2025 was somewhat of a quiet year for PlayStation. Yes, we got the Game of the Year-nominated Death Stranding 2: On the Beach, and Sucker Punch’s exciting sequel to Ghost of Tsushima, Ghost of Yotei. But aside from that, there wasn’t really a lot of activity from Sony’s first-party studios. Instead, you had to look to developers outside of Sony’s stables, who thankfully kept the PS5 ticking over with an array of interesting games. Right at the back end of 2024, Infold launched the console-exclusive Infinity Nikki and has been delighting stylists around the globe over the past 12 months, and smaller projects such as Sword of the Sea, Dispatch, and Baby Steps have all been enjoyed on PlayStation 5.
Of course, the fact that there were not many console exclusives didn’t mean there weren’t a whole host of great games to play on our PS5s last year. Quite the opposite, in fact. Awards-sweeper Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, the long-awaited Hollow Knight: Silksong, and acclaimed RPG Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 led the third-party offerings. Plus, 2025 really was the year of Xbox going fully multiplatform with its library, as Forza Horizon 5, Gears of War Reloaded, and The Outer Worlds 2, to name just a few, all made their way to PlayStation. And that’s showing no signs of slowing down in the coming year, either, with a certain Master Chief set to grace a Sony console for the first time.
The truth is, Sony has just been pretty quiet when it comes to exclusives of its own, with little new to shout about from a hardware perspective, either. And that’s before we even get into the problems Bungie (now a PlayStation Studio, remember) has faced with Marathon. So, are things looking more exciting in 2026? Well, Marathon will certainly be hoping so as it aims to combat PlayStation’s recent live-service travails. Let’s dig into it, as well as everything else to expect from Sony this year.
First-Party and Exclusives
Heading into 2026, all eyes are on Logan, as Insomniac aims to bolster its long winning streak of Ratchet and Clank and Spider-Man games by taking on another comic book hero. Marvel’s Wolverine is currently pencilled in for a “late 2026” launch, although we’ll see if those plans change at all due to a certain Rockstar game moving to a similar timeframe. Whenever it does release, though, we look to be in for a treat if our first look at gameplay during September’s State of Play is any indication.
While much is still yet to be revealed about its story, we’re eager to learn more and see just who else from the X-Men and the wider Marvel Universe will be popping into Logan’s world. Mystique and Omega Red have already been confirmed, but surely Sabretooth is a must, as well as a cameo at the very least from either of Insomniac’s Spideys, Peter Parker or Miles Morales. Which of the X-Men do you want to see most?
As for PS5 exclusives that actually have release dates confirmed, there’s only Saros, Nioh 3, and Phantom Blade Zero. The former is Housemarque’s follow-up to the acclaimed Returnal, and looks to be sitting in a similar mould of colourful, particle-filled, challenging shooter within an alien planet shell. Now arriving on April 30 after a slight delay, it will take players on an expedition to a lost colony as we step into the shoes of Rahul Kohli’s Arjun Devraj and kill and die our way to uncovering its mysteries through its repeating, roguelike structure.
Nioh 3 is a console exclusive for PlayStation, as it’s also arriving on PC when it launches on February 6. A chronological sequel to the events of the series’ first game, Team Ninja is back with a fresh dose of its own brand of punishing soulslike action in feudal Japan. Things are being shaken up this time, though, thanks to the introduction of a “ninja playstyle” which promises to control completely differently from the traditional samurai option. Trust a studio called Team Ninja, which is also responsible for the Ninja Gaiden series, to want to add ninjas to Nioh. That’s enough ninjas for one sentence, I think.
Phantom Blade Zero is a hotly anticipated wuxia action RPG coming from Chinese developer S-Game. The lead character is called Soul, so you can probably guess what genre this project also borrows heavily from, too. I can confirm this myself – after briefly going hands-on with it at gamescom 2025, I found that there is indeed a punishing combat system with a complex skillset to master. But there are other action game influences, too, so the combat tempo is much higher than in your typical Soulslike. Up for some punishment? Well, you’ll have to hold on a little longer yet, as Phantom Blade Zero will be released on September 9.
Now onto the stuff we’re led to believe will be coming in 2026, we just don’t know when yet. First up is Marvel Tokon: Fighting Souls, the new superhero fighting game from Guilty Gear developer Arc System Works. A uniquely stylised interpretation of the Marvel universe, it looks set to be a real contender in the fighting game community if its recent closed betas are anything to go by.
Freshly revealed at The Game Awards, 4:Loop is a new co-op shooter from Left 4 Dead creator Mike Booth and Bad Robot Games, the video game wing of film director J.J. Abrams’ production company. A PS5 and PC exclusive, it seems to infuse some roguelike elements with a sprinkling of Helldivers and Left 4 Dead. No release date has been given yet, but playtesting will start soon.
Then we have Marathon, the new extraction shooter from Destiny developer Bungie, which was initially meant to arrive in 2025, but had a rough year to say the least. Delayed into this year and now coming out in March, the studio will be hoping for a big comeback story this year and buck the trend of recently failed Sony live-service shooter offerings such as Concord. Instead, it’ll be looking to the likes of the wildly successful Arc Raiders and PlayStation’s very own Helldivers 2 for a template to follow. Shooter pedigree doesn’t come much stronger than Bungie, so fingers crossed that it can turn around those initial impressions.
Speaking of live-service shooters, Fairgames is reportedly still in development at Haven Studios despite the departure of its founder, Jade Raymond, in May of 2025, and even more recently, the game’s creative director, Daniel Drapeau, leaving in September. With still no gameplay to be seen and no sign of a release date for this “competitive heist shooter”, serious questions now have to be raised about whether it will ever see the light of day.
Laser swords more your cup of tea? Well, Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet might be the one for you. We’re very much dreaming if we think this is coming any earlier than 2027, but hopefully, we get a good look at gameplay for Naughty Dog’s new sci-fi game over the next 12 months. Expectations are high from one of Sony’s most beloved developers, though, with creator Neil Druckmann calling it the “most ambitious game” they’ve ever made.
But what about all of those other PlayStation studios cooking up exclusives? Well, Guerrilla may not be developing the recently revealed mobile MMORPG Horizon: Steel Frontiers itself, but has been recruiting for its own multiplayer entry into Aloy’s universe. Could we see that in 2026? What about Santa Monica’s next project? Is it finally time to see what Cory Barlog’s mystery game is, if a new God of War isn’t imminent? All good questions. None of which I have the answers for.
I could run through each of the remaining Sony studios here, but, truthfully, I did that back in August, and very little has changed since. So, you can read that here.
Third-Party and Multiplatform
Another look forward to the year ahead in games, and another opportunity for me to say how excited I am for GTA 6. Surely, after its most recent delay to November, 2026 is the year we finally get our hands on the latest Grand Theft Auto. Please, Rockstar, don’t do it to us again.
