Category: IGN

Walmart has dropped Battlefield 6 to just $40 for both PS5 and Xbox in the 2026 New Year sales. That’s almost 50% off, and pretty close to its outstanding Black Friday deal I was raving about not so long ago ($35 for a limited time only).

If you’re looking for a traditional boots-on-the-ground multiplayer shooter to play in 2026, this is it, and it’s the best price we’re likely to get on it right now. Snap it up ASAP, as I don’t see this deal lasting the rest of the week, especially since Walmart is already indicating that stock is running low.

A new year is upon us, and if you’re looking for some new games to stock up on to keep you busy in these early months, Amazon is the place to look.

Though the holidays and their seasonal sale events may be behind us, the retailer is kicking off 2026 with some worthy video game deals. This includes a 50% price drop on Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 for PS5 and Xbox.

“Anime Souls” is a term often used to describe the original Code Vein. And while that is a very simple but fair descriptor – it is after all one of the very few soulslike games with an undeniably anime aesthetic – it also doesn’t really describe what was actually cool about the 2019 action RPG. For instance: the emotional storylines of your companion characters, delivered in these excellent sequences where you relive their most tragic memories; the phenomenal score by the wonderful Go Shiina; the flexible Blood Code system that allowed players to switch up their stats and playstyle without having to respect their whole character while also being able to pick and choose skills from other “classes.” There was certainly room for improvement in the core combat and level design, but it had great ideas, and would benefit from some refinement and iteration.

And that’s what Code Vein 2 seems to be all about: Refinement and iteration. Based on the three or so hours that I’ve played, Code Vein 2 felt familiar, but altogether much more confident and focused on the strengths of the original, while also getting off to an immediately more interesting start thanks to a brand new story with some intriguing time travel twists.

Like the first game, at the heart of Code Vein 2’s plot is a catastrophe that occurred many, many years ago. This time around, it’s known as the Resurgence, a calamity that corrupted everything it touched and gave rise to a new being known as a Revenant. Somehow, the Revenants managed to seal the Resurgence, but the victory was short-lived, as soon after, the Resurgence… well, surged again. This led to a battle that became known as the Upheaval, in which several heroes gave their lives to seal the Resurgence once again. One hundred years later, that seal is weakening, causing existence-erasing explosions all over the world, and this time, the means to save everything exists not in the present, but in the past.

And thus the stage is set for Code Vein 2’s time-hopping story that sees the nameless protagonist teaming up with Lou Magmell, a Revenant with the power to jump back and forth through time as they link up with the heroes of the past to try and find a way to stop the imminent world-ending threats of the future.

It’s a pretty good hook! As someone who never really got invested in the world of Code Vein 1, outside of learning more about my companions, I was pretty happy that I was immediately invested this time around. I looked forward to seeing how the heroes of the past fought back against the Resurgence and what ultimately brought about their fates. I got a chance to ask Code Vein 2’s director, Hiroshi Yoshimura, if he looked to any specific sources of inspiration with regards to their interpretation of time travel, or the rules that govern it, and he said, “I wouldn’t say there’s one film or work in particular, but one golden rule that we had within the development was that once the player has observed or seen something happen within the game, then that becomes truth, or that becomes locked in the sense that it can’t be overturned.”

Thicker Than Blood

On the gameplay side of things, much of the core of Code Vein 1 is still intact in the sequel. It’s still a stamina-governed combat system with a big focus on special abilities tied to various Blood Codes, which essentially determine your class or playstyle. Switching to a new Blood Code changes your stats, defense, and your max Ichor, which is essentially the mana that powers your special abilities. One of the interesting new twists of Blood Codes is that they also now come with a series of traits that can dramatically affect how you approach combat. For example, traditionally, the way combat works is you attack an enemy to inflict stacks of bleed, and then use a special technique known as a jail attack (previously known as “Drain Attacks”) to collect that blood, which then gets converted into the Ichor that you use to use your special skills.

