2026 in video games

In the video game industry, 2026 continues trends resulting from the large-scale layoffs from previous years, as well as impacts on hardware and consoles due to limitations on computer memory availability.


Major events

Month Day(s) Event
January 13 Meta announced the closure of the studios Armature Studio, Sanzaru Games, and Twisted Pixel. In addition, they announced more than 1,000 jobs would be laid off in their Reality Labs business.[1][2]
21 Ubisoft announced a major restructuring into five creative houses.[3]
February 10–12 The Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences hosted the 2026 D.I.C.E. Summit and the 29th Annual D.I.C.E. Awards at the Aria Resort and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada.[4]
20 Microsoft Gaming's Phil Spencer and Sarah Bond left the company, with Asha Sharma replacing Spencer, and Matt Booty promoted to chief content officer.[5]
March 9–21 The Game Developers Conference, branded as "Festival of Gaming", is scheduled to be held in San Francisco, California.[6]
June 5–8 Summer Game Fest 2026 is scheduled to be held at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles.[7]
August 26–30 Gamescom 2026 is scheduled to be held in Cologne, Germany.[8]
September 12–13 Blizzard Entertainment will host BlizzCon 2026 at Anaheim Convention Center in Anaheim, California.[9]
17–21 Tokyo Game Show 2026 is scheduled to be held at the Makuhari Messe in Chiba, Japan.[10]
December 10 The Game Awards 2026 is scheduled to be held at Peacock Theater in Los Angeles.[11]

Notable deaths

Hardware releases

Date Console Manufacturer Ref.
TBA Steam Machine Valve Corporation [16]
TBA Steam Frame [16]

Games released in 2026

Main article: List of video games released in 2026

Cancelled games

Title Platform(s) Genre(s) Developer(s) Publisher(s) Month cancelled Ref.
Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time Unknown Action-adventure Ubisoft Montreal Ubisoft January [3]

Discontinued games

Games highlighted in bold indicate that the full game will be shut down.

Title Platform(s) Genre(s) Developer(s) Publisher(s) Shutdown date Ref.
Anthem WIN, PS4, XBO Action RPG BioWare Electronic Arts January 12, 2026 [17]
The Sims Mobile iOS, DROID Social sim Maxis, Firemonkeys Studios, Slingshot January 20, 2026 [18]
Genshin Impact PS4 Action RPG miHoYo HoYoverse February 25, 2026 [19]
Highguard WIN, PS5, XBX/S Hero shooter Wildlight Entertainment March 12, 2026 [20]
Dirt 3 WIN, OSX, PS3, XB360 Racing Codemasters Codemasters, Feral Interactive (OSX) March 16, 2026 [21]
Dirt 4 WIN, OSX, LIN, PS4, XBO Racing Codemasters [22]
The Finals PS4 FPS Embark Studios March 18, 2026 [23]
WWE 2K24 WIN, PS4, PS5, XBO, XBX/S Sports Visual Concepts 2K March 31, 2026 [24]
WBSC eBaseball: Power Pros NS, PS4 Konami, Joymoa
[25]
King of Meat WIN, PS5, XBX/S Action Glowmade Amazon Games April 9, 2026 [26]
Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodhunt WIN, PS5 Battle royale Sharkmob April 28, 2026 [27]
Dragon Age: Inquisition PS3 Action role-playing BioWare Electronic Arts [28]
Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare Third-person shooter PopCap Vancouver [29]
Warface: Clutch WIN First-person shooter Crytek Kiev, Blackwood Games
May 27, 2026 [30]
Madden NFL 23 WIN, PS4, PS5, XBO, XBX/S Sports EA Tiburon EA Sports July 13, 2026 [31]
Apex Legends NS Battle royale, Hero shooter Respawn Entertainment, Iron Galaxy Electronic Arts August 4, 2026 [32]
WWE 2K Battlegrounds WIN, PS4, XBO, NS Sports Saber Interactive 2K August 20, 2026 [33]
NBA 2K Playgrounds 2 [33]
Warface: Clutch XB360, PS4, XBO, NS First-person shooter Crytek Kiev, Blackwood Games
August 25, 2026 [30]
NHL 22 PS4, PS5, XBO, XBX/S Sports EA Vancouver EA Sports August 31, 2026 [34]
NHL 23 [34]
Let It Die WIN, PS4 Roguelike, Hack and slash Supertrick Games GungHo Online Entertainment September 1, 2026 [35]
Firewall Ultra PS5 FPS First Contact Entertainment Sony Interactive Entertainment September 17, 2026 [36]
Tower of Fantasy PS4 Role-playing Hotta Studio Perfect World October 20, 2026 [37]
NBA 2K25 WIN, PS4, PS5, XBO, XBX/S, NS Sports Visual Concepts 2K December 31, 2026 [38]
TopSpin 2K25 WIN, PS4, PS5, XBO, XBX/S Hangar 13 [39]

