time-pressured encounters.
Console dynamics matter here. Several of these high-profile releases target the new Nintendo hardware, and Nintendo’s momentum around Switch 2 has been a big factor for third-party planning and exclusivity expectations. For developers and players alike, that shift is already reshaping release calendars: see how Nintendo’s growing Switch 2 momentum is nudging lineups this year Nintendo Raises Switch 2 Forecast as Console Sales Soar, Citing ‘Historic’ Momentum. If you’re tracking which platform to buy, note that the Switch 2 schedule itself is tightening up, with more third-party support appearing in publishers’ plans Nintendo’s Switch 2 release schedule.
Sequels and spiritual successors that matter
Not every headline needs billion-dollar budgets to feel important. Control Resonant rethinks Remedy’s surreal action formula into a melee-focused romp, swapping guns for close-quarters weirdness. Slay the Spire 2 is poised to expand the card-roguelite blueprint that reshaped indie design in the last decade. Deep Rock Galactic: Rogue Core leans into roguelite co-op, while Planet of Lana II stretches the poetic puzzle-platform blueprint into a larger, more cinematic sequel.
There’s also a growing appetite for titles that bridge genres: Denshattack’s arcade train-flipping chaos and Good Boy’s affectionate ‘petroidvania’ charm both showcase how playful premises can carry full games when the design is bold.
Turn-based and RPG fans: a bumper crop
For strategy and RPG devotees, 2026 looks particularly rich. Long-awaited entries and remasters appear side-by-side with smaller teams doing clever things. Warhammer 40K: Dark Heresy (isometric RPG with investigative mechanics) and Slay the Spire 2 represent extremes of scope, while niche standouts like Trails in the Sky 2nd Chapter and The Legend of Heroes: Trails Beyond the Horizon deliver the meticulous, story-forward JRPG experiences longtime fans crave.
Indie turn-based offerings show surprising variety: Threads of Time courts Chrono Trigger’s legacy with time-jumping storytelling; Solasta II revisits tabletop D&D tactics in digital form; and smaller experiments such as The Severed Gods, Saveseeker and Never’s End bring novel combat angles — targetable enemy zones, meta-save mechanics, and battlefield element manipulation, respectively.
If you like the slow, thoughtful side of gaming, there’s a joyful overload coming: tactical roguelikes, roguelite deckbuilders, and hex-and-grid mercenary sims all make a case for long-term engagement in different registers.
Indies aren’t waiting in the wings
Some of the season’s most exciting announcements come from small teams taking big tonal risks. Cairn offers stately, punishing mountaineering; Reanimal presents hand-animated two-player horror with a bleak, Tim Burton-adjacent aesthetic; Wicked Seed brings survival-horror structure to turn-based combat; and Mewgenics — from creators with indie pedigree — promises chaotic tactical feline armies.
These are the titles that can quietly define the year because they do something you haven’t quite seen before: fold mechanics around a mood, or subvert a genre’s expectations. That’s fertile ground for memorable, word-of-mouth successes.
How to approach 2026 as a player
If you’re picking a platform for the long term, look at the kinds of exclusives each ecosystem is courting — big narrative single-player pieces on PlayStation, Nintendo’s continued first- and third-party commitments to Switch 2, and the wide, cross-platform indie scene on PC. If hardware is the question, consider whether a polished handheld/console hybrid matters to you right now.
Meanwhile, wishlist broadly. Big releases will headline conversations — and rightly so — but the year’s most interesting discoveries will likely come from demos, Early Access launches and surprise betas. Keep an eye on indie showcases, try free demos where offered, and be willing to follow a small studio for months: many of 2026’s most talked-about moments will come from games that grow in public.
There’s a lot to look forward to: blockbusters that aim to be cultural events, sequels that refine beloved formulas, and a throng of smaller games trying to surprise us. For players who love variety, 2026 promises not just a stacked calendar but a reminder of why gaming still manages to surprise.
If you’re researching platform choices, you can check current hardware trends and support predictions for Switch 2 to help decide which releases will matter to you Nintendo Raises Switch 2 Forecast as Console Sales Soar, Citing ‘Historic’ Momentum. For a closer look at Switch 2’s lineup planning and third-party growth, see the platform’s evolving release schedule Nintendo’s Switch 2 release schedule.
If you want the hardware that many of next year’s PlayStation exclusives will target, the PlayStation 5 Pro remains the most talked-about option for mid-gen upgrades and enhanced performance on Sony’s lineup.