But if that doesn’t sound like your style of play, you could instead use Josée’s Blood Code, which lets you gain Ichor simply by attacking, but that boon comes with a catch. If you gain more than your maximum Ichor, you take a significant chunk of damage. This was my preferred method of play, as it meant that I didn’t have to fish for opportunities to use my jail attacks to regain my Ichor, and it helped me be extra vigilant about using my abilities regularly so I didn’t end up overflowing with Ichor. Of course, my attention would occasionally wane, and this would occasionally be the death of me, but regardless, I appreciated the added twist to the gameplay.

In fact, pretty much every aspect of Code Vein 2’s combat is more customizable than before. While Drain Attacks used to be tied to your Blood Codes, they’re now got their own equippable slot in your inventory, and there are a ton of different types. You’ve got the returning Ogre claw for a fast and short ranged option; Hounds for a powerful two-hitting mid-range attack; Stinger to nail enemies from afar; and then you’ve got a handful of completely new attacks like Ivy, which caused spikes to emerge from the ground and can be placed by charging the attack and moving the targeting circle; Bat, which causes you to grow wings and sends out a swarm of bats, and Reaper, which is a scythe that can be swung around to hit enemies in an AOE.

In addition to Jails, you can also equip powerful subweapons known as Bequeathed Formae, and you can also choose a Defensive Formae as well.. With regards to the Bequeathed Formae, I only got to see two of these in my demo: a Battle Axe known as Idris’s Conceit, and a Longbow called Statesman’s Longbow. I opted more for a strength build throughout most of my demo time, so I primarily used the Battle Axe, and it certainly was a difference- maker in fights where I would get swarmed by enemies. All I needed to do was create some space to account for the lengthy windup, and boom. Once it hit, it would create a temporal field that slowed everything down, making it easy to clean up the survivors.

As for the Defensive Formae, you’re able to basically choose whether you want a standard block, a parry, or a dodge, with a couple of others thrown in there with some slight differences in how they perform. Im a huge fan of all these changes, as they allow even finer tuning of a build to your personal preference without becoming too overwhelming or complicated.

The Big Question

One of the most common things that always gets discussed anytime there’s a new soulslike in town is how difficult it is, so let’s talk about it. For the most part, I got through this demo without much issue. Granted, this was a provided save, so it’s hard to say how things would have been if I got to this point on my own playthrough with my own loadout, but Bandai Namco was very generous in giving us a wide selection of weapons, Blood Codes, and jails, and I never felt like I was particularly under- or overlevelled.

Code Vein 2 also smartly lets you decide on whether you want your companion to follow you and participate in combat like an AI coop partner, or whether you’d prefer to have them be assimilated into you, providing you with specific buffs, but without giving you the benefit of another body to deal damage or distract enemies. It’s a great trade-off that allows Code Vein 2 to maintain the companion element that makes it such a distinct soulslike in the first place, while also allowing players who enjoy tackling these challenges as a solo player to do so without feeling like they’re being severely punished.

Where the difficulty really turned up several notches was in the two boss battles that I got to experience. These were true tests of skills and reflexes and took nearly half of my allotted three hours of playtime, and that’s without even delivering the final blow against the second one. The first boss could simply wipe out my health with just one or two hits, while also afflicting me with the acid status effect, which would deal damage over time. My windows to punish were very small, making me opt for a strength-oriented build so I could land a powerful and chargeable overhead slash with my greatsword to make the most out of those opportunities. Eventually, I prevailed, only to be hard stuck against the second boss. This boss was fast, had an extremely dangerous second phase that I didn’t get to see enough of to really learn its new attacks, and had the nasty habit of electrifying the floor and inflicting bind on me, which would paralyze me long enough for the boss to land another free attack.

Despite the difficulty spike, I loved both these encounters, and while I’m a bit salty that I couldn’t finish the job at the preview event, I’m looking forward to the runback once I get the full game in my hands and can attempt the boss with my own personal build. Overall, Code Vein 2 is shaping up to be a marked improvement over the original in just about every area. We’ll see if Bandai Namco is able to stick the landing when this soulslike sequel releases on January 30, 2026 for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC.