Our loss is a bunch of games’ gain, though, with Spring opening up wide for a fair few to fill that GTA-shaped void. These include Capcom’s latest entry into its legendary horror series, Resident Evil Requiem and IO Interactive’s first non-Hitman project in a long time, James Bond adventure, 007 First Light. Plus, Pearl Abyss’ expansive open-world action of Crimson Desert will be soaring onto consoles and PC in March as well. Lego Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight is looking to pick up where Rocksteady’s Arkham trilogy left off and infuse its satisfying melee combat with that indelible minifig charm when it launches on May 29.
But so much of 2026 remains uncertain — likely largely due to GTA shifting around more than James Brown did on stage in the ‘70s. Let’s start with some multiplatform games we are pretty confident are coming this year, before moving on to ones that will likely remain rooted in our dreams.
Yes, Master Chief will soon be controlled by a DualSense. Halo: Campaign Evolved is heading to the PS5 in 2026 as Microsoft continues to unleash its library onto other platforms. This Unreal Engine 5 remake of the 2001 Xbox classic could prove the spectre at the feast for Bungie, the original developers of Halo: Combat Evolved, if its own Marathon launch doesn’t go as planned. At least it won’t be competing in the multiplayer market, as this new edition of Halo only includes the story campaign.
Marvel 1943: Rise of Hydra recently shifted out of its original window of early 2026 to “beyond early 2026”, so your guess is as good as mine as to when we’ll be playing Amy Hennig’s Captain America and Black Panther in World War 2 story. Legendary PlayStation hero Lara Croft will be returning in a “reimagining” of her original game, titled Tomb Raider: Legacy of Atlantis, and Finnish developer Remedy is back with another entry in its connected universe, Control: Resonant. Also announced at The Game Awards was the pleasantly surprising Star Wars: Galactic Racer from the makers of Burnout and Need For Speed that is scheduled to drop in 2026.
Capcom is also set for a big year outside of Resident Evil, with Onimusha: Way of the Sword and Pragmata both set to hit. As was the way in 2025, 2026 also looks set to keep you happy if you’re a fan of katanas and unnerving robots. As it will for vampire fans too, with The Blood of Dawnwalker looking really promising thanks to a non-linear narrative and sandbox-like structure, crafted by a team led by former Witcher 3 devs. Then there’s Mixtape, a game I’ve added to this list as one of my personally most anticipated of 2026. The sophomore project from The Artful Escape studio Beethoven & Dinosaur, this 80s-inspired coming-of-age adventure is definitely one to keep on your radar.
Is 2026 finally the year we get to play a new Ken Levine game? The Bioshock creator hasn’t given us one since 2013’s Infinite, and Judas has been in development for a long time now. Let’s hope this is the year, because it’s something I need in my life. As is The Witcher 4, but even I’m not foolish enough to believe that CD Projekt Red’s Ciri-led RPG is coming anytime soon. But feel free to surprise me. I’d love that.
Hardware and Tech
We’re not necessarily expecting any big hardware splashes this year, with the next console generations theoretically not due until late 2027 at the earliest. Sony tech wizard — and most importantly, creator of Knack — Mark Cerny did recently discuss new graphics capabilities in a conversation with AMD, which sparked PlayStation 6 speculation into overdrive, but it’s still likely a couple of years away at least.
Rumours are also abound of a new PlayStation handheld, after suggestions were made over the past summer that Sony could even be following Nintendo’s blueprint for the Switch, and turning the PS6 into a hybrid home and portable console. Of course, this is all just wild speculation, but with powerful hardware only reducing in size and cloud capabilities ever-growing, it doesn’t feel like too much of a stretch to imagine. As I said, though, we’re still quite a way off hearing anything concrete in regards to the future of PlayStation hardware.
And that’s everything we know, along with a few guesses thrown in, about what to expect from PlayStation in 2026. What games are you most excited for this year? Let us know in the comments below.
Simon Cardy is a Senior Editor at IGN who can mainly be found skulking around open world games, indulging in Korean cinema, or despairing at the state of Tottenham Hotspur and the New York Jets. Follow him on Bluesky at @cardy.bsky.social.
The Pokémon franchise has begun its 30th anniversary celebrations with the reveal of a special new logo, an animation featuring Fat Pikachu, and the promise of more to share in less than two months’ time.
2026 is the 30th anniversary of Pokémon, which began its path to world domination with the Japanese launch of Pokémon Red and Pokémon Green back on the Game Boy three decades ago. (The series then arrived in the USA two years’ later, launching with Pokémon Red and Pokémon Blue.)
As the clock ticked over to January 1, 2026 in Pokémon’s home region of Japan, the brand began its celebrations with the reveal of a new 30th Anniversary Pokémon logo featuring Pikachu, introduced by none other than Fat Pikachu — the mascot’s far plumper original design that’s now rarely glimpsed in official Pokémon media. Here he is in action:
“Pokémon 30th Anniversary, Here We Go!” the brand wrote in a post on social media. “30 years since the release of Pokémon Red and Green. On February 27, 2026 (Friday), Pokémon turns 30. We have a feeling this year is going to be the best one yet! Look forward to it!”
2026 will also see the launch of promising-looking Pokémon life simulation spin-off Pokémon Pokopia, which arrives exclusively for Nintendo Switch 2 on March 5. A blend of Pokémon characters with gameplay more similar to Animal Crossing, the game seems likely to find success.
More details on all of that are expected to arrive on the brand’s big 30th anniversary, now less than two months’ away on February 27. While not formally confirmed just yet, this date has now become the annual date fans expect to sit down and watch a new Pokémon Presents, the company’s Nintendo Direct-style announcements showcase. There’s not long to go now.
Tom Phillips is IGN’s News Editor. You can reach Tom at tom_phillips@ign.com or find him on Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social
Eight hours and more than 10,000 parries later, a Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 superfan is being praised for beating one of the game’s toughest bosses in frankly ridiculous conditions.
Underpowered but undeterred, Reddit user Recordbreaks has posted a screenshot showing that they beat the super strong Duollistes boss after managing 10,545 successful parries — which feels like more than I’ve completed in the entire game.
The encounter took eight hours, two minutes and 36 seconds, during which time Recordbreaks says they “took one break maybe for about 5-10 minutes” in order to go get snacks, then “went back to it.”
Added to Clair Obscur last month as part of the game’s highly-anticipated farewell update, Duollistes is housed within the new Endless Tower location. This area hosts a series of bosses that are designed to provide some of the toughest challenges in the hit role-playing game, though they still shouldn’t take the average endgame player anywhere near eight hours.
“Only reason it took me this long is because I haven’t properly built Verso for damage in the millions yet,” Recordbreaks admitted, saying his squad was still around level 80. “He was doing maybe 200,000 damage per hit and that’s if Roulette was working in my favor which it wasn’t most of the time.”
While some fans have said Recordbreaks could simply have quit the battle, sorted their build then restarted, the vast majority of fans are praising the player for putting in an actual work shift’s worth of time to beat the boss anyway.