Video game-based film and television releases

Title Release / premiere date Type Distributor Franchise Original game publisher Ref.
Return to Silent Hill January 23, 2026 Live-action feature film Cineverse Silent Hill Konami [40]
Backyard Sports: The Animated Special January 29, 2026 Animated television special YouTube Backyard Sports Playground Productions [41][42]
Iron Lung January 30, 2026 Live-action feature film Markiplier Studios Iron Lung David Szymanski [43]
The Mortuary Assistant February 13, 2026 Shudder The Mortuary Assistant DreadXP [44][45]
The Super Mario Galaxy Movie April 1, 2026 Computer-animated feature film Universal Pictures Mario Nintendo [46]
Needy Girl Overdose April 2026 Anime television series TBA Needy Streamer Overload WSS Playground [47]
Mortal Kombat II May 8, 2026 Live-action feature film Warner Bros. Pictures Mortal Kombat Midway Games [48][49]
Resident Evil September 18, 2026 Sony Pictures Releasing Resident Evil Capcom [50]
Street Fighter October 16, 2026 Paramount Pictures Street Fighter [51][52][53]
The Angry Birds Movie 3 December 23, 2026 Computer-animated feature film Angry Birds Rovio Entertainment [54]
Decapolice 2026 Anime television series TBA Decapolice Level-5 [55]
Sekiro: No Defeat Crunchyroll Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice
[56]
Suikoden: The Anime TBA Suikoden Konami [57]
Witch on the Holy Night Anime film TBA Witch on the Holy Night Type-Moon [58]

