10 new video games to play in March on Switch, PS5, Xbox, PC

2 hours ago 1

Published Mar 2, 2026, 2:28 PM EST

007 First Light and Saros have been delayed, but it's still a stacked month

For a while there, March 2026 seemed like it'd be a slow period for gaming, a chance to clear out the backlog, or tool around with the new Bond game before Grand Theft Auto 6 sucks all the air out of the room. Now neither of those games are playable any time soon, but the calendar of new video games in March is more stacked than ever.

At a glance, here are the biggest video games coming out this month:

Resident Evil Requiem, Feb. 27 (PS5, Switch 2, Windows PC, Xbox Series X)
World of Warcraft: Midnight, March 2 (Windows PC)
Marathon, March 5 (PS5, Windows PC, Xbox Series X)
Planet of Lana 2, March 5 (PS5, Switch, Windows PC, Xbox Series X)
Pokémon Pokopia, March 5 (Switch 2)
Slay the Spire 2 (early access), March 5 (Windows PC)
Solasta 2 (early access), March 12 (Windows PC)
Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection, March 13 (PS5, Switch 2, Windows PC, Xbox Series X)
Crimson Desert, March 19 (PS5, Windows PC, Xbox Series X)
Raccoin: Coin Pusher Roguelike, March 31 (Windows PC)

Yes, Resident Evil Requiem is technically a February 2026 game, but if the numbers are any indication, it's March, and everyone is still obsessed with this game. Though World of Warcraft: Midnight, poised to be one of the most impactful WoW expansions in recent memory, could capture some of that attention. Its housing feature has been playable ahead of release, and has already shifted the WoW paradigm.

Thursday, March 5, presents a quadruple threat of sorts. The Pokémon Company's life sim Pokémon Pokopia, Bungie's extraction shooter Marathon, the heady platformer Planet of Lana 2, and the hugely anticipated early access release of Slay the Spire 2 (a sequel to one of the most beloved roguelikes in history) are all landing on the same day. It's like giga-Barbenheimer, but for video games.

The following week sees the early access release of Solasta 2, a lavishly produced RPG based on the D&D ruleset that's giving heavy Baldur's Gate 3 vibes. That's followed, one day later, by the next entry in Capcom's Monster Hunter Stories spinoff series of turn-based RPGs. (Big month for Capcom.) But no room to breathe, as Crimson Desert, the literally biggest game of the month (its creators have said its map is twice the size of Skyrim) and a game that's attained levels of hype not seen since Starfield, will finally be released.

And then the month wraps up with Raccoin, a make-number-go-up game that some have hailed as potentially the next Balatro, thanks to its quirky vibes and adorable raccoon mascot.

Whew!

Klyff from Crimson Desert sat on a rock next to a stream.

Historically, the busiest months for new game releases landed in the October to November stretch, with publishers releasing new games to capitalize on holiday sales. Around 2020, a year marred by a global pandemic and marked by the start of a new console generation, things shifted. Coming out of COVID lockdowns, February 2022 shaped up to be one of the most stacked months of the year for AAA gaming: Horizon Forbidden West, Sifu, Dying Light 2: Stay Human, Destiny 2: The Witch Queen, and Elden Ring, all back-to-back. February 2023 saw a similar release cadence (Atomic Heart, Like a Dragon: Ishin!, Wild Hearts, Octopath Traveler 2, and Hogwarts Legacy). So did March 2024 (Rise of the Ronin, Dragon's Dogma 2, Princess Peach: Showtime!, Unicorn Overlord, and The Outlast Trials, all on the heels of Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth releasing on a leap day, so, y'know, March game). And February 2025 (Avowed, Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2, Monster Hunter Wilds, Civilization 7). And March 2025 too, for that matter (Split Fiction, Assassin's Creed Shadows, Fragpunk, Atomfall, The First Berserker: Khazan).

So why is the February-March window now the most popular time to release new video games? It's in part due to the pandemic, which famously upended game development cycles, resulting in notable delays across the industry. When those development cycles returned to something resembling normalcy, and once-delayed games ended up getting back on track, they got back on track with a release cadence of, well, see above. There's also a more cynical factor at play: The fiscal years for many major video game companies — including Bandai Namco, Capcom, Nintendo, PlayStation, Square Enix, and Take-Two Interactive, all of whom have published or will publish games mentioned in this article — wrap up at the end of March. Sales for a new game tend to spike most upon its release. Releasing those new video games as the fiscal year winds down helps paint a picture of rising revenue.

And 2026 still has another shadow looming over it: Grand Theft Auto 6, Rockstar's open-world giga-game. The gaming industry is bracing for it like it's the Chicxulub meteor. As Bloomberg reported, gaming companies upended their release plans to move out of the way of its planned fall 2025 release window. Following a few delays, it's now out Nov. 19. Let's hope it stays there.

Update (March 2): This story was originally published in 2025. We've updated it to account for several games that were initially mentioned in this piece that have since been delayed.

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