Most surreal of all, however? Throughout the whole battle, Recordbreaks avoided dodging to the point where not a single successful dodge is recorded, opting instead for the tougher option to parry attacks every time.
“22 parries a minute, pretty much one parry every three seconds,” one fan noted, after doing the math.
“Bro that’s a full-time job spent for that boss and 10k parries damn,” admired xXxZeroTwoxXx. “Congrats bud.”
“Why? Cuz I felt like it,” Recordbreaks replied, when asked the reason for their perseverance. “How? With sheer will and determination. What’s wrong with me? Haven’t gone to a therapist to work that out yet.”
Nintendo has said it was unwilling to backtrack on the design of Metroid Prime 4: Beyond’s controversial open world hub despite seeing “changed” attitudes to open-world games, as the project had already been rebooted once already.
The Nintendo Switch and Switch 2 blockbuster launched last month to mostly positive reviews, but also a broad swathe of criticism specifically for its annoying supporting characters and bland open-world desert hub where you ride around rather aimlessly on a motorbike.
Now, in an interview with Famitsu (translated via ResetEra / Nintendo Everything), the Metroid Prime 4: Beyond development team has revealed that it struggled balancing Nintendo’s desire to experiment with open-world gameplay with the Metroid series’ core exploration, and ultimately had to stick to its original plan for the game rather than risk delaying it any further.
“At the start of the project, perhaps due to the influence of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, we saw a lot of comments on the internet saying ‘we want to play an open-world Metroid,'” Nintendo said. (The interview does not label comments from individual developers by name.)
“However, Metroid’s core element of ‘increasing the amount of explorable areas by unlocking powers’ is not very compatible with the ‘freedom to go anywhere from the beginning’ of open worlds,” Nintendo continued. “Thus we thought to design a limited area that could be freely explored, and have that be a hub that could connect to other areas. Then we thought that if one could move around on the bike in a satisfying way in that area, it could be a segment that mitigates the tension from exploration, and paces the whole game.”
In other words, the hub design seen in the finished Metroid Prime 4: Beyond was Nintendo’s original compromise for including some open world elements while sticking to the franchise’s core exploration in its main areas.
“In the end, the game took much longer than expected to finish, and we realized that players’ impressions toward open-world games had changed,” Nintendo added. “That being said, development had already been reset once before (when we started again from scratch with Retro Studios) so backtracking development again was out of the question, and we resolved to move forward with our original vision.”
Arriving 18 years after Metroid Prime 3: Corruption, the last game in Retro Studios’ beloved Prime trilogy, Prime 4 was officially announced at E3 2017. Initially, Bandai Namco was put in charge of development, but development was rebooted in January 2019 back at Retro Studios after Nintendo decided the game’s development had fallen short of expectations.
Nintendo’s comment that the open-world hub was part of its “original vision” for Prime 4 certainly suggests it was not Retro Studios’ design, though the implication is that Nintendo only realized the flaws with it after the game’s development was begun anew.
“During this time, shooting games and action games went through evolutions, with an increase in game speed in particular, but taking in those changes would have made it difficult to construct the tempo of an adventure game, so we actively chose to not take them into account,” Nintendo concluded. “Therefore, I think this game is pretty much divorced from the changing of times.”
The idea of Samus gaining psychic abilities also predated Retro Studios’ reboot, and originated as an explanation for why she is now able to control the Charge Beam’s directional shot. After Retro took over the project, Nintendo said it asked the studio to implement further gameplay features that expanded on the idea of Samus gaining a psychic power set.
“Metroid Prime 4: Beyond is an excellent, if relatively uneven, revival that reaches heights worthy of the Metroid name in its best moments,” IGN wrote in our Metroid Prime 4: Beyond review, scoring the game 8/10.
Tom Phillips is IGN’s News Editor. You can reach Tom at tom_phillips@ign.com or find him on Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social
Deus Ex lead actor Elias Toufexis has branded the franchise’s owners as “psychopaths,” as the wait continues for a new entry in the dormant stealth action series.
In a post on X, Toufexis laid out his work schedule for 2026, which he said included Bungie’s upcoming shooter Marathon and three unannounced projects. Of course, this tease prompted Deus Ex fans to suggest that at least one of these mystery projects was a long-awaited new Deus Ex sequel — something Toufexis was quick to shut down.
“…no Deus Ex because the people in charge are psychopaths,” Toufexis wrote.
Toufexis has been vocal in support of a new Deus Ex game materializing over the years, though it has now been a decade since the arrival of 2016’s Deus Ex: Mankind Divided. Developed by Eidos Montreal, the game arrived on PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One to positive reviews.
But rather than develop a follow up, the next few years saw Eidos Montreal put to work on Square Enix’s failed Marvel’s Avengers live-service game, as well as its own take on Guardians of the Galaxy, alongside its continuing role as a support studio for the Tomb Raider franchise. With these franchises taking priority, Deus Ex fell by the wayside.
Fan excitement for a new Deus Ex was rekindled after Square Enix sold Eidos Montreal — and the Deus Ex franchise — to publisher Embracer, and indeed, a new game in the series was reportedly worked on for two years. Alas, this project was reported to have been canned in 2024, amid Embracer’s widespread restructuring.
“As you guys all know, Jensen is one of the characters I’ve played who is near and dear to my heart. It seems I will always be associated with him and that’s just fine with me,” Toufexis wrote in a subsequent reddit post, after word of the game’s cancellation spread.
“Alas, his story seems done. I’m relatively certain the game that was canceled was not an Adam Jensen story, so the cancellation angers me more than anything else because friends at Eidos got laid off. Video game companies right now are in a weird place. I hope it gets straightened out.”
A year ago, Insider Gaming reported that Eidos Montreal was once again pitching an idea for a new Deus Ex title, though there was no suggestion this idea had been successful. Next up for the series will be Aspyr’s recently-delayed Deus Ex Remastered, a polished up port of the franchise’s original entry, which has been pushed from its original February 2026 launch date following fan concerns over its quality. The project currently lacks a new launch window, and pre-orders have been refunded.
Toufexis previously claimed he spent two years working on Far Cry 3, recording lines as the game’s protagonist Jason Brody, before Ubisoft replaced him in the role. The voice actor claimed the reason for this switch was his work as the Deus Ex protagonist, whose voice had become too “popular” and recognizable.
Tom Phillips is IGN’s News Editor. You can reach Tom at tom_phillips@ign.com or find him on Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social
Happy new year, or almost new year, or just… whatever time it is when you’re reading this. For me, it’s the very tail end of 2025, and what better time to take a look ahead at some of the games coming out in the new year? Here are 2026’s biggest game releases
Before we get into it, just a heads up that this is by no means a 100% comprehensive guide to all the games coming out in 2026, as many of those haven’t even been announced yet. Also, as always, release dates are subject to change – I made something very much like this exactly a year ago in which I told you that GTA would be the biggest game of 2025… assuming it came out in 2025, which it didn’t. So, this is true in our regular monthly game release updates, but it’s especially true when we’re talking about games that are 11 months away, or games that don’t have release dates yet.
