At the start of each year, our Editor sits down to work out the games that should be on everybody’s radar, but this time around, he is doing something different. This year, he is reducing his choices to three games for each genre. These might not be the most anticipated titles or the best releases, but they are games that have huge potential and a chance of doing something exciting or new within their genre. Welcome to “Games to Watch – 2026 Edition.” It is time to get lost in vast expanses, cities or jungles in the most exciting open world titles.
Games to Watch in 2026 - Open World
Grand Theft Auto 6
I mean, GTA wrote the book on open world titles, so of course, the latest game in the franchise is going to make this list. There is nothing on the planet that even comes close to the impact of this franchise, and it will undoubtedly be the biggest game of the year. That’s what comes from unlimited time and resources regarding development. But with that reputation and backing comes insanely high expectations, so it will be interesting to see how it all plays out.
The return to Vice City should provide players with a welcome respite from California, and the dual-protagonist system appears to be continuing the good work laid out in GTA V. What I am really excited about is the innovations Rockstar is bringing to the game. They always do something that surprises and pushes the genre forward in their releases, so that is what I am particularly keen on finding out. Strap in, folks, it is going to be a huge launch on the 19th of November, and you need to jump on the train or get out of its way.
Stranger Than Heaven
RGG studio is back with a brand new, non-Yakuza title, and it looks like it is going to be an absolute banger. Set in 1943, this is a totally new era for the development team and is sure to allow them to stretch outside of the Kamarucho-shaped bubble they have found themselves in for the last 15 years or so. That’s not to say Kamarucho won’t feature in this game, but I am sure Kamarucho in 1943 is a very different beast.
What is super exciting to me is a new playground to explore. RGG do small-scale open-world games. Small maps but tonnes of detail are crammed into those spaces. Players get to know the entire map like the back of their hand, often making the need for navigation tools unnecessary. This one hasn’t got a release date as yet, but I expect it in the back half of the year, possibly around September.
Crimson Desert
While this is a game that probably slots into the RPG category, I am including Crimson Desert here because of one thing. The size of its open world. Apparently, it is twice as big as Skyrim, and honestly, that is stupidly ridiculous. Asking players to navigate such a huge space is a tall order, but the devs have come up with a cool way to shrink the space. Need to get from one side of the map to another? Why not whistle for your pet Dragon and fly over?
Despite the inherent coolness of flying a Dragon, I worry that such a huge open world will feel empty and static. If, however, this world can be made to feel alive, then Crimson Desert could really be a massive achievement in the open world space. I guess we will all find out on the 19th of March.
