The most anticipated games of 2026 and 2027

Grand Theft Auto VI is taking us back to Vice City, Deadlock is taking shape at Valve and Phantom Blade Zero is days away. Further ahead, Samus is hungry, Lara Croft is chasing the Scion and two very different Warhammer armies are preparing for battle. We update this list every week with release details, platforms and trailers.

01Grand Theft Auto VI

Jason and Lucia's easy score goes wrong, dragging them into a criminal conspiracy across Leonida. Grand Theft Auto VI returns to Vice City and takes the pair beyond its neon streets, with each forced to rely on the other to survive. The relationship gives this enormous crime adventure a focus: two people trying to find a way through a state full of trouble.

• Vice City and the wider state of Leonida
• Jason Duval and Lucia Caminos at the heart of the story
• A criminal conspiracy sparked by a botched score

A new Grand Theft Auto is an event in itself, and Vice City's return makes this one especially hard to ignore. Jason and Lucia's precarious partnership gives the spectacle a human hook, whether the trailer is lingering on city nightlife or the dangers waiting beyond it.

02Deadlock

Deadlock is Valve's multiplayer project, currently playable through invitations from existing playtesters. It remains in early development, with experimental gameplay and temporary art as its systems take shape. There is no release date yet, so the invitation test is the way into its evolving PC build.

• A multiplayer game from Valve
• An evolving build with experimental gameplay
• Playtest access through invitations from existing players

A new Valve multiplayer game is an intriguing prospect even with such a spare public introduction. The appeal here is following a project as it develops and seeing what this studio builds around competitive play; its finished form is still ahead of it.

03Phantom Blade Zero

Framed for murdering his master and left with sixty-six days to live, Soul hunts for answers in Phantom Blade Zero. Its dark wuxia world mixes kung fu choreography, fantasy and folk horror. An arsenal of main weapons and secondary Phantom Edges gives you different tools for its rapid battles. Upgraded equipment can be reforged to recover materials, so finding something new needn't strand the resources you put into an earlier weapon.

• More than 30 main weapons and 25 Phantom Edges
• Reforge equipment to recover upgrade materials
• Difficulty options from Wayfarer to Hellwalker
• Donnie Yen as creative consultant and Mo Yuan performer

The speed and staging of its martial-arts fights are the immediate draw. Donnie Yen's involvement adds a compelling connection to kung fu cinema, while the weapon choices and difficulty options give players several ways into Soul's violent journey.

04Resident Evil Veronica

Claire Redfield's search for Chris takes her to France, where Umbrella forces capture her and send her to Rockfort Island. Another biological disaster turns the island into a nightmare she must escape in Resident Evil Veronica. This remake revisits Resident Evil Code: Veronica's isolated survival-horror story with modernised gameplay and a reimagined storyline.

• Claire Redfield's search for her brother
• Rockfort Island rebuilt for a new survival-horror adventure
• Modernised gameplay and a reimagined story

Claire's journey gives Resident Evil a different place and family story to revisit after its recent remakes. Returning to Rockfort is a strong draw for long-time fans, while the captive-to-survivor setup gives newcomers an immediate reason to care about getting her out.

05Final Fantasy VII Revelation

Cloud and his companions take to the skies aboard the Highwind in Final Fantasy VII Revelation, the final part of the remake project. Sephiroth is closing in on his goal, Meteor threatens the planet and the mighty Weapons have awakened. A wider world opens beneath the airship as the party's journey reaches its final battle.

• The conclusion of the Final Fantasy VII remake trilogy
• Highwind airship exploration
• A showdown with Sephiroth and the mighty Weapons

Finally taking the Highwind into the sky is a milestone of its own, before you even get to the conclusion of Cloud's story. For anyone who has followed the remake project, that combination makes Revelation one of the biggest RPGs on the horizon.

06Fable

Fable returns to Albion with a hero you create and townspeople whose opinions follow your decisions. You mix melee, ranged and magical combat against creatures from British folklore, then make a life beyond the fighting: run businesses, become a landlord or start a family. It is a fresh beginning for the series, with its peculiar humour and opinionated Demon Doors intact.

• A customisable hero in an open-world Albion
• Melee, ranged and magical combat
• Reputation shaped by your choices
• Returning Demon Doors, businesses and family life

Fable's charm has always been in the collision between heroic fantasy and being a nuisance to the neighbours. Playground Games is bringing that mixture back, with enough room to worry about both the monsters outside town and what the villagers think of you.