January
On January 15, Animal Crossing: New Horizons gets a new lease on life, and also a new mortgage to pay off when the beloved debt, yard work, and interior decoration sim comes to Switch 2 – and if you happen to be one of the 50 million people who bought Animal Crossing on the original Switch, you’ll be happy to hear that you can upgrade to the Switch 2 version for just 5 bucks. Meanwhile, if you’re still playing on Switch 1, you’ll still be getting access to a ton of new features with the 3.0 update, which adds a ton of new features including hotel renovation, and in-game items based on other Nintendo properties, as well as LEGO’s line of Animal Crossing sets.
You can’t spell “Purchase a Game In January” without JRPG, or a lot of other letters, but this is the time of year when fans of that particular genre are bound to be especially busy. Still on the 15th, there’s The Legend of Heroes: Trails Beyond The Horizon, which is the seventeenth installment in The Legend of Heroes series, or the thirteenth installment in the Trails series, and a direct sequel to 2022’s Legend of Heroes Trails Through Daybreak II. That’s coming to all the Switches, PlayStations, and PC.
On the 22nd, Final Fantasy 7 Remake Intergrade comes to Nintendo Switch 2 and Xbox Series as well as Xbox on PC – this includes the base game, all the visual and technical improvements that it got when it was ported to PS5, a whole side story that follows Yuffie, and this latest release will add a new streamlined mode that maxes out your party’s stats and has all attacks do 9,999 damage so you can just blow through the story.
Not quite a JRPG, but JRPG-adjacent, Dynasty Warriors Origins also hits Switch 2 that day, alongside the Visions of Four Heroes DLC expansion, which also comes to the other platforms the game’s already on.
On the 26th, Highguard drops, which is the new PVP raid game from a bunch of ex-Respawn devs who worked on Titanfall and Apex Legends – and while you can see some similar DNA, it’s clearly going a very different direction, and instead of bunch of a bunch of wallrunning dudes and Neil Blomkamp mechs, it’s got more fantasy flair – so if you’ve ever wanted to bear arms while riding a bear, go nuts. That’s free to play on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series.
Finally, rounding out January’s JRPGs, on the 28th there’s The Seven Deadly Sins: Origin, an open-world RPG based on the hit anime series for PS5, PC, and mobile. And then on the 30th, there’s Code Vein 2, the sequel to Bandai Namco’s 2019 vampire anime soulslike, which is on PS5, Xbox Series, and PC.
At some point in January, 2XKO will hit PS5 and Xbox series, which is Riot Games’ 2v2 fighting game featuring a roster of characters from League of Legends – that’s been in early access on PC since October.
February
On February 5, Dragon Quest 7 Reimagined hits PS5, Xbox Series, both Switches, and PC. Originally released stateside for PS1 in 2001, and then 3DS 15 years after that, it’s now getting a full modern overhaul. JRPGs aren’t exactly known for being concise, but this one is pretty infamously beefy, and don’t be surprised if you sink 100 hours into this just doing the main quest.
If you’d rather just make a bunch of colorful characters hit each other, My Hero Academia: All’s Justice is a 3v3 arena fighter featuring several dozen characters from the beloved anime series. That’s on PS5, Xbox Series, and PC February 6.
Also on the 6th is Nioh 3, the third installment in Team Ninja’s tough-as-balls soulslike series that is actually its first true sequel, as Nioh 2 took place before the events of the first game – which probably has no bearing whatsoever on the moment to moment combat that’s the main selling point here. That’s on PS5 and PC.
On February 11, Romeo is a Deadman is the latest whackadoo action game from Suda51 and the fine folks at Grasshopper Manufacture, who gave us such cult classics as Killer7 and No More Heroes – this latest one looks to be as stylish, absurd, and over-the-top as we’ve come to expect. That’s on PS5, Xbox series and PC. I’ve had the pleasure of interviewing a lot of really interesting people in this job, and Suda is one of my favorites – we did one with him years ago where we asked a bunch of really stupid questions rapid-fire and he didn’t skip a beat. So anyway, I’m happy to see he’s keeping busy making weird cool games.
On the 12th, Yakuza Kiwami 3 & Dark Ties hits everything but Xbox One. Yakuza 3 was originally released for the PS3 back in 2009, and though it was included with the remastered collection in 2019, that version didn’t get any major graphical or gameplay improvements. Kiwami 3, on the other hand, is a full modern overhaul, so this’ll play as great as it looks – and the Dark Ties expansion is a whole new side story.
Still that day on Switch 2 is Mario Tennis Fever, which may sound like a fun casual sports game, but it’s also a very serious medical condition that can be deadly if not treated immediately. If you develop symptoms of Mario Tennis Fever while playing this game, please consult a Dr. Mario.
On the 13th we’re getting High on Life 2, the follow-up to the excellent 2022 first-person metroidvania – and between the first game, its High on Knife DLC, and now this, I gotta give the team at Squanch Games credit for shipping two and a half Metroid Prime-likes in half the time it took Retro to get Metroid Prime 4 out the door. Also, High on Life 2 is the only way you can legally purchase the classic 1991 Wisdom Tree platformer Bible Adventures for current consoles.
On February 20, Ys X: Proud Nordics is the latest Japanese action RPG rooted in Scandinavian folklore – and it’s actually an enhanced re-release of 2023’s Ys X: Nordics, but with enough added abilities, bosses and levels that it’s apparently very proud of itself. That’s coming to PS5, PC, and Switch 2.
On the 24th, Tides of Tomorrow hits PS5, Xbox Series and PC, which is set in a vibrant post-apocalyptic ocean world that’s riddled with microplastics, and where the choices made by other players in their game will affect how the narrative in yours unfolds.
On February 27, Resident Evil: Requiem – or the ninth mainline entry, if you’re keeping count – hits Xbox Series, PS5, PC, and Switch 2. I’m fairly late to the Resident Evil party, but as someone who liked 7, loved 8, and adored the remakes, I’m fairly lukewarm on what I’ve seen of this one so fair – but I’m also willing to give it a shot, since that team has been knocking it out the park with this series.
Any Switch 2 owners looking to play catchup, Resident Evil 7 and 8 – AKA Biohazard and Village – are also coming to the hybrid handheld that day as well. They got cloud-streamed versions on Switch 1, but this is the first time they’ll be playable locally on Nintendo hardware.
March
On March 5, Pokemon Pokopia comes to Switch 2, which sort of looks like Animal Crossing, except you play as a ditto who is masquerading as a human being, something that will never not be totally unsettling.
