DualShockers' Most Anticipated Games of 2026

2025 was a fantastic year for gaming, with numerous AAA and indie games releasing to widespread critical and financial success, such as the multiplayer phenomenon ARC Raiders and the repeated Game of the Year award winner Clair Obscur: Expedition 33.

The year additionally saw impressive new gaming hardware debut on shelves, such as Xbox's dive into the handheld market with the ROG Xbox Ally and the record-breaking launch of the Nintendo Switch 2.

With 2025 coming to a close this holiday season, there's no better time to look to the future of 2026 to see what new games developers and publishers have in store to wow gamers worldwide.

Here's a list of DualShocker's 10 most anticipated games of 2026 from DS' many writers and editors that are currently scheduled to launch in the upcoming year as of the writing of this article.

10 The Blood of Dawnwalker

Eric Warner

As soon as I saw the first trailer for Rebel Wolves' upcoming debut title, The Blood of Dawnwalker, in January 2025, I was instantly hooked and made sure to follow every announcement, watch every livestream, and read every lore post on X about the game since.

Developed by former CD Projekt directors, developers, and designers who previously worked on The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt and Cyberpunk 2077, Dawnwalker is an incredible new, third-person RPG set in the mid 14th century in the valley of Vale Sangora in the Carpathian Mountains in southeast Europe.

Here, players will embody the titular Dawnwalker, Coen, as he uses his new vampiric abilities to defend his home from the invading Roman vampire Brencis and his cadre of ancient vampires within 30 days before succumbing from vampiric infliction and silver poisoning.

Dawnwalker is one of the most promising new gaming franchises I've seen in recent years, not only for its intriguing day and night gameplay loops but for its already rich lore and dark fantasy creature designs, and I cannot wait to get my hands on it in 2026.

9 Slay The Spire 2

Ethan Krieger

The original Slay The Spire was my personal favorite game of 2019, and one that has sent me down the path of becoming a massive Roguelike deckbuilder fan in years since. I don't typically have time to sink hundreds of hours into one single video game, but this title quickly became one of the exceptions as I played it across Switch, PlayStation, and PC.

Really, my only complaint with the game after this many hours spent with it is simply that I want more content, which is why I absolutely cannot wait for Slay The Spire 2 to come out in Early Access in March.

I feel like I need to start communicating with my friends and family now that they won't be able to reach me in the Spring, because I'll just be stacking my deck nonstop for weeks. Anyone that's looking for the perfect entry point to the genre needs to look no further than these games.

I'm excited to watch Slay The Spire 2 hook a brand-new swath of gamers into deckbuilding, but until then, I'll continue trying to finally beat The Heart in the OG to prep myself adequately for all the challenges of the sequel.

8 Control Resonant

Daniel Trock

I love the universe that Remedy has created, with Control in particular being an excellent blend of interestingly weird SCP-esque worldbuilding and generally fun action gameplay.

Admittedly, I wasn't expecting Control of all IPs to take the character-action route as Control Resonant appears to be, but I trust Remedy knows what it's doing here, and I'd be lying if I said the wild reality distortions from the trailer don't look interesting to explore.

It'll be interesting to see if the distortion is as all-encompassing as the reveal trailer implied or if we're getting into some multiversal shenanigans.

I'm also hoping we can work some Alan Wake 2 references in here and there, given how much Control's lore played into that game.

7 007 First Light

Maddie Fisher

007 First Light represents a moment I've anticipated for a long time; a new Bond game after over a decade of silence.

The James Bond franchise isn't one I have undying devotion to, but the video games based on the property are routinely ones that I have an absolute blast with.

Some of my favorite games are Bond games.

First Light as an origin story, a completely new Bond that is untethered to a film actor, and with IO Interactive at the helm, it is without a doubt the game in 2026 I am most excited about.

6 Heroes of Might and Magic: Olden Era

Shane Limbaugh

Heroes of Might and Magic: Olden Era brings the world of Might and Magic to a new generation of gamers.