Mitchell Saltzman is an editorial producer at IGN. You can find him on twitter @JurassicRabbit

Red Dead Redemption 2 fans are searching for answers to a newly-discovered mystery that’s been hidden within Rockstar’s cowboy sequel since its original release.

After more than seven years, a group of Red Dead aficianados recently realized they’d stumbled on something no one had reported previously — a series of mysterious spiderwebs that began spawning on eight telegraph poles throughout the game’s vast world, each during a specific hour of the night.

Two weeks on, more clues have now been found, and it’s become clear that this is a deliberate secret included by Rockstar within the game, which players are now rushing to uncover the full meaning of.

Similar to Red Dead Redemption 2’s quest involving dreamcatchers (and a familiar spiderweb mystery in GTA 5), players discovered in late December 2025 that these newly-found spiderwebs contain a feather which can be shot free — though the webs themselves only appear for one hour of in-game time each night.

An initial video on the mystery by Rockstar fan channel Strange Man credits this discovery to a trio of fans, goldenplaysterraria, pariah87 and u/FL4VA-01, while comments on the video from others say they’ve checked and discovered this secret really has been there since the game’s original launch — all the way back in 2018.

Fast forward to last week, and a fresh update detailed a second phase of the mystery’s unravelling. Here, players discovered that the various spiderwebs lead to one central web that contained a cryptic direction in its web design: “N” and a symbol for another telegraph pole. Heading north (as directed by “N”) leads to another wooden pole which, once found, can be shot at to reveal yet another direction under its bark.

All of that brings us pretty much up to date, and up to a new video published just yesterday which details where the mystery is at now. Currently, players are following one final cryptic telegraph pole message that depicts a final direction, and the symbol for a guitar.

Where is this all leading? Players are not sure, but the sense is that there’s definitely more to this mystery to solve. Players are now hurriedly searching the Fort Wallace location — which holds the nearest guitars to the mystery’s most recent clue — and are mapping every other guitar found in the game, in case it sparks some new revelation.

With this secret having existed for so long, there’s little chance that Rockstar itself is teasing anything big or new at the end. (Though, what a way to reveal single-player DLC this would be!) For Red Dead Redemption 2 fans, though, this is an exciting moment — something new to ponder at last in their beloved game, as the wait for news of a re-release or new content stretches on.

Tom Phillips is IGN’s News Editor. You can reach Tom at tom_phillips@ign.com or find him on Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social

Resident Evil 4’s helpless companion character Ashley was once planned to star in a newly-designed intro made for Capcom’s acclaimed remake.

Everyone knows by now how Resident Evil 4 opens: with fan-favorite character Leon S. Kennedy thrown into the action as he investigates the abduction of Ashley Graham, the U.S. president’s daughter. And in the final version of the brilliant Resident Evil 4 Remake, this is again how the game begins.

But Capcom planned — and at least partially built — a new introduction sequence dubbed Chapter 0 which would have seen players sneak around as Ashley, before she’s finally dragged off by brainwashed ganados. And now, a fresh video showing some of the mission has been put together.

Ashley’s Chapter 0 would have taken place in an expanded version of the forested area outside the game’s main village, close to where Leon is ultimately seen creeping along at the beginning of the remake. A snippet of this survived in a trailer for the remake, where Ashley witnesses a grisly ritual sacrifice prior to getting captured.

The non-combat mission sees Ashley sneak along, hiding from a patrolling ganado, and spotting another who is carrying Luis — presumably to the basement where Leon finds him later. But, ultimately, we all know Ashley is going to get captured — something that, after a brief chase sequence, we then see play out.

If you’re keen to see the remains of this mission in action, modder Michael “Thekempy” Kemp has a video of its surviving elements — though it seems like much of the mission was unfinished, or removed from the game’s final version.

While Resident Evil 4 remake features plenty of extra sequences not found in the original Resi 4, it’s easy to see why this one fell by the wayside. It’s hard to imagine anyone being surprised by Ashley’s capture, since that sets up the whole game, and the character already has her own short sections of gameplay later on.