Hitting PC, Xbox Series and PS5 on March 12, John Carpenter’s Toxic Commando is a post-apocalyptic co-op FPS that’s been developed by the World War Z team with some input from the legendary horror filmmaker turned grouchy hardcore gamer, and it looks as though it’ll sit well with anyone wishing the Left 4 Dead franchise hadn’t been… abandoned in a seemingly deceased state. That’s on Xbox Series, PS5, and PC.
That same day on PC is Solasta 2, the follow-up to the very well-received 2021 tactical CRPG, which should click with anybody who’s had their fill of Baldur’s Gate 3 and needs to kill some time before Divinity.
Also on March 12, Fatal Frame 2: Crimson Butterfly Remake hits all the newer consoles and PC, and that’s a modern do-over of the 2003 survival horror game that’s sort of like Pokémon Snap but with scary ghosts instead of cute animals.
If you’d prefer a game about making friends scary animals, on the 13th, there’s Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection for those same platforms, which puts a more conventional turn-based JRPG spin on Capcom’s hit creature clobberer series.
If you’re more into big huge sprawling open-world RPGs with fast-paced realtime combat, on the 19th there’s Crimson Desert, the single player spinoff of Black Desert Online. That’s on Xbox Series, PS5, and PC.
If you’d rather just shoot olde tymie cartoon criminal critters, Mouse: P.I. For Hire looks to like a boomer shooter with Cuphead aesthetics – that’s on everything
On March 26, Screamer hits PS5, Xbox Series, and PS5 – I heard about this game a while ago, and was wondering what was taking so long since the gameplay looked like it was in a pretty good state. The trailer that dropped during The Game Awards answered the hell out of that question: in addition to being a racing game, this is also a cyberpunk anime, and it sure looks like those cutscenes took a while. So, if you’ve ever wished for a cross between Redline and Initial D with playable races, here you go!
April
On April 16, yet another game with literary inspirations is Cthulu: The Cosmic Abyss, a first person thriller mired in the unthinkable cosmic horrors of the works of H.P. Lovecraft, so that should be a nice cheerful jaunt. That’s on Xbox Series, PS5, and PC.
On April 24 arrives Pragmata, which is a totally new sci-fi property from Capcom that pairs third-person shooting with some realtime hacking minigames, which seems cool.
On a similar note, on April 30, the folks who gave us Returnal are back with Saros, a roguelite third-person bullet hell, which stars the wonderful Rahul Kohli and takes place in a sci-fi setting that’s cribbing from Robert W. Chambers’ proto-lovecraftian classic, The King in Yellow.
May
On May 8th, Mortal Kombat 2 hits theaters, the first of two very fun-looking fighting game movies. Something I very much appreciated about the first game is they didn’t make use of the whole roster, and saved some big names for round two – namely, Johnny Cage, who looks to be very much the central focus of the sequel, and he’s being played by the ever-delightful Karl Urban. Very excited to watch him do a split and punch someone in the groin.
On May 27, we’ll get high speed chases and every other kind of action in 007 First Light, a game I’m trying not to get too excited about, but which i can’t not – after all, it’s from the team behind Hitman: World of Assassinaiton, which is already basically the best James Bond game to date, except this one’s actually about Ian Fleming’s legendary spy. Anyway that’s coming to all the newer consoles and PC.
LEGO Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight is the closest thing to an Arkham game we’ll be getting anytime soon, and while it might not have quite the massive roster of playable characters as TT Games’ previous LEGO titles, it looks to be making up for it with much tighter combat. That’s on all the newer boxes and also PC on May 29.
September
Illfonic, the studio that gave us asymmetrical multiplayer horror games based on Friday the 13th, Killer Klowns from Outer Space, and Predator are giving the granddaddy of all slashers the same treatment with John Carpenter’s original Halloween, which’ll also have a single player mode this time around. That’s coming to Xbox Series, PS5 and PC on September 8.
On September 12, Phantom Blade Zero hits PC and PS5, which looks like a soulslike or a hack and slash action game, and while it is an action RPG with lots of hacking and slashing, it’s apparently doing its own thing that’s somewhere in the middle – whatever the hell it is, buzz on this one is killer.
October
Not a game, but obviously worth including is the newest Street Fighter movie, which looks like an absolute blast and I’ve been hyping this movie up since the first casting announcements trickled out – it’s directed by Kitao Sakurai, who is best known for his work with Eric Andre on the Eric Andre Show and the film Bad Trip, which has involved a lot of people getting injured in entertaining ways in public places as well as a few cars getting destroyed, so I think this movie is going to kick ass. That hits theaters October 16 and I will be there opening night.
November
And of course, the biggest game of 2026, the 2020s as a whole, and possibly all time, assuming it ever comes out, is Grand Theft Auto 6, which is hitting Xbox Series and PS5 on November 19 – a date which basically every other game in development is steering clear of. At this point we’ve been waiting so long for this game that it’s just stopped seeming like something I’ll ever get to play – but someday, I’ll get to actually play it, I think, and I hope it’s this year!
Now, that takes us to the very end of games that currently have release dates – but there a whole lot more that just have vague 2026 releases planned, so here’s what we’ve got right now:
At some point in 2026, Starfield is supposedly coming to PS5, and while Bethesda’s dropped a handful of updates post-launch, I feel like players weren’t quite over the moon for this one – but who knows, maybe it’ll get some more tweaks and content alongside its eventual PlayStation version.
Super Meat Boy 3D adds a whole extra dimension to Team Meat’s beloved indie platformer, and that’s coming to PS5, Xbox Series, and PC.
Zero Parades: For Dead Spies is the latest offbeat and extremely cerebral CRPG from the developers of Disco Elysium. This is clearly a spiritual successor, but rather than take cues from detective fiction, Zero Parades is all about the world of espionage – specifically, the nerve-racking deception-based kind, not the sexy hollywood kind. That’s coming to PC and PS5.
If you want a game that takes place inside books, but involves a lot less reading, Chronoscript: The Endless End is an exploration based action-adventure sidescroller – or maybe more accurately, page turner. That’s on PS5 and PC as well.
Thick as Thieves is a PvPvE stealth game from Warren Spector, who was behind the original Deus Ex, and that’s sneaking onto PS5, Xbox Series, and PC at some point in 2026
If you’re sad we haven’t gotten a brand new Metal Gear Solid game in over a decade, you might want to keep an eye on Mudang: Two Hearts, which looks like like a similar blend of stealth, action, tactical military stuff, and over the top sci-fi nonsense, and that’s coming to PS5, Xbox Series, and PC as well.
If you like sequels, don’t worry, they’re still making lots of those: if you want to go on a power trip, you can be a tyrannical dictator in Tropico 7. If you’d rather feel utterly powerless, you can get punched so hard your soul flies out of your body in Mortal Shell 2. Those are both on the big consoles and PC. On Switch 2 and PC, you can go dungeon-crawling through even more bullet hells in Enter the Gungeon 2.
Onimusha: Way of the Sword marks the long-awated return of Capcom’s PS2-era supernatural samurai series, and that’s coming to Xbox Series, PS5, and PC.
