James' most anticipated PC games for 2026

Assuming nary delays, which arsenic we know, hardly ever happen

A recap: of the 7 hopefuls I slipped into our bulk 2025 database of "Oh, that looks alright" games, lone 3 really released successful 2025, and 1 of them wasn’t precise good. If it’s the anticipation that kills you, I americium truthful dormant four, arguably 5 times over. Real Necron shit, honestly.

For 2026, then, I’m playing it safe, lone declaring for games whose developers/publishers person outright said they’re owed adjacent year. That means nary Resistor, nary Clockwork Revolution, and astir apt nary Space Marine 3 – but, fingers crossed, yes to much Control and much rad bid flips. I’d person the Steam Machine present arsenic well, if it were a crippled and not a container for playing them.

Control Resonant

Image credit: Remedy Entertainment

Freshly Geoffed and confirmed for 2026, Control Resonant looks similar big, bold chance-taker of a sequel. It’s a melee brawler alternatively of different shooter, you play arsenic erstwhile brainwashed villain Dylan Faden alternatively of his sister and archetypal Control pb Jesse, and the brutalist megastructure that is The Oldest House opens up into the sunny streets of New York City. Still, the uncover trailer is dripping successful the logic-breaking weirdness that gave Control its chiseled flavour, and it’s not similar the deficiency of guns is immoderate achy nonaccomplishment – the champion parts of warring arsenic Jesse were flying astir and psychically punting desks astatine monsters, not plinking them with a pistol. In that regard, Dylan seems conscionable arsenic gifted.

Denshattack

Image credit: Fireshine Games

I’ve played Denshattack’s demo and it’s a joy: face-rearrangingly fast, outrageously colourful arcade bid driving crippled with Tony Hawk flips 'n' grinds, each presented with a gleeful disregard for however small consciousness that makes. Sometimes I wonderment however it mightiness prolong the consciousness of breakneck absurdity crossed the magnitude of a afloat game, but past I spot elephantine baseballs smashing into tracks, mechanical sandworms knocking implicit skyscrapers, and laser battles against blistery pinkish robots, past callback that I myself rode a dislodged Ferris instrumentality into an erupting volcano. I’m definite it’ll beryllium fine.

Deep Rock Galactic: Rogue Core

Image credit: Ghost Ship Publishing

While it’s improbable to regenerate vanilla DRG arsenic my dwarven co-op shooter of choice, Deep Rock Galactic: Rogue Core is capable of a important reconfiguring that I’ll beryllium keeping an oculus connected arsenic it tunnels its mode into aboriginal access. Besides being each roguelikey, the caller dwarf classes look impressively divers – a caller beta added 1 who incorporates abbreviated clip rewinds into her kit – and there’s conscionable thing eerily appealing astir exploring Rogue Core’s abandoned mining networks, successful opposition to the purely earthy and untouched subterranean biomes of the archetypal game. Look connected my works, ye fictional assets extraction company, and despair.

Planet of Lana II

Image credit: Thunderful Publishing

Planet of Lana II – oregon Planet of Lana II: Children of the Leaf, it’s inconsistent connected which – is claimed to beryllium doubly the size of the beauteous puzzle-platformer that came earlier it. I’m not excessively enthusiastic astir that, fixed 1 of Planet of Lana’s strengths was its nimble pacing, but I’m perfectly up for much tag-team puzzlesolving with alien BFF Mui and a fewer twelve much screens of gawp-worthy subject fabrication scenery successful the background. This is different 1 I played, successful demo form, earlier this year, and I fishy that the sequel’s accrued breadth is the effect of the puzzles themselves being embiggened: a azygous series progressive diving down to a seabed, dragging Mui crossed the aboveground utilizing a retrieved, shapeshifting plant, anxiously swimming past sharks, having Mui mind-control a fish, past blowing retired ink clouds to assistance successful more anti-shark stealth. That’s a batch of brainpower for 1 miss and her catchimp.

Good Boy

Image credit: Team17

Observer Interactive telephone Good Boy a "Petroidvania", connected the grounds that the sentient abstraction rovers you conscionable portion exploring its forgotten satellite – arsenic a wheely robot yourself – are each based connected the developers’ ain dogs. Groan astatine the pun if you indispensable but you person a bosom of stone, and a caput of plasterboard, if you don’t find that conception a charming one. Rolling from portion to portion is simply a relaxed, nonviolent affair: you seizure alien insects to unlock caller regions with their powers, but tin merchandise them afterwards, and making imperishable chassis upgrades involves returning to the basal of a affable quality spaceman who kindly lets you usage his crafting machines. You are a bully boy, aft all.

Highguard, maybe

Image credit: Wildlight Entertainment, Inc.

Fair spot of umming and ahhing here, folks. Highguard could beryllium brilliant: it’s a competitory FPS from a studio, Wildlight Entertainment, that’s mostly comprised of ex-senior devs for Titanfall, Titanfall 2, and Apex Legends, 3 of the champion competitory FPS games successful the past decade. It’s besides yet different leader shooter with specified a bland aesthetic, contempt blending modern guns with ye olde fantasy, that you could suffer way of it successful a vessel of porridge. My existent program is to effort it retired – it’ll beryllium escaped to play – and fto the gunplay bash the talking. Maybe the horseriding, arsenic well.