And then there’s the fact that Ashley is, well, not loved by some Resident Evil fans. The Resi 4 remake goes some way to making her less of a damsel in distress, but it’s perhaps unsurprising that Capcom ultimately chose not to open the game with her, rather than simply letting players jump straight in to Leon’s mission.

“The Resident Evil 4 remake is the series’ most relentlessly exciting adventure rebuilt, refined, and realised to the full extent of its enormous potential,” IGN wrote in our Resident Evil 4 Remake review, scoring it 10/10.

Tom Phillips is IGN’s News Editor. You can reach Tom at tom_phillips@ign.com or find him on Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social

We’ve rounded up the best deals for Sunday, January 4, below. Don’t miss your chance to save on these deals!

Kingdom Come: Deliverance II for $29.99

2025 finally saw the long-awaited arrival of Nintendo’s next console: the Switch 2. But now, it’s time to turn the page to 2026 and talk about what’s in store for Switch 2’s sophomore year. Nintendo already has a pretty fleshed out release calendar for both Switches, a blockbuster movie set to hit theaters, with plenty of surprises surely in store as well. Here’s what to expect from Nintendo in 2026.

Nintendo in 2026: What’s Already On the Books

Before we get into wild speculation, here’s a recap of what we already know is coming to Switch and Switch 2 in 2026. There’s already a lot to look forward to, as Nintendo remains very consistent in pushing something out pretty much every single month.

That pattern begins this month, as we’ll all return to our weed-infested islands and face the wrath of our neglected villagers when Animal Crossing: New Horizons gets a free update on the original Switch and a Nintendo Switch 2 edition on January 15. New Horizons 3.0 is available to players on both Switches, and it comes with a new hotel to customize, a bunch of Nintendo items, and tons of little quality of life updates like upgraded item storage. Meanwhile, if you buy the Switch 2 Edition or the $5 upgrade pack, you can access improved resolution, mouse controls, 12-player multiplayer, and more.

Just a few weeks later we’ll see the first brand new Switch 2 exclusive of the year with Mario Tennis Fever’s launch on February 12. The big hook this time is the Fever Rackets that grant special abilities like freezing the court or duplicating yourself. Fever will also feature 38 playable characters, including Donkey Kong’s refreshed design and – for the first time ever – Baby Waluigi.

If you love collecting ridiculous Nintendo products like I do, you might be looking forward to Virtual Boy joining the Nintendo Switch Online library on February 17. You need one of two headsets to access this forgotten library from Nintendo’s biggest failure – either a plastic replica or a cheaper cardboard option. That’ll be available on both Switches.

Pokémon meets Minecraft (or more accurately, Dragon Quest Builders, but that’s not as catchy) in Pokémon Pokopia on March 5. This Switch 2 exclusive will task you with using Pokémon moves and materials to design your very own town. I expect Pokopia to be an enormous hit this year: Pokémon and Minecraft are two of the biggest things on the planet, and after everyone’s done poking around the new Animal Crossing update, this looks like the perfect game for that audience to shift to next. Amiibo are trudging on in 2026 as well, and March 5 will also see the launch of the Meta Knight and Shadow Star figure from Kirby Air Riders.

Pokopia is the last firm release date we have, but Nintendo has a few games slated for Spring. Super Mario Bros. Wonder – Nintendo Switch 2 Edition + Meetup in Bellabel Park is an enhanced port of the 2023 platformer, and one part of Nintendo’s ongoing celebration of Super Mario’s 40th anniversary. It adds cooperative and competitive multiplayer minigames, and we’ve seen a small glimpse of what appears to be a new side story in more traditional levels. I predict this will arrive on April 2, the same day as the new pair of Super Mario Galaxy amiibo and just a day before The Super Mario Galaxy Movie hits theaters, putting a new Mario game on store shelves at the exact moment Mario Mania kicks in.

