Hundreds of video games were revealed or detailed this past week, as the industry sticks to its traditional June showcase season inspired by the long-defunct E3 expo. Shows from Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo were flanked by dozens of smaller community or publisher events, and after consuming more than a dozen hours of trailers I’ve seen a few major themes emerge.
Blockbuster games are in a tight spot: soaring hardware prices and ballooning development costs mean publishers are relying heavily on recognisable brands and straight-up remakes to win players over. Meanwhile, indies are evoking nostalgia in their own way, and the traditional “gap” between the two is being filled by premium, digital-only titles and day-one subscription projects.
Then, there’s the multibillion-dollar elephant in the room. The shifting launch date of Grand Theft Auto 6 has scattered release schedules, as publishers scramble to avoid Rockstar’s juggernaut. With what is likely to be history’s biggest entertainment launch now locked for November 19, companies are either stacking their 2026 games into September and October or delaying them to 2027.
Here are 30 games that caught my eye during this year’s June showcases.
The rest of 2026 takes shape
Assassin’s Creed: Black Flag Resynced | PC, PS5, Xbox | July 9 Ubisoft’s 2013 pirate adventure was the last time an AC game was released, and nobody complained loudly. So now it’s rebuilt from the ground up with new tech, overhauling the combat, stealth and naval traversal systems while replacing the original modern-day office segments.
Halo: Campaign Evolved | PC, PS5, Xbox | July 28 This year is the 25th anniversary of the original Halo, so it’s an apt time to reset the series after a mixed reception for the most recent game. Campaign Evolved remakes the iconic 2001 hit with improved graphics, sound and mechanics. This week’s trailer highlighted the inclusion of three wholly new missions.
Resonance: A Plague Tale Legacy | PC, PS5, Xbox | August 27 The Plague Tale games are celebrated for their cinematic storytelling and grim world, but here developer Asobo appears to be expanding the gameplay to include more combat, exploration, puzzle-solving and challenge. Resonance is set 15 years before the events of the original 2022 game.
The Blood of Dawnwalker | PC, PS5, Xbox | September 3 From a new studio composed of veteran Witcher 3 developers, this is a dark fantasy action-RPG set in 14th-century Europe. As a human warrior by day and a supernatural vampire by night, all the player’s choices affect the story, the world, companions’ loyalties and whether they ultimately save their family in time.
Marvel’s Wolverine | PS5 | September 15 After three largely kid-friendly open-world Spider-Man adventures, Sony’s Insomniac is pivoting to a more linear story and bloodier, more visceral action with Wolverine. In a world before the X-Men have been established, Logan travels the globe to prevent a force of cybernetically enhanced humans from wiping out mutant-kind.
Fire Emblem: Fortune’s Weave | Switch 2 | September 17 Nintendo’s strategy series, which blends turn-based tactical combat with relationship-building, looks bigger and more beautiful than ever in this new entry centred around gladiatorial games. Players choose one of four distinct protagonists, but will also need to pick up recruits (and keep them alive) along the way.
Silent Hill: Townfall | PC, PS5 | September 24 Co-published by Konami and Annapurna, this psychological horror spin-off shifts the franchise into a tense first-person perspective. Set in a fog-drenched 1996 Scottish coastal town, players guide Simon as he uses a handheld TV radio to detect enemies and piece together a fractured, haunting past.
Control Resonant | PC, PS5, Xbox | September 24 Remedy continues to expand its scary, surreal universe in a game that pivots away from the brutalist indoor locations of 2019’s Control. In a warped, open-ended outdoor Manhattan, players defy gravity and wield a shape-shifting melee weapon to contain a terrifying new extradimensional crisis.
Gears of War: E-Day | PC, Xbox | October 6 Serving as a prequel to the legendary franchise, this cover shooter from Microsoft’s The Coalition takes place 14 years before the 2006 original game to experience the horror of a human city invaded from below. An intimate, blood-soaked campaign with younger versions of familiar heroes, it’s another high-profile series reset for Xbox.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 | PC, PS5, Switch 2, Xbox | October 23 Infinity Ward delivers a darker game centred on a full-scale invasion of the Korean Peninsula, across campaign, competitive and “DMZ” extraction modes. MW4 introduces an overhauled “weapon-first” engine for hyper-precise, tactical multiplayer gunplay, in a gritty near-future setting.
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time | Switch 2 One of the most acclaimed adventures ever will return at an unspecified date this year, though the briefest of trailers is all we have to go on. Will it be the same game with new visuals and fresh cinematic scenes, akin to Star Fox (releasing this month and also a remake of a Nintendo 64 game), or will Zelda be a deeper reimagining?
Looking ahead to 2027
Tomb Raider: Legacy of Atlantis | PC, PS5, Xbox | February Like Halo, Tomb Raider has a major anniversary this year (its 25th). And like Halo, the first game in the series is being remade for a second time. Published by new series owner Amazon, Atlantis restores the shooting, athleticism and sex appeal after a trilogy of much more grounded (and brilliant) affairs.
Fable | PC, PS5, Xbox | February Playground Games had already shown plenty of action from this reboot of the celebrated British fantasy series, plus a stellar cast including Richard Ayoade as a peeved giant. This week’s trailer was the most interesting so far though, introducing Hayley Atwell as a sympathetic villain who believes she’s the only one who can bring order to the land of Albion.
Final Fantasy VII Revelation | PC, PS5, Switch 2, Xbox | Autumn The final chapter of Square’s ambitious remake trilogy takes players across a sprawling open world, which you can now apparently skydive into. The trailer showed a fully flyable Highwind airship, a classic class-based gear mechanic, and fan favourite character Vincent Valentine fully playable for the first time.