Notes

References

  1. ^ Romano, Sal (January 13, 2026). "Meta shuts down Armature Studio, Sanzaru Games, and Twisted Pixel". Gematsu. Retrieved January 14, 2026.
  2. ^ Wagner, Kurt (January 13, 2026). "Meta Begins Jobs Cuts as It Shifts from Metaverse to AI Devices". Bloomberg. Retrieved January 14, 2026.
  3. ^ a b Maas, Jennifer (January 21, 2026). "Ubisoft Shake-Up: Layoffs, Studio Closures Begin in Major Reorg; Six Games Canceled, Including 'Prince of Persia' Remake". Variety. Retrieved January 21, 2026.
  4. ^ "Home - 2026 D.I.C.E. Summit & 29th Annual D.I.C.E. Awards". interactive.org. Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences. Retrieved October 25, 2025.
  5. ^ McCaffrey, Ryan (February 20, 2026). "Phil Spencer Retiring, Sarah Bond Out, Matt Booty Promoted as Microsoft AI Exec Asha Sharma Named New Xbox Boss – Exclusive". IGN. Retrieved February 20, 2026.
  6. ^ Blake, Vikki (September 25, 2025). "Game Developer Conference rebrands as GDC Festival of Gaming: "the industry is changing and so are we"". GamesIndustry.biz. Retrieved September 28, 2025.
  7. ^ Robinson, Andy (October 14, 2025). "Summer Game Fest confirms 2026 date and venue change". VGC. Retrieved November 25, 2025.
  8. ^ Taylor-Hill, Grant (August 30, 2025). "Gamescom 2026 Dates, Location, and Ticket Sales—When is Gamescom 2026 Happening?". Insider Gaming. Retrieved September 3, 2025.
  9. ^ Koch, Cameron (March 11, 2025). "BlizzCon Skips 2025 But Will Return In 2026 After Two Years Off". GameSpot.
  10. ^ Romano, Sal (September 28, 2025). "TGS 2025 concludes with 263,101 visitors; TGS 2026 set for September 17 to 21". Gematsu. Retrieved September 28, 2025.
  11. ^ Cripe, Michael (February 2, 2026). "The Game Awards 2026 Sets December Premiere Date as Fans Expect Big Things from the New Year". IGN.
  12. ^ Romano, Sal (February 16, 2026). "Bloodstained: The Scarlet Engagement creative director Shutaro Ida dies at age 52". Gematsu. Retrieved February 16, 2026.
  13. ^ Robinson, Andy (February 15, 2026). "Hideki Sato, designer of all Sega's consoles, has died". Video Games Chronicle. Retrieved February 15, 2026.
  14. ^ Haberman, Clyde (February 16, 2026). "Robert Duvall, 'Godfather' and 'Apocalypse Now' Actor, Dies at 95". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved February 16, 2026.
  15. ^ Kotzer, Zack (March 17, 2026). "Moderators Work To Preserve Massive Database Of Visual Novel Games After Founder Dies". Kotaku. Retrieved March 22, 2026.
  16. ^ a b Romano, Sal (November 12, 2025). "Valve announces Steam Machine, Steam Frame, and Steam Controller". Gematsu. Retrieved December 4, 2025.
  17. ^ Valentine, Rebekah (July 3, 2025). "EA Will Shut Down Anthem in January". IGN. Archived from the original on August 17, 2025. Retrieved September 3, 2025.
  18. ^ Makuch, Eddie (October 20, 2025). "The Sims Mobile Is Shutting Down For Good, With No Refunds Available". GameSpot. Retrieved October 21, 2025.
  19. ^ "Notice on the Removal and Discontinuation of Updates for Genshin Impact on PS4®". HoYoLAB. August 6, 2025. Archived from the original on August 6, 2025. Retrieved September 4, 2025.
  20. ^ Romano, Sal (March 3, 2026). "Highguard to end service on March 12". Gematsu. Retrieved March 3, 2026.
  21. ^ Wutz, Marco (September 12, 2025). "Classic Codemasters racing games will lose online services". ESPN.com. Retrieved March 18, 2026.
  22. ^ ShawnS (November 7, 2025). "Codemasters' old Dirt and Grid titles lose online services on March 16th, 2026 [UPDATE: It's now Nov. 8th, Dirt 4 and Rally now included]". Delisted Games. Retrieved March 19, 2026.
  23. ^ Romano, Sal (November 18, 2025). "THE FINALS for PS4 to end service on March 18, 2026". Gematsu. Retrieved November 23, 2025.
  24. ^ "WWE 2K24: Server Sunset". WWE 2K Support. December 8, 2025. Retrieved March 19, 2026.
  25. ^ ShawnS (January 13, 2026). "WBSC eBaseball to be delisted January 30th, Madden NFL 23 losing online features July 13th". Delisted Games. Retrieved March 19, 2026.
  26. ^ Romano, Sal (February 23, 2026). "King of Meat to end service on April 9; all purchases to be refunded". Gematsu. Retrieved March 13, 2026.
  27. ^ Romano, Sal (October 27, 2025). "Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodhunt to end service on April 28, 2026". Gematsu. Retrieved October 27, 2025.
  28. ^ ShawnS (March 17, 2026). "Dragon Age: Inquisition loses multiplayer services on PlayStation 3 on April 28th". Delisted Games. Retrieved March 19, 2026.
  29. ^ ShawnS (February 28, 2026). "Plants vs. Zombies Garden Warfare shutting down on PlayStation 3 on April 28th". Delisted Games. Retrieved March 19, 2026.
  30. ^ a b ShawnS (February 26, 2026). "Warface: Clutch shutting down on PC in May, on consoles in August". Delisted Games. Retrieved March 20, 2026.
  31. ^ "EA shutting down servers of another Xbox game in July 2026". TrueAchievements. January 13, 2026. Retrieved March 19, 2026.
  32. ^ Romano, Sal (January 30, 2026). "Apex Legends for Switch to end service on August 4". Gematsu. Retrieved January 31, 2026.