If you want to travel through time and fight some ex boyfriends, there’s Scott Pilgrim EX, the long-awaited follow-up to hit beat-em-up based on Bryan Lee O’Malley’s beloved Canadian manga, which is on basically everything.
Speaking of Canadians, Marvel’s fan favorite canucklehead finally slices and dices his way onto PS5 sometime in the fall – Insomniac’s long-awaited Wolverine game is clearly not shying away from an M-rating, but hopefully it’s got as much brains and heart as it does blood and guts.
Two other Marvel games are also in the works expected in 2026 at some point: Skydance’s Marvel 1943: Rise of Hydra, which features Cap and Black Panther’s grandpa, who is also Black Panther, fighting in World War 2 on PS5, Xbox Series, and PC. And then there’s Marvel Tokon Fighting Souls on PS5 and PC, a fighting game from Arc System Works that looks like it could be a proper spiritual successor to Marvel Vs Capcom – just, without the Capcom.
Ace Combat 8: Wings of Theve is the latest entry in the long running jet pilot sim to try to tempt me into playing it with sequences of stuff happening outside of a jet that are so impressively realistic it makes me forget that I don’t actually enjoy the part where you fly the jet. Don’t get me wrong, I think jets are the coolest thing ever invented and this game looks gorgeous, but aerial dogfighting in video games just never clicks for me. Can I just play the parts where you eat hamburgers and drink beer with your friends on an aircraft carrier? Anyway, that’s on PS5, Xbox Series, and PC
Remedy’s David Lynchian interconnected universe gets a bit bigger with Control: Resonant, which is a continuation of IGN’s 2019 game of the year, but also connects with Alan Wake 2 and FBC Firebreak – and even if you’re not keeping track of what’s going on, this looks like it’ll still be a good time.
I’ve always wondered why nobody’s made any first-person soulslikes, and the trailer for Decrepit answered that question very loudly: because they’d be too fucking scary. Get this shit outta here. Too scary! Just awful! No thank you! That’s on PC for now, so if you play on console, you’re safe from its horrors for the time being. Did you see that spider? Fuck off!
Less scary looking, but from a studio with some major horror chops is Ontos, which is from the folks behind Amnesia and SOMA and takes place in a hotel where a lot of weird stuff is happening, which is to be expected from a hotel that’s on the moon.
If you want something nice and cute in space, there’s the two-player co-op adventure Oribitals on Switch 2 which looks just gorgeous. Lots of games look like anime, but this one specifically looks like a bubble era OVA, which has not just a specific aesthetic, but a certain VHS graininess and poppy sound quality as well, and that’s such a pretentious delineation but as a reformed weeaboo whose formative years were filled with badly dubbed “Japanimation” from Manga Video, I applaud this attention to detail.
Another co-op adventure coming this year is Out of Words, which is all stop-motion featuring handcrafted puppets. I have this theory that Geoff Keighley really loves puppets, and if you make a game with puppets in it, he’s more likely to feature it prominently in one of his shows – Out of Words was one of two puppet-centric games that debuted at Summer Game Fest, the other being Felt That: Boxing, and it showed up again at The Game Awards in between Miss Piggy appearances. Anyway that’s coming to the new consoles and PC.
Star Wars: Galactic Racer is hitting PS5, Xbox Series, and PC at some point in 2026, and I am stoked – like 10 years ago, when it was announced that EA had the Star Wars license, I was like, “Get the people who do Burnout and Need for Speed to do a podracing game.” -And well, it took a minute, but we’re getting something even better: a studio founded by a bunch of ex-Criterion devs is making a game like that and EA has nothing to do with it! Also, this isn’t straight podcasting – it’s got a bunch of other speeders and stuff, which reminds me of the criminally underrated 2000 vehicular combat game Star Wars Demolition.
If you thought that was a stupid joke, well, bad news because Stupid Never Dies – which is the name of a video game that’s coming out at some point on PC and PS5. This is a dungeon crawler action game that has some major Lollipop Chainsaw vibes, but it’s actually from a new studio founded by Hiroyuki Kobayashi, who, among other things, worked on Devil May Cry, Resident Evil, and Dragon’s Dogma.
Tankrat is a game where you drive a cool tank around and shoot stuff while also exploring and finding new stuff to make your tank even cooler – and it reminds me of modern version of Blaster Master. You guys remember Blaster Master? No? Well it sort of looked like this except really old. Tankrat is coming to PS5 and PC.
To Be Announced
A whole lot of games just have a vague “TBA” release window, which means that they’ll probably come out someday. And while 2026 seems like a safe bet for most of these, some might even be further down the road, while others might never come out.
If you ever wished they’d do a Star Wars XCOM… well, they’re doing it! Zero Company, or ZCOM for short, is from a studio of ex-Firaxis devs, and looks like a turn-based tactical good time. That’s coming to Xbox, PS5, and PC.
Cinder City is an open-world MMO tactical shooter that looks like it has literally everything in it, and that’s coming to PC at some point – though looking at this game in action, I wouldn’t be surprised if it was a 2027 game.
Lords of the Fallen 2 is the sequel to the 2023 soulslike, which was itself the reboot of a game already titled Lords of the Fallen, so this is technically the third Lords of the Fallen game, but who’s keeping track? That’s on the newer non-Nintendo consoles and PC.
All we’ve seen of Road Kings is a cinematic trailer where a dude drives his 18 wheeler straight toward a tornado, but that seems like it was enough to get people hyped. And it’s from Saber, the studio that gave us Mudrunner and Snowrunner and the recent Road Craft, and as a very casual truck game enjoyer, I’m curious to see what their spin on a long-haul trucking sim is like. That’s on PC, Xbox Series, and PS5.
Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War 4 is the first installment in the fan-fave RTS series in almost a decade, and while it’s not from Relic, the studio that made the first three games, it is from the team behind another well-received RTS, Iron Harvest. That’s coming to PC.
Tomodachi Life might not have quite the same name-brand recognition as Animal Crossing, but the original mii-centric social game released in 2014 was the 11th best-selling 3DS game of all time, so it’s a surprise it’s taken Nintendo this long to make another one. Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream will be on Switch.
Somebody put The Elder Scrolls 6 on our list of upcoming game releases, and while that’ll probably come out someday, I would be shocked if it dropped in 2026. However, if you’re after a big pretty fantasy RPG from Xbox Game Studios, Fable seems a lot more likely for a fall release. This one is from Playground Games, the studio that gave us Forza Horizon, so I’m stoked to see how they tackle wizard stuff.
Speaking of Forza Horizon, the sixth entry is expected sometime in 2026, and though there have been rumblings it might launch in the first half of the year, nothing official on that front aside from the fact that it’s set in Japan this time around. Fable and Forza Horizon are both hitting Xbox Series and PC, with PS5 versions probably arriving later on, if recent Xbox release strategy is anything to go on.
