5 new Xbox games to play in May 2026

Well, Forza and four others

The nonstop year of gaming keeps not stopping. May kicks off the unofficial start of summer with a string of blockbuster games and a few indies poised to rival the smaller games that have defined 2026 so far. Xbox also has its first exclusive of the year: the rip-roaring Forza Horizon 6, a lavish open-world racer that's also the first of many AAA Xbox games out this year. Start your engines. Here are our five most anticipated Xbox games of May 2026.

1 Mixtape

Release date: May 7

Mixtape seems designed in a lab to stoke nostalgia for folks of a certain age. The narrative adventure game, published by the reliable tastemakers at Annapurna Interactive, is about teenagers making the most of their last night of high school. It's full of surreal visuals, too, mimicking the tone established in developer Beethoven & Dinosaur's previous music-based game, The Artful Escape. Propelled by a soundtrack of genuine greats (Smashing Pumpkins! Iggy Pop! Joy Division!), Mixtape is shaping up to be one of the indie hits of the year.

2 Forza Horizon 6

Release date: May 19

Forza Horizon 6 isn't just Xbox's biggest exclusive of the month — it could be the biggest Xbox game of the year. It is hard to overstate just how big Forza Horizon is: In 2025, the Forza Horizon 5 PS5 port was one of the best-selling PlayStation games of the year... four years after it was originally released on Windows PC and Xbox Series X. Forza Horizon 6 brings the series' mix of racing and open-world exploration, and fancy-AF car-collecting to Japan. Though it's planned for PS5 eventually, it'll only be available on Xbox and PC at launch.

3 Lego Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight

Release date: May 22

Rocksteady's Batman Arkham games are well-regarded as some of the best action games ever. Then the studio went on to make the tepidly received Suicide Squad game. So the next closest thing we have to a new Arkham entry is... a Lego Batman game? Sure! Lego Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight hits all the beats of a good Batman game: tight action combat, tense stealth sections, grappling hooks, gliders, and lots of cool tech, all on an open-world version of Gotham. In lieu of a proper Arkham game, this'll do.

4 Realm of Ink

Release date: May 26

In the crowded field of Hades clones, few stand out. Realm of Ink could be the next one to break through. Initially released on Windows PC in early access in 2024, Realm of Ink hits 1.0 (and console release) in May. It features isometric TK and fast action, all done up in a painterly visual style. And those who've played love it: Realm of Ink currently has a 94% positive rating on Steam. One to watch for sure.

5 007 First Light

Release date: May 27

Young Sheldon. Young Sherlock. Yeah yeah yeah. How about Young Bond? That's what 007 First Light, an action adventure game from the makers of Hitman, purports to be. It centers a mid-20s version of Britain's best-known secret agent, before he became the martini-swilling, Omega-wearing Savile Row model we all know him to be. Early previews suggest First Light will be more structurally similar to the levels of an Uncharted game than the wide-open puzzle boxes that defined Hitman. Still, as with that magnum opus of spycraft, First Light is looking positively luxurious.