As an official prequel to the original genre-defining series, there won't be a better time to get into the world of Heroes of Might and Magic.

It's incredibly exciting to be getting a new entry since I'd never played the originals when they were coming out, since they never launched on consoles.

As an absolutely massive fantasy and strategy nerd, I've got to say there isn't anything that could compete with this game.

5 Lords of the Fallen 2

Christian Bognar

When looking over all the games that have been confirmed to release in 2026, my most anticipated would have to be Lords of the Fallen 2.

This sequel appears to be a bigger, bolder, and bloodier version of the original, a game that I've put over 100 hours into and could not stop playing when it first released. While 2023's Lords of the Fallen wasn't perfect, and it had some issues, there was no denying that it knew what made a great Soulslike.

While we haven't seen much gameplay for LOTF2, the developers have put out numerous videos for their "Lifting the Veil" series on YouTube, which has covered their plans for this upcoming game, and it sounds incredible so far. More brutal combat, new mechanics, and a better implementation of the Umbral Realm have all been confirmed.

In other words, a more refined version of the first one seems to be the goal, and if they nail it, then we could be looking at one of the best Soulslikes of all time.

4 Onimusha: Way of the Sword

Ronald Goncalves

Even though I'm increasingly focused on the indie scene rather than AAA games each year, I can't deny that my expectations for 2026 are mostly pinned on Onimusha: Way of the Sword.

I've never been particularly involved with the series, but the fact that this new installment stars Miyamoto Musashi, one of my favorite historical figures because I absolutely love the Vagabond manga, is too fascinating to ignore.

Furthermore, I have to say that the trailers have generated absurdly positive buzz, giving me Nioh vibes but with the distinct identity of the franchise that, ironically, spawned one of my all-time favorite series: Devil May Cry.

There's always the possibility that it won't live up to expectations, but I'll be happy if it's simply a good game. However, every fiber of my being tells me it will be one of the best games of the year, and yet another reason to believe that Capcom is the best company in the industry this generation.

3 Resident Evil Requiem

Elena Chapella

Shocker, the horror fan is excited for the horror game.

But in all seriousness, as someone who grew up with the Resident Evil games and watched the franchise nearly fall into obscurity, the fact that it has made a comeback to be stronger than ever is not only exciting for us as fans, but it's exciting for players as a whole.

Resident Evil Requiem looks as terrific as it does terrifying, and I'm itching to learn how the series is going to progress with this new story.

I'm geeked that horror fans are eating as good as we are, and something tells me Requiem is going to be one of the best RE has to offer yet.

2 Hell Let Loose: Vietnam

Jaime Tugayev

My earliest experience with the Vietnam War in gaming was in Chuck Yeager's Air Combat back in the late 1990s, but that was the first step in a long journey.

Hell Let Loose: Vietnam looks like the first game in almost a decade to try and fill that void, and judging by what we've seen so far, Team17 is going to be right on the money for a gritty, fun trip through the jungle.

The use of Unreal Engine 5 has brought the region to life like never before, but it's the more deliberate movement and gunplay that classic Hell Let Loose fans will recognize that has the potential to end the Vietnam shooter curse.

Now to wait and see whether the 2026 release will materialize or if a delay is in the cards.

1 Grand Theft Auto VI

Steve Hannley

With the many delays Grand Theft Auto VI has been hit with and the fact that it's currently slated for November 19th, I debated if I should include it in this list (and hopefully doing so doesn't jinx it yet again), but if it actually does come out in 2026, it'll certainly be my (and many othes) most anticipated game of the year.

Grand Theft Auto V was a huge milestone for gaming, one that millions continue to play even 12 years after release.

While every mainline GTA has been great, each one continues to up the ante from the last one, so with how huge and entertaining GTA V is, it stands to reason that GTA VI will be a generation-defying experience even without knowing much about the game itself still.

The Florida-esque setting looks great, the main story seems intriguing, and the visuals look stunning for an open world game. November (please, Rockstar!) can't come soon enough.