Gears of War turns 20 in 2026, and to mark the occasion we’re hopefully getting a brand new installment with E-Day. This is a prequel set 14 years before the first game and will follow Marcus Fenix during the events of Emergence Day, when the big scary guys you’ve been shooting at and chainsawing into pieces in all the other installments first started coming out of holes in the ground. That’ll be on Xbox and PC for sure, and again, maybe PS5 at some point too.
Another major franchise celebrating a big anniversary is Tomb Raider, which turns 30 – To celebrate, we’re getting Legacy of Atlantis, a full ground-up Unreal Engine 5 remake of the original Tomb Raider. It certainly looks pretty, but I’m curious how much it plays like the originals. That’ll be on Xbox Series, PS5, and PC.
If you ever wished for a distant prequel to the Plague Tale games that swapped the medieval European setting for an ancient Greek one, well… you’re in luck! Because that’s exactly what Resonance: A Plague Tale Legacy is – and that’s coming to Xbox Series, PS5, and PC
The Adventures of Elliott: The Millennium Tales is the latest game from the folks behind Bravely Default and Octopath Traveller, and hopefully you won’t have to wait a thousand years to play – that one’s coming to all the newer consoles and PC.
Usually it’s bad when a game freezes, but sometimes that’s a feature, not a bug – like the bleak frigid survival game Blackfrost: The Long Dark 2, or Frostrail, a survival game that’s also bleak and frigid, but at least you have a train – those are both coming to PC – and there’s also Ikuma: The Frozen Compass, a coming of age story set in the arctic, which seems frigid, but less bleak – which is on PC, as well as Xbox Series and PS5.
If you’d like to try your hand at surviving while submerged in melted ice, ie: water, Subnautica 2 is hitting early access on PC and Xbox any day now. And by “now” I mean at some point in the coming year.
If you’d rather go on adventures above the waves, Sea of Remnants is a bright and colorful ocean-world RPG, which is slated to hit PC and PS5 at some point. If you prefer rails to sails, there’s also Denshattack, which looks like Jet Grind Radio, except you play as a train. Sure why not! That’s on PC as well as Xbox Series and PS5.
At some point The Duskbloods is coming out, which is FromSoftware’s Switch 2 exclusive foray into the world of PvE multiplayer, and I know I’m not the only one who’s disappointed that something that looks so much like Bloodborne isn’t an action RPG. Still, as arcane as this game looks, my intelligence is high enough that I’ll pump a few points into having faith that Hidetaka Miyazaki and company know what they’re doing.
If you ever wished Hotline Miami was about actual animal men and not just men in animal masks, well, get a load of Kusan: City of Wolves – it’s exactly what I just described. That’s coming to PC as well as Switch, Xbox Series and both PlayStations.
The Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time remake has been in development for several dumptrucks worth of hourglass-grade silica powder, but at some point this year, that’s supposedly coming out – and hopefully it’s worth the wait.
Another Ubisoft remake we’ve been hearing about for almost as long is Assassin’s Creed 4: Black Flag, which isn’t even officially announced, but will presumably come to modern consoles and PC if and when it ever gets released.
Valor Mortis is another first-person action soulslike from the studio behind Ghostrunner, which seems like a novel enough idea and hopefully has less spiders than Decrepit – and it’s coming to Xbox Series, PS5, and PC.
Originally slated for a fall 2025 release, Directive 8020: A Dark Pictures Game is the latest cinematic choose-your-own-adventure game from the folks at Supermassive, which is coming to Xbox Series, PS5, and PC.
Dune: Awakening has been going strong on PC for a while now, and at some point in the foreseeable future, it’ll be getting Xbox Series and PS5 versions as well.
And last but not least, 2026 marks the 30th anniversary of the launch of the Pokémon series. In addition to Pokopia, we’re also getting the strategy game Pokemon Champions – I have a hunch those aren’t the only two Pokémon games that’ll be dropping this year, but they’re the only two we officially know about right now.
So, there you go! That’s a look ahead at the biggest games coming in 2026 that we know about right now. Some of these might not actually come out in the next 12 months, but a whole lot more that I didn’t mention here that definitely will. If you want regular and slightly more accurate breakdowns of what games are coming on a more timely basis, keep an eye out for our monthly big game release videos – in fact, we should have one about January’s games, including a few that didn’t make it into this video.
I have no doubt in my mind that there’s some big huge obvious game coming out in 2026 that we forgot to mention, so please, whatever we forgot, share it in the comments. But also, and I always say this and very few people pay attention – tell us what the games we left out are about! Why should people care? Sharing a cool recommendation is one of the best feelings in the world, so if there’s a game you’re stoked on, tell us about it!
2026 is a huge year for Persona, with the series celebrating its 30th anniversary. If you’ve yet to catch up on the series, now is the best time to do so. Beyond the standard mainline games, Persona has seen spin-offs here and there, but Persona 5, in particular, has seen a suite of them.
Persona 5 Strikers from Omega Force is actually set after the events of Persona 5, and the recently released Persona 5: The Phantom X brings many new characters into the fold. However, the most interesting spin-off is arguably Persona 5 Tactica, a strategy-based spin-off that is similar to XCOM. If you’ve yet to check out this game, Best Buy has a great deal to pick up a copy for only $10.
Persona 5 Tactica for $9.99
Persona 5 Tactica falls in line with the story of Persona 5, with the game actually taking place during the base game. One day, the party is transported away to an alternate reality called a Kingdom, and these worlds are where Tactica takes place. DLC was also made available for Persona 5 Tactica, in the form of Repaint Your Heart, which brought back familiar faces Goro Akechi and Kasumi Yoshizawa.
In each Kingdom, you control up to three characters and move them around a grid-based map to take down enemies. Many of Persona 5’s unique combat mechanics are implemented here in familiar ways, such as the 1 More mechanic when attacking an enemy and knocking them to the ground.
Noah Hunter is a freelance writer and reviewer with a passion for games and technology. He co-founded Final Weapon, an outlet focused on nonsense-free Japanese gaming (in 2019) and has contributed to various publishers writing about the medium.
Sony has announced the PlayStation Plus monthly games for January 2026, and the new year kicks off with Need for Speed Unbound, Disney Epic Mickey: Rebrushed, and Core Keeper.
As detailed by PlayStation.Blog, these three games will be available to all PlayStation Plus members from January 6 until February 2.
This is also a great time to remind PlayStation Plus members that they also have until January 5 to add December’s games to their library, which include Lego Horizon Adventures, Killing Floor 3, The Outlast Trials, Synduality Echo of Ada, and Neon White.
2022’s Need for Speed Unbound leads the pack on PS5 and will give racers a chance to try out the latest entry in the beloved franchise. Unbound has separate single and multiplayer campaigns and encourages players to “race against time, outsmart the cops, and take on weekly qualifiers to reach The Grand, Lakeshore’s ultimate street racing challenge.”
In our Need for Speed Unbound review, we said it “hasn’t strayed very far from the fundamentals of 2019’s Heat, but its bold new animated style impresses.”
Disney Epic Mickey: Rebrushed is up next on PS4 and PS5, and it’s a gorgeous remake of the 2010 title that first appeared on Nintendo Wii. In this 3D platformer, players become Mickey Mouse and venture to the Wasteland, a realm of forgotten Disney characters. And yes, you do get to encounter Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, who was Walt Disney’s first big character before Mickey.
In my preview of Disney Epic Mickey: Rebrushed, I said, “what impressed me the most about Disney Epic Mickey: Rebrushed is how much it looks and, perhaps most importantly, feels like a 2024 game.”
Rounding out the bunch is Core Keeper on PS4 and PS5, a 1-8 player mining sandbox adventure where you can “harvest relics and resources, craft advanced tools, build your base, and explore a dynamically evolving world waiting to be unearthed.”
Core Keeper is getting a big Void & Voltage Update (and a Switch 2 release!) on January 28, 2026, so this is a great time to jump aboard. The update includes a new biome called Breaker’s Reach, a new boss named S.A.H.A.B.A.R., an Advanced Automation Table, and much more.
It’s no secret that Dragon Quest is one of the most important RPG series of all time. Inspired by Wizardry, the Enix-published Famicom game has inspired thousands of famous RPGs. The genre simply wouldn’t exist the way it does today without Dragon Quest.
Last year, Square Enix finally released Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake, the long-awaited remake of Erdrick’s adventure. Today at Amazon, you can save over 60% off an Xbox Series X copy, which is perfect for collectors and new adventurers alike.
Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake for $22.23
As its name implies, Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake utilizes Square Enix’s HD-2D art style, which looks absolutely incredible. The blend of modern art design with crisp 2D sprites is endlessly charming, and the lighting systems in place really do wonders. Despite being the third game in the series, it is recommended that players begin with Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake before jumping ship to I & II. This is due to Dragon Quest III being a prequel.
In addition to the new visuals, DQIII HD-2D Remake also packs in numerous new features. For one, there is brand-new story content involving Ortega, the father of the protagonist. You also gain access to the new Monster Wrangler vocation, which is a ton of fun to try out. Beyond this, much of the game has voice acting, and an orchestrated soundtrack helps bring the world to life.
If you’re a fan of both turn-based combat and the RPG genre, you owe it to yourself to experience one of the medium’s defining entries. At $22, this is a steal for a game that easily packs in 60+ hours of content.
Noah Hunter is a freelance writer and reviewer with a passion for games and technology. He co-founded Final Weapon, an outlet focused on nonsense-free Japanese gaming (in 2019) and has contributed to various publishers writing about the medium.
Amazon has been dragging its feet when it comes to charging realistic prices for trading card games, especially with Pokémon TCG. Magic: The Gathering is playing out differently, however. We’re seeing healthy competition between Amazon and TCGPlayer during today’s price check, so there’s plenty of options to explore at the best prices.
Today’s highlights also include preorders for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Lorwyn Eclipsed, plus a scary movie exclusive pre-order you won’t want to miss.
TL;DR: Best Deals Today
With Amazon, you’re getting Prime delivery, with products shipping out either the same day or landing at your door within 24 hours. Whilst you don’t get the same speedy shipment with TCGPlayer merchants, you’re likely buying from them for the cheaper price points and big savings over big-box Amazon. Let’s get into it:
Get 20% Off All eSIM Plans at Roamless
Cheapest at Amazon: MTG
Commander Masters is the best set to get into if you love playing Commander and getting hold of legacy card reprints that are ideal for the format. It’s not cheap, but Amazon currently has the best pricing for Set and Draft booster boxes. If you missed out on the Final Fantasy Universes Beyond set when it dropped earlier this year, the game edition of Cloud Strife’s Commander Deck, Limit Breaker, is at market value on Amazon right now. That just means you’re getting it for a fair price compared to the secondary market, whilst being able to take advantage of that sweet Prime shipping.
Cheapest at TCGPlayer – MTG
TCGPlayer is still holding the top spot for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Play Booster Box preorders. It’s a full $20 cheaper from its merchants right now, a saving worth getting over Prime shipping. The same goes for the Lorwyn Eclipsed Play Booster Box, a full $30 cheaper over Amazon’s price.
Fair enough, Amazon has its preorder price guarantee, but that only counts if they drop the price before release. You can’t price match other retailers with this guarantee, so if you see a steep discount on a preorder elsewhere, take your chances.
Get a Free Motorola Moto G Stylus 5G (2025) With Any Total Wireless Phone Plan
From now until January 7, or while supplies last, a Motorola Moto G Stylus 5G (2025) can be yours for no cost, and a trade-in isn’t required.
Cheapest at Amazon: Pokémon TCG
It’s great to see popular sets like Surging Sparks and Phantasmal Flames Elite Trainer Boxes crop up for less on Amazon, with the former being below market value alongside the Destined Rivals triple booster.
Cheapest at TCGPlayer: Pokémon TCG
It’s strange to see Silver Tempest sealed product showing up on Amazon right now. Perhaps we’ll see more Sword & Shield-era reprints on store shelves? Regardless, TCGPlayer has the Silver Tempest Elite Trainer Box for far less than Amazon, and the same goes for the Prismatic Evolutions ETB.
TCGPlayer also has the best deal on Destined Rivals Booster Bundles, currently sitting at $52.50. That means you get double the booster packs compared to the three-pack booster deal in the last section for less than double the price. TCGPlayer really has the no-brainer deals right now.
Scream (1996) Limited-Edition Steelbook (4K UHD) Available to Pre-order at 19% Off
Amazon is offering 19% off the Scream 4K UHD pre-order right now, set to release on February 17. A classic!
Skytech Gaming PC Holiday Sale
Considering we’ve just entered a memory chip shortage across the board, with even DDR4 RAM going for silly money, getting an RTX 5060 build with 32GB DDR4 for $1,079 is a great deal. You’ll have solid 1080p gaming with either an Intel i5-14400F or AMD Ryzen 7 5700 processor to boot. Personally, I’d go for the Crystal build. It costs the same and gives you far more room for bigger GPU upgrades down the line.
If you’re looking to go all-in with 4K gaming out of the box for under $3,000, the $2,799.99 Aqua build comes with a gorgeous clear white and blue case, complete with CPU liquid cooling, an RTX 5080, 32GB DDR5, and the absolute beast that is the Ryzen 7 9800X3D.
Christian Wait is a contributing freelancer for IGN covering everything collectable and deals. Christian has over 7 years of experience in the Gaming and Tech industry with bylines at Mashable and Pocket-Tactics. Christian also makes hand-painted collectibles for Saber Miniatures. Christian is also the author of “Pokemon Ultimate Unofficial Gaming Guide by GamesWarrior”. Find Christian on X @ChrisReggieWait.