The other pair of Spring releases is Yoshi and the Mysterious Book on Switch 2 and Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream on Switch 1. Yoshi’s illustrated art style looks really nice, and Tomodachi Life is an exciting return for a 3DS cult classic with a hilarious out-of-left-field personality that you really have to see for yourself.

There’s even more coming later in 2026: Fire Emblem: Fortune’s Weave will mark the strategy RPG’s first outing on Switch 2, Nintendo and FromSoftware are teaming up for The Duskbloods as a Switch 2 action-RPG exclusive, while Switch 1 players can look forward to Rhythm Heaven: Groove, the return of Nintendo’s quirky rhythm minigame series for the first time in a decade. Finally, Pokémon Champions is a competitive battle-focused game coming to Switch and Mobile this year. We know it will be used at the Pokémon World Championships in 2026, meaning it should be out before that event kicks off in late August.

On the third-party front, Switch 2 is getting a lot of major games on day one, including huge support from Capcom with Resident Evil Requiem on February 27 (along with Resident Evil 7 and 8 on the same day), Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection on March 13, and Pragmata on April 24. Plus, all three of those games are getting their own amiibo figures. There’s a lot beyond Capcom, too, like Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade, Dragon Quest VII Reimagined, Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, 007 First Light, and more. Hopefully we’ll see cleaned up versions of games delayed out of 2025 as well, like Elden Ring Tarnished Edition and Borderlands 4.

Pokémon’s 30th Birthday Bash

A huge element of Nintendo’s 2026 will no doubt be Pokémon, which celebrates its 30th anniversary this year. You can safely expect a Pokémon Presents around February 27, and – as we move firmly into the speculation part of this yearly preview – I think it’s going to be a big one. I predict Pokémon’s 10th Generation will be 2026’s November release for Switch 2, and that we’ll get our first look at them here. I don’t think there’s any chance Pokémon misses out on its 30th anniversary without a new pair of mainline games.

But that’s not all: I think 2026 is finally the year that Pokémon Red, Blue, and Yellow come to Switch. I don’t think they’ll join the Nintendo Switch Online subscription library – it’ll make you buy them separately – but similar to how the Gen One games were dropped on 3DS to celebrate the franchise’s 20th anniversary in 2016, I think Nintendo will run the same play here and shadowdrop them the day of the presentation. The Pokémon Company is also planning to open PokéPark Kanto in Tokyo, Japan, on February 5, the first-ever Pokémon theme park.

What Else Could Nintendo Have In Store?

We’re in an interesting spot where Nintendo has already shown a lot of its cards for 2026, but I still think there are a few things we don’t know about. There is Splatoon Raiders, the single-player Switch 2 spinoff announced last year, but Nintendo hasn’t committed to that launching in 2026 at all, and it feels more fitting as an early 2027 release to me at this point.

With November likely taken up by Pokémon, that leaves October open for a Nintendo franchise fitting for spooky season: Luigi’s Mansion. Next Level Games has been quiet since 2022’s Mario Strikers: Battle League (except for a small assisting role on Metroid Prime 4: Beyond), and given its usual three-year turnaround time on Nintendo games, I think it’s time for Luigi’s Mansion 4. The last in the series was a huge sales success, so a sequel is a no-brainer. Just for fun, I’ll guess that the setting will be a haunted cruise ship Luigi has inherited for some strange reason.

2026 also marks the 40th anniversary of The Legend of Zelda. With a movie on the way in 2027, and Nintendo’s general pattern of launching at least one Zelda game every year, it’s a safe bet to say something Zelda-related will come out this year. I don’t think a new 2D or 3D Zelda game is close to being ready, so it’s probably time for another remake or remaster. I’ll guess fans will finally get the Ocarina of Time HD remake they want, but it won’t be perfect: it’ll be a touched up HD remaster of the 3DS remake that comes to both the original Switch and Switch 2, rather than the gorgeous 4K reimagining we all dream about.

On the smaller side, I have to imagine Nintendo is prepping DLC for Mario Kart World, and all signs point to it centering around Donkey Kong. DK and Pauline strangely only have one costume apiece in World, there are no Jungle-themed DK tracks, and Nintendo’s wider push for DK would lend itself to a DLC pack themed around him. And, I’d like 2026 to be the year we finally get answers surrounding Nintendo’s mysterious Switch Online Playtest program that’s been running since 2024.

I think that’s about all the room we have for 2026’s calendar, but Nintendo will announce a few games this year we won’t see until 2027. Xenoblade developer Monolith Soft hasn’t released a brand new game since 2022, and I have a feeling we might get a quick tease at what they’re working on in the September Nintendo Direct.

And, my boldest call of them all is that we’ll get a tease this year for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate – Nintendo Switch 2 Edition to launch sometime in 2027. I believe Ultimate could get the Mario Kart 8 Deluxe treatment this generation, with an enhanced port that carries us through the next several years rather than an entirely new entry. Smash Bros. director Masahiro Sakurai wrapped up Kirby Air Riders a few months ago, and it’s entirely possible he’s already hard at work bringing Ultimate over to Switch 2 with a few new characters. Ultimate noticeably hasn’t received a Switch 2 performance patch like Super Mario Odyssey, the open-world Zeldas, and plenty of other best-selling Switch 1 games, and combined with the fact that a new Smash game almost always hits within the first two years of a new Nintendo console, it feels like a prime candidate for a Switch 2 Edition.

Nintendo Will Continue Expanding Beyond Games

The Super Mario Galaxy Movie will hit theaters on April 3, three years after the original made over a billion dollars at the global box office. I think Nintendo will waste no time in announcing its next animated partnership with Illumination, given they’re likely very confident this movie will perform extremely well like the first one did. I’m expecting a formal announcement of an animated Donkey Kong movie sometime before the end of 2026. You should also expect to see the first trailer for The Legend of Zelda movie before the year is over.

Finally, in a bit of a bummer prediction to end on, I’m expecting a Switch 2 price increase sometime after March. Nintendo has essentially committed to keeping the price where it is through the end of its fiscal year – which concludes March 31 – but there are no guarantees after that. We’ve already seen increases on the original Switch, as well as Switch 2 accessories, so it feels like it’s only a matter of time before Switch 2 follows suit.

And that’s everything we expect from Nintendo in 2026. What game are you most excited for? Have you picked up a Switch 2, or are you still happy with the original? Let us know in the comments.

Logan Plant is the host of Nintendo Voice Chat and IGN’s Database Manager & Playlist Editor. The Legend of Zelda is his favorite video game franchise of all time, and he is patiently awaiting the day Nintendo announces a brand new F-Zero. You can find him online @LoganJPlant.

Arc Raiders developer Embark Studios has confirmed one of the community’s biggest questions since the game came out: it does indeed feature ‘aggression-based matchmaking.’

This means that if you’re big into PvP, you’ll be matched up with players who are like-minded. Similarly, if you prefer PvE, you’ll be matchmade with players who tend to avoid conflict with other players.

Arc Raiders’ player versus environment versus player gameplay has resulted in a number of viral clips showing how friendly encounters can quickly devolve into a fight to the last. Yes, you can play solo or in parties up to three, working as a team to progress through the game. However, other players are a constant threat. This has sparked a vociferous debate within the community about the etiquette that has formed in-game, with a retired pro gamer going viral for relentlessly killing casual Arc Raiders players.

It turns out that Arc Raiders will lean on your playstyle when it comes to matchmaking. This ‘aggression-based matchmaking,’ however, is not an exact science, Patrick Söderlund, CEO of Embark Studios told Games Beat in a recent interview / video playthrough of the game.

“Obviously first it’s skill-based of course,” Söderlund said of Arc Raiders matchmaking. “Then you have solos, duos, and trios. And then we also, since a week ago or so, we introduced a system where we also matchmake based on how prone you are to PvP or PvE. So if your preference is to do PvE and you have less conflict with players… you’ll get more matched up [with similar players]. Obviously it’s not a full science.”