07Tomb Raider: Legacy of Atlantis

Lara Croft retraces her original adventure in Tomb Raider: Legacy of Atlantis, exploring ancient places with new puzzles to solve. Egypt includes an Anubis puzzle built around raising and lowering scales, alongside a journey into tombs and beneath the city of Kamun. Crystal Dynamics and Flying Wild Hog are rebuilding familiar destinations around fresh obstacles for Lara and the player.

• A reimagining of Lara Croft's original adventure
• New puzzles within familiar ancient locations
• An Anubis scales puzzle in Egypt

Returning to Lara's first journey is a strong nostalgic pull, but the puzzles give it a practical reason to be revisited. Recognising a place and then having to work out a new route through it is exactly the sort of return that makes an old adventure intriguing again.

08Metroid Ravenous

Samus Aran is ambushed and stranded on an unfamiliar moon in Metroid Ravenous. You gather her arsenal, navigate twisting corridors and hunt powerful bosses in a new 2D adventure. Her awakened Metroid instincts let her devour foes, putting an aggressive new ability alongside the beams and missiles she needs to stay alive.

• An all-new side-on Samus adventure
• Metroid instincts that let Samus devour enemies
• A maze of corridors and powerful bosses

Samus's return to 2D exploration would be enough to catch the eye; devouring enemies makes this adventure a much stranger prospect. 'Eat or be eaten' is a wonderfully blunt setup for a bounty hunter who has already survived some very unpleasant places.

09METRO 2039

METRO 2039 follows the Stranger back into the tunnels beneath a ruined Moscow. Hunter has united their survivors under the oppressive Novoreich regime, and the Stranger's past draws him towards the place he swore to avoid. It is a single-player first-person adventure combining exploration, survival, combat and stealth in a world dangerous above and below ground.

• A new protagonist, the Stranger
• Post-apocalyptic Moscow and its Metro tunnels
• Single-player survival, combat and stealth
• Ray-traced 60fps mode on PS5 and Xbox Series X

Returning to the tunnels gives Metro's claustrophobic setting a fresh story, with 4A Games again working with series author Dmitry Glukhovsky. The promise of exploring this world through a new protagonist is a strong reason for both returning players and newcomers to follow it.

10Persona 6

Persona 6 introduces a fresh cast in a standalone story built around everyday life and supernatural adventure. Social bonds sit alongside strategic turn-based battles, with the power of Persona linking the two sides of the experience. You can start with this group without catching up on the lives of the earlier games' heroes.

• A new cast and standalone story
• Daily life and social bonds
• Supernatural adventures and turn-based battles

Getting to know a new group is half the pleasure of a Persona adventure, especially when their everyday friendships become the way through a supernatural crisis. Persona's combination of relationships and RPG battles gives a fresh cast room to become the reason you keep coming back, well beyond the next dungeon.

11Persona 4 Revival

Persona 4 Revival sends a group of small-town friends into the mystery of the Midnight Channel and a series of bizarre murders. Everyday relationships develop alongside a supernatural investigation and turn-based battles. This remake of Persona 4 Golden rebuilds the graphics, interface, combat and cutscenes, with added content and quality-of-life improvements.

• The Midnight Channel murder mystery returns
• Social bonds alongside turn-based battles
• Reworked graphics, interface and cutscenes
• Added content and quality-of-life improvements

Inaba's close-knit cast is a big reason to return: the friends you spend ordinary afternoons with are also the people beside you inside the Midnight Channel. For newcomers, the small-town setting gives the mystery a different flavour from Persona's other adventures, with something sinister lurking behind familiar daily life.

12Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War IV

Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War IV brings base-building real-time strategy back to the series. You construct a foothold, build an army and fight over resource points, using cover and garrisoned buildings to keep squads alive. Four factions include the Space Marines, Orks, Necrons and Adeptus Mechanicus, with the Dark Angels joining the Blood Ravens as a playable Space Marine sub-faction.

• Base-building and resource-point control
• Four factions, plus the Dark Angels sub-faction
• Squad upgrades and a Unit Veterancy system
• Last Stand, Skirmish and multiplayer modes

The return to classic Dawn of War strategy is the big attraction: bases, armies and contested ground in the same battle. Adeptus Mechanicus offers something new to command, while the Blood Ravens give series followers a familiar way back into the war.

13Kirby and the World Beyond

Kirby and the World Beyond puts Copy Abilities to work across an expansive 3D world. Bomb jumps launch Kirby into the air, while a sword planted in a tree becomes a way to climb. A mysterious girl, a strange new power and a huge wall give his journey something curious to chase beyond the next enemy.