Spyro: A Realm Beyond | PC, PS5, Switch 2, Xbox | Autumn Toys for Bob, creator of Skylanders, did an excellent job reviving Crash Bandicoot for a new game in 2020, and now it aims to do the same for Spyro. Stranded in a strange world, the dragon fends off an invading force using evolved flight gameplay to soar through vibrant, expansive landscapes.
Magicians: The Devil’s Deal | PC, PS5, Xbox Canberra’s Uppercut Games shone in the Xbox showcase with its upcoming first-person action game inspired by 1890s stage magic. The trailer showed creative uses of wands and cards as offensive weapons, and teased a narrative that followed a betrayed master magician who makes an infernal pact to take revenge.
Resident Evil Veronica | PC, PS5, Switch 2, Xbox Capcom already reimagined the series’ first three games, and then skipped ahead to remake RE4 in 2023, so now it’s going back to this cult favourite in-between entry originally released for Dreamcast in 2000. Each of these remakes has been excellent so far, and Claire Redfield’s ordeal on a brutal prison island seems like an ideal fit.
Until Dawn 2 | PS5 Supermassive’s 2015 interactive horror movie was a huge hit, and while it’s busy with its own series, Sony has tapped Firesprite to make this sequel. As the crew of a viral paranormal investigation channel whose staged haunts turn deadly, players explore a tropical island and make decisions that could lead to the bloody death of any (or every) one of the characters.
Clutch | PC, PS5, Xbox From a new studio founded by former Forza developers, this is a stylish open-world racing game set across the French Riviera. Players follow an ambitious driver who competes in sanctioned professional races by day and illegal street events by night and becomes entangled in a dangerous conspiracy.
Clockwork Revolution | PC, Xbox inXile, developer of The Bard’s Tale and Tides of Numenera, is taking on its biggest project here in a first-person steampunk RPG that’s big on choices. There also looks to be an element of socioeconomic critique, with your band of ruffians stealing the means of time manipulation the elites have been using to keep the common folk down.
Xenoblade Genesis | Switch 2 After four Xenoblade Chronicles games, Monolith is changing to a new title to indicate a major shift for its newest open-world action game. The trailer showed heaps of gorgeous but impossible horizonless vistas, pointy-eared protagonists, a magic school and a marked lack of the series’ usual technology.
God of War: Laufey | PS5 Kratos’ ice giant wife Faye had died before the opening of Sony Santa Monica’s incredible 2018 God of War, but her presence was felt throughout the game and its sequel. This next entry follows her adventures through the afterlife of the gods, with the trailer including battles against Egyptian and Mongolian deities, in a story that runs parallel to Kratos’ own.
Some standout indies
Big Walk | PC, PS5, Switch 2 | August 4 House House, the Melbourne studio behind Untitled Goose Game, is back with something entirely different. This is an online co-operative hangout adventure inspired by exploring Wilsons Prom, where you and your friends communicate and work together to solve puzzles, find secrets or just mess around, as silly bird-like people.
Orbitals | Switch 2 | September 3 This is what you get when a level designer who worked on It Takes Two and Split Fiction, a retro-loving illustrator and a Japanese anime studio make a game together. It’s an intergalactic two-player split-screen adventure with incredible style.
Castlevania: Belmont’s Curse | PC, PS5, Xbox | October 15 A collaboration between the indies behind Dead Cells and major publisher Konami, this fast-paced 2D action-exploration game is an official sequel to 1989’s Castlevania III. Set in 1499 Paris, players utilise high-speed whip traversal and an Arcana tarot system to turn defeated bosses into powerful spells.
Vivarium | PC, Xbox Inspired by Miyazaki’s ’80s filmography, this is a hand-drawn slow life simulator with a twist; your small town is contained within a terrarium. There are stories to experience, villagers to befriend and various slice-of-life activities, but also hints at a dark reality behind it all. The in-game calendar is synced to real life, to encourage checking in.
Janet DeMornay is a Slumlord (and a witch) | PC, PS5 From Queensland’s Fuzzy Ghost, this is a comedy horror game about renting in Australia, which is actually a scarier concept than the usual zombies. It looks like a fever dream and appears to include such puzzles as figuring out the weird light switches, fixing wretched appliances and escaping hell with some kind of summoning circle.
Bad Magpie | PC, Xbox From a new group of experienced indie devs, this is an adorable adventure about a one-winged magpie left behind by its flock, who befriends a fallen star that demands trinkets. The trailer shows the bird setting fire to a field of flowers, getting inadvertently electrocuted and wreaking all kinds of havoc as it solves puzzles to claim shiny objects.
Mighty Cuphead Adventure | Consoles, PC, Sega Master System Studio MDHR’s 2017 debut, featuring old-school action and even older-school hand-animated Fleischer-style visuals, was a huge hit. This spinoff reimagines the run-and-gun boss rush as though it was released in the mid-’80s, for Sega’s 8-bit powerhouse console.
Threads of Time | PC, Xbox Square Enix unveiled a stunning new pixel-art Final Fantasy this week, but this long-time passion project from a small team, collaborating with legendary developers, is arguably more magnificent and exciting. Inspired by ’90s classics, it’s a turn-based RPG set across time periods, from a sci-fi future to a dinosaur-inhabited past.
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Tim Biggs is a writer covering consumer technology, gadgets and video games.Connect via X or email.
