2026's Most Anticipated Games - Tim's Picks
2026 is shaping up to be one of the biggest years in video games of all time. No matter whether you play on PC, PlayStation 4 or 5, Xbox One or Series X|S, or the Nintendo Switch 2, you’re going to have a lot to play in 2026. Given that, we couldn’t simply pool the team’s thoughts into one top 10 countdown of the most anticipated games, so we solicited 10 from each person to discuss. Today, hear what Tim has to say about their 10 most anticipated games of 2026.
10. Grand Theft Auto VI
I put this at number 10 last year, and this is the number it will likely occupy until it actually comes out. It’s hard to look past the scale and scope of GTA 6, to want to play it if only to see how far current hardware can be pushed. But also, I still believe that video games would be in a more interesting place had GTA 3 not become the template that so many would aspire to in the years at the start of the current century.
So, yeah, I’m kind of keen to check it out, but also kind of bitter about how ginormous it will inevitably be.
9. Control Resonant
Alan Wake 2 ended up being the final big game that I finished in 2025. I picked it up to serve as a showpiece for my (still pretty) new and shiny gaming PC, which was a sound idea on paper. In practice, it was less so. PC’s are much more plug-and-play now than they were in the ‘90s, but there are still plenty of fiddly annoyances. I only really, truly gelled with Alan Wake 2 when I was about 80% of the way through, largely thanks to quirks with Windows and things like trying to figure out Optiscaler keeping me from focusing on the actual game itself.
Fortunately, another example of Remedy’s brand of weirdness is scheduled to arrive fairly soon. It’s more of an action game. Or at least, based on its predecessor and the footage seen so far, I assume that it’s more of an action game. Do I know for sure, though? Not exactly. Which is in part why I’m keen to play it.
8. Denshattack!
It’s easy to take a quick look and call Denshattack! out as being like Jet Set Radio, but with trains. This isn’t really it, though. Mostly that similarity comes from it being openly filling its cel-shaded lines with bright, bold colours. Denshattack! seems to be very much its own thing, fizzing with style and manic energy as the train (densha) in question just barrels forward like a Katamari pushed by Sonic the Hedgehog. Throw in what appears to be battles with giant robots and you have a game that promises a shameless splash of colour on a year that, even though it’s just early January, is looking pretty drab, grey and depressing.
7. Screamer
Arcade racers are making a comeback! MAybe? Maybe you’re already aware that Screamer was a PC racing franchise born in the mid ‘90s, and maybe you aren’t; it doesn’t really matter. The games were pretty different from each other.
This only serves to be fitting, though, as Screamer now appears to be going hard on an anime aesthetic (and story) which in itself is a pretty hard left turn from previous games. It looks cool, and it seems like the way it controls will also be quite unique. Hewso sounded pretty smitten with how it played in demo form, which is encouraging. But, really, I just want a cool, four-wheeled, balls-out arcade racer, and with no Outrun or Ridge Racer or anything on the horizon just yet, this may be it.
6. Romeo Is A Dead Man
Sometimes (oftentimes, even), the games on these lists, and the order in which they appear, really mostly comes down to the mood of the moment. I’ve been a bit hit-and-miss with Suda 51 over the years, but I’ve really enjoyed those that hit and, right now, I could really just go for some supremely strange extreme violence to get things pumping in the earlier part of the year. Romeo is a Dead Man looks absolutely bonkers and, quite frankly, cool as all get out.
5. 007 First Light
I’m not the biggest Bond fan. I enjoy the movies, but my favourites probably mostly star Daniel Craig, which I’m sure would have some purists cringe. Worse, I was never all that hot on Rare’s Goldeneye. But this? It looks rad, and the idea of a slightly more directed Hitman game dressed in a nice tux honestly hits home pretty well. Am I naively hoping that this will fill the void where I want many not-quite-linear action games to stand? It seems that I don’t have to wait too long to find out.
4. Pragmata
I am, quite frankly, just giving Capcom all of the benefit of the doubt at this point. A lot of people seemed to go into sessions of this game going ‘huh’, but then walked out going ‘yeah… okay’.
A kind of sci-fi action game where the blond girl perched on your shoulder helps out by allowing you to hack your targets – something that requires quick puzzle-solving, but pays off with increased damage – sounds kind of strange. Maybe like something out of a late ‘80s or ‘90s anime. As it turns out, I particularly like those eras of anime. Also, Capcom has been absolutely killing it of late, and I will ride that wave for as long as it can possibly last.
3. Resident Evil Requiem
Did I mention that Capcom has been killing it of late? I didn’t grow up as a Resident Evil fan, and to be honest, cheesy horror isn’t fully my vibe. But the gameplay structure of these games? It turns out that I’m all over that. After nearly cratering out of relevance back when RE6 came out, somehow just about everything from (and including) RE7 has been unrelenting excellence, and Requiem looks set to continue that trend. You could argue that the return of a more… military-trained face is a mite disappointing after all of the initial trailers emphasises a sense of helplessness, but I expect that the character switching will allow for additional control in mixing up pacing and gameplay variety.
2. Saros
I could write a couple of paragraphs about why I want to play this, but instead I will just say that Returnal is excellent and that if you’ve slept on it (and I know a lot of you did) then you should maybe consider remedying that.
1. Mixtape
Putting this in again may not be fair. Putting it in at number one may be extremely unfair. I outright left off other games because they don’t presently have release dates, afterall. My excuse is that Mixtape is presently listed for 2026 (meeting the borderline of my silly self-imposed qualification criteria), even if no further information is available. Also, it’s my list and I can finish it with a wildly creative looking title that I don’t think I fully understand if I want to. After their previous work, Beethoven and Dinosaur really only had to sell me on vibes for their next, and that box appears to be well and truly checked.
So that concludes Tim’s list of their most anticipated games of 2026. What are some of yours? Hit us up via social media to let us know what games you are keen on in 2026!