• An expansive 3D world to explore
• Copy Abilities used for movement as well as fighting
• Bomb jumps and sword-assisted climbing

Kirby's talent for borrowing powers is the perfect excuse to make getting around playful. Watching familiar abilities become ways to reach new places is the main attraction here, and a new adventure in the series' 35th anniversary year adds to the occasion.

14Total War: Warhammer 40,000

Total War: Warhammer 40,000 takes the series' turn-based campaigns and real-time battles into the 41st millennium. You expand across a galactic sandbox, capture planets, upgrade fleets and build a war economy before deploying armies on the ground. Space Marines, Orks, Aeldari and Astra Militarum bring four very different forces to command.

• Four factions with distinct armies and campaign mechanics
• Turn-based expansion across planets
• Real-time battles with destructive terrain changes
• Custom army names, colours and iconography

Total War's appeal is seeing an empire's plans become a battle you have to win yourself. Moving that mixture into Warhammer 40,000 brings fleets, orbital bombardments and huge war machines into the picture, with army customisation adding a welcome connection to the tabletop's personal touch.

15State of Decay 3

State of Decay 3 puts a community of survivors at the centre of a world gripped by blood plague. You reclaim territory, scavenge supplies and choose who to recruit, while a new zombie evolution threatens the landscape. Multiple settlements let you build a network, and up to four players can start a shared community together.

• A shared world for up to four players
• Multiple settlements linked into a community network
• Recruitment, scavenging and base defences
• Permadeath makes every survivor vulnerable

Survival matters more when losing somebody changes the community you've built around them. Bringing friends into that shared world, alongside several settlements to manage, gives the sequel a clear attraction beyond another round of zombie fights: making a home together and trying to keep it standing.

16Guild Wars 3

You join the Vaelwardens in ancient Orr, more than a thousand years before the original Guild Wars. Guild Wars 3 is an action-adventure MMORPG where gliding, riding and wall-running carry momentum into one another, making the journey through its frontier part of the attraction. Combat mixes strategic skill choices with positioning and movement, whether you're adventuring alone or with other players.

• Glide, ride and wall-run through Orr
• Action combat built around skills and positioning
• Playable asura, humans and kodan
• A new story set in ancient Tyria

Exploring Orr before its familiar history gives this sequel a fresh start without abandoning Tyria. Choosing a species and building a character is already a tempting prospect, especially with a movement system that connects the spaces between fights. Beta testing begins in autumn 2027.

17Tides of Annihilation

Gwendolyn fights through a shattered London after an invasion from the Otherworld in Tides of Annihilation. Arthurian legend collides with modern ruins as she uncovers the catastrophe's secrets and tries to save her family. Legendary Knights of the Round Table become combat companions, while colossal knights are places to climb, explore and challenge.

• A ruined London intertwined with an Otherworld
• Over a dozen legendary knights with distinct combat roles
• Knight combinations for different combat builds
• Colossal knights to climb, explore and fight

London's landmarks meeting Arthurian fantasy give this action adventure a memorable setting straight away. The knights add a practical hook to the spectacle: assembling companions with different roles is a reason to follow the fights as well as the enormous figures towering over them.

18Kingmakers

Kingmakers sends you back five hundred years to medieval England with modern weapons and an apocalypse to prevent. You can fight directly with guns and vehicles, then switch to issuing orders to an army of archers, swordsmen, spearmen and cavalry. Thousands of soldiers clash in real-time battles as you build fortifications and try to change the course of history.

• Modern guns and vehicles in medieval battles
• Switch between direct combat and army commands
• Thousands of soldiers simulated in real time
• Online co-op for up to four players

The irresistible first impression is the absurd mismatch between an assault rifle and a medieval army. The strategy layer is what makes that premise more interesting: you can jump into the chaos yourself, then step back to direct the forces trying to hold the ground.

19Wo Long 2: Wings of Ember

A warrior carrying the power of the phoenix crosses demon-infested battlefields in Wo Long 2: Wings of Ember. After Cao Cao's forces devastate their village, the protagonist fights alongside heroes of the Three Kingdoms on a path towards the Red Cliffs. Dynamic open fields give you room to explore fortresses and strongholds, while Insight Skills turn evasive movement into opportunities to strike back.

• Insight Skills for evasions and counterattacks
• Open battlefields including Changban and the Red Cliffs
• Recruit enemy officers to weaken opposing armies
• Online co-op for up to three players

Team NINJA's sequel puts more room around Wo Long's frantic martial arts. Recruiting officers and choosing how to approach a battlefield gives the action another layer: the next spectacular duel sits inside a larger battle you can help turn.