Söderlund said the term ‘aggression-based matchmaking’ is “exactly” the system Arc Raiders currently uses. That puts to bed high-level questions about how Arc Raiders matchmaking works for the community, which had wondered about it in recent months. “I can finally stop arguing on Reddit, thank you for the vindication,” said one player.

However, it’s worth noting that Söderlund confirmed Arc Raiders prioritizes “skill” when it comes to matchmaking, then groupings. Aggression-based matchmaking is a factor, but we don’t know how much influence it has on your lobbies compared to other factors. And even Söderlund admitted it doesn’t always works as you’d think.

And how, exactly, does Arc Raiders determine if you’re “prone” to PvE or PvP? If you’re a kill on sight player, sure, you’re probably prone to PvP. But what if you only shoot back at those who shoot at you first? Does that make your lobbies more aggressive? If so, is that fair?

So, one big question answered, but many more remain. As for Embark Studios, it always hoped Arc Raiders would have a tension between both playstyles. Arc Raiders is a multiplayer extraction adventure in which players scavenge the remnants of a devastated world, but the main threats are Arc’s machines and, as Embark Studios puts it, “the unpredictable choices of fellow survivors.”

Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.

We’ve rounded up the best deals for Saturday, January 3, below. Don’t miss your chance to save on these deals!

Fantasian Neo Dimension for $26.70

Well, I can confidently say one thing about being “the Xbox guy” at IGN: it’s never boring. Granted, it is often frustrating, depressing, weird, and occasionally shocking. But there’s almost never a dull moment. So went Xbox’s 2025. As I looked back on last year’s version of this column, I found that I got plenty of my forecasting right, a few things wrong, and there was some stuff I could’ve never predicted. And so as I look ahead to Xbox’s 2026, I will once again expect the unexpected – but I’ll also dig into everything we can reasonably surmise about what could maybe, possibly be the last full calendar year of the Xbox Series generation before Microsoft seemingly gears up to release a console/PC hybrid.

The thing is, a month ago, this piece would’ve been a heck of a lot easier to write. It would’ve been all about Microsoft’s Big Four – Halo, Gears of War, Fable, and Forza – all returning in the same year for the first time in over a decade(!) to deliver Xbox’s biggest and possibly best lineup since the Xbox 360 days. But then Galactus, aka Grand Theft Auto 6, showed up to consume everything in its path, as it’s been delayed from May to November of 2026 and will now effectively have November onwards – a key holiday-shopping window of Q4 every year – all to itself. Any game company executive that willingly ships a game anywhere near GTA 6 should be fired and institutionalized. It’s not just a bad idea, it’s business suicide.

Clash of the Titans

And yes, nearly every major publisher will be affected by this to some degree; Sony has the long-anticipated Marvel’s Wolverine slated for the Fall, and Nintendo…well, maybe Nintendo is the exception to the Grand Theft Auto rule. But Microsoft is potentially the most screwed by Rockstar’s shifted timeline. Halo: Campaign Evolved is surely intended to ship right near Halo’s 25th anniversary on November 15. Uh-oh. Meanwhile, Gears of War: E-Day was almost certainly scheduled for the Fall (to wit: none of the five mainline Gears games has ever shipped outside of the Fall season), Fable’s hugely anticipated revival was probably penciled in for the holiday season after Playground Games delayed it, and Forza Horizon 6? OK, I’d bet on that one dropping sooner rather than later, because a Forza Horizon game doesn’t need a big public relations or marketing campaign. It’s such a powerhouse franchise with a sterling reputation that all fans need to know is where it’s set (Japan), what new cars are in it (TBD), and how soon they can play it. Once Forza Horizon 6 was announced at the Tokyo Game Show in late September, I figured it would probably be out within six months. And I still think that.

And what about Call of Duty for 2026, which the franchise’s alternating development timeline suggests is probably Modern Warfare 4 from Infinity Ward? Historically, Activision’s annual juggernaut always arrives within a two-week window between the last week of October and the first week of November. Considering how much overlap I’d guess there is between Call of Duty and GTA in the Venn Diagram of Casual-Leaning Gamers Who Only Buy