  33. ^ a b ShawnS (February 27, 2026). "NBA 2K Playgrounds 2, WWE 2K Battlegrounds to be delisted February 20th, servers shut down July 9th [UPDATE]". Delisted Games. Retrieved March 20, 2026.
  34. ^ a b ShawnS (February 3, 2026). "NHL 22 and NHL 23 lose online services at the end of August". Delisted Games. Retrieved March 19, 2026.
  35. ^ Romano, Sal (March 4, 2026). "LET IT DIE to end service on September 1; Offline Edition launches this fall". Gematsu. Retrieved March 4, 2026.
  36. ^ Zwiezen, Zack (March 18, 2026). "Sony Updates 3-Year-Old Blog Celebrating Game's Launch To Announce It's Shutting Down". Kotaku. Retrieved March 19, 2026.
  37. ^ ShawnS (March 13, 2026). "Anime MMO, Tower of Fantasy, shutting down on PlayStation 4 in October". Delisted Games. Retrieved March 19, 2026.
  38. ^ n64ra (June 11, 2025). "NBA 2K25 losing online servers December 31st, 2026". Delisted Games. Retrieved March 19, 2026.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  39. ^ n64ra (August 28, 2024). "TopSpin 2K25 losing online servers December 31th, 2026". Delisted Games. Retrieved March 20, 2026.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  40. ^ Marnel, Blair (June 18, 2025). "Return To Silent Hill Will Hit Theaters In Early 2026". GameSpot. Archived from the original on June 19, 2025. Retrieved July 8, 2025.
  41. ^ Campione, Katie (October 28, 2025). "'Backyard Baseball' Video Game Lands First Ever Adaptation With Tiffany Haddish, Arturo Castro & More All-Stars Voicing Animated Special". Deadline. Retrieved December 3, 2025.
  42. ^ "Backyard Sports Animated Special Arrives On YouTube, Reviving Beloved '90s Video Game Franchise". Yahoo Entertainment. January 29, 2026. Retrieved February 7, 2026.
  43. ^ Wiseman, Andreas (January 23, 2026). "Markiplier's Sci-Fi Horror Film 'Iron Lung' Adds International Territories To Release Plan Following U.S. Buzz". Deadline. Retrieved January 31, 2026.
  44. ^ Grobar, Matt (July 25, 2025). "Shudder Acquires 'The Mortuary Assistant' Video Game Adaptation". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on July 26, 2025. Retrieved July 26, 2025.
  45. ^ Ntim, Zac (January 16, 2026). "'The Mortuary Assistant' Adaptation, Starring Willa Holland & Paul Sparks, Lands Release Date & First Trailer". Deadline Hollywood.
  46. ^ Phillips, Tom (January 25, 2026). "The Super Mario Galaxy Movie Nintendo Direct: Everything Announced". IGN. Retrieved January 25, 2026.
  47. ^ Loo, Egan (February 10, 2026). "Needy Girl Overdose Anime's 2nd Video Unveils Cast Member, Opening Song". Anime News Network. Retrieved February 21, 2026. Anime's title updated after confirmation from Aniplex.
  48. ^ D'Alessandro, Anthony (August 29, 2025). "Mortal Kombat II Will Now Rumble Next Summer". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved September 1, 2025.
  49. ^ D'Alessandro, Anthony (October 21, 2025). "Mortal Kombat II Rumbling Earlier This Summer". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved October 30, 2025.
  50. ^ D'Alessandro, Anthony (March 7, 2025). "Sony Boards Zach Cregger's 'Resident Evil', Sets Fall 2026 Release Date". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on March 7, 2025. Retrieved March 7, 2025.
  51. ^ Grobar, Matt (June 26, 2024). "Sony Dates 'Street Fighter' Movie For 2026". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on June 26, 2024. Retrieved June 26, 2024.
  52. ^ Pedersen, Erik; Tapp, Tom (March 24, 2025). "Sony's Shark Thriller Starring Phoebe Dynevor Surfaces With New Title & Year-Later Release Date; 'Street Fighter' Off Schedule". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on July 2, 2025. Retrieved April 12, 2025.
  53. ^ Kroll, Justin (September 4, 2025). "Paramount Sets Three Year Distribution Deal With Legendary". Deadline. Retrieved September 5, 2025.
  54. ^ D'Alessandro, Anthony (September 18, 2025). "'Angry Birds Movie 3' Adds MrBeast, Salish Matter & More; Release Now Christmas Season 2026". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved September 24, 2025.
  55. ^ Mateo, Alex (September 24, 2024). "Decapolice Game Gets TV Anime, PC Version, Delay to 2026". Anime News Network. Archived from the original on September 24, 2024. Retrieved September 24, 2024.
  56. ^ Mateo, Alex (August 19, 2025). "Sekiro: No Defeat Anime Based on Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice Game Announced". Anime News Network. Archived from the original on August 19, 2025. Retrieved August 19, 2025.
  57. ^ Cayanan, Joanna (August 5, 2025). "Suikoden: The Anime Debuts in 2026". Anime News Network. Archived from the original on August 5, 2025. Retrieved August 5, 2025.
  58. ^ Hodgkins, Crystalyn (February 21, 2026). "ufotable Outlines Future Projects in Promo Reel With Witch on the Holy Night Film Opening in 2026". Anime News Network. Retrieved February 21, 2026.

Primary sources

In the text, these references are preceded by a double dagger (‡):

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