Already out: these games landed in the last few weeks, from a war on the Korean Peninsula to a new dimension beyond the Overworld.

20Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 follows Private Park, a young South Korean soldier caught in an invasion, while Captain Price operates in the shadows. That split puts an inexperienced soldier at the front alongside an operator who knows the machinery of war all too well. Beyond the campaign, multiplayer and DMZ offer two very different ways to spend an evening: quick matches or risky trips into an extraction zone.

• A campaign following Private Park and Captain Price
• 12 new 6v6 multiplayer maps at launch
• DMZ extraction mode returns

Modern Warfare 4 launched on 23 October, with Steam dating its release a day earlier. Price's return and the new soldier's perspective give the campaign two very different viewpoints, while DMZ's extraction runs offer another kind of tension alongside the multiplayer matches.

21Gears of War: E-Day

Marcus Fenix and Dominic Santiago face the first Locust emergence in Gears of War: E-Day, fourteen years before the original game. The origin story follows their desperate fight for survival as the enemy erupts from below. Cover-based combat returns with new traversal moves, while Horde Siege sends squads into large survival battles and Versus brings back competitive firefights.

• Marcus and Dom on Emergence Day
• Online campaign co-op for up to four players
• Horde Siege with classes and shared objectives
• Refined 4v4 Versus modes

E-Day launched on 6 October, returning to the catastrophe that shaped the series and the friendship at its centre. Seeing Kalona's landmarks change during the fighting gives that origin story a concrete sense of a city coming apart around its defenders.

22Final Fantasy Resonance

Final Fantasy Resonance sends a party of companions into a pixel-art world threatened with ruin. Its HD-2D presentation brings dynamic camera angles and pixelised 3D models to a classic RPG adventure, while turn-based battles reward exploiting weaknesses and staggering enemies. Visions of familiar Final Fantasy characters join the fight with their own skills, giving you more ways to arrange a party.

• HD-2D art with cinematic camera work
• Stagger enemies to seize extra turns
• Visions of familiar heroes aid party customisation
• A first-chapter demo with save transfer

Released on 22 October, Resonance brings pixel-art Final Fantasy into HD-2D, with stagger battles and Visions giving its party-building a distinct flavour. Airships, crystals and moogles keep the adventure recognisably Final Fantasy, while the first-chapter demo offers a way to begin that carries progress into the full game.

23Valor Mortis

Valor Mortis raises William, a soldier of Napoleon's Grande Armée, from a battlefield grave into a Europe ravaged by plague. This first-person action RPG puts you close to the horrors of an alternate nineteenth century, where the corruption in your veins also gives you supernatural powers. You fight plague-ridden soldiers and uncover the conspiracy behind your resurrection.

• First-person soulslike combat from the creators of Ghostrunner
• Parries, dashes and visceral finishers
• Supernatural abilities powered by corruption
• Environmental secrets reached with new movement abilities

Released on 13 October, One More Level's adventure trades Ghostrunner's futuristic skyline for a grotesque Napoleonic battlefield. Keeping the action in first person makes its duels immediately striking: the enemy fills your view as you look for the opening to parry, dash or unleash a power.

24Minecraft Dungeons II

Rifts across the Overworld lead into the Sift, an unfamiliar dimension at the heart of Minecraft Dungeons II. This action RPG sends you through hordes of mobs to stop an illager plot threatening both worlds. Gear shapes your loadout and fighting style as you explore, whether you're heading into the unknown alone or bringing friends.

• A new dimension, the Sift, to explore
• Weapons and gear to customise your playstyle
• Couch, online and mixed co-op
• Crossplay and matchmaking for finding allies

The sequel launched on 29 September, giving Minecraft's familiar creatures another outing in a dungeon crawler. Mixed co-op is a particularly useful touch: friends sharing a sofa can join others online, so the adventure can bring together a group spread across different homes.

25Nintendo Switch Sports Resort

Nintendo Switch Sports Resort takes you to Wuhu Island for twelve motion-control sports and a holiday's worth of wandering. Skateboarding uses Joy-Con 2 mouse controls, Power Cruising sends you across the waves and Prop Plane lets you tilt your way through the sky. Between events, you can explore the island and collect photos from sightseeing spots.

• 12 sports with motion controls
• Free exploration of Wuhu Island
• Offline Island Crown challenges against champions
• Joy-Con 2 mouse controls for Skateboarding

Nintendo Switch Sports Resort launched on 22 October, bringing players back to Wuhu Island for matches and sightseeing. Island Crown gives solo players champions to work towards, while the mix of sports makes this an easy adventure to picture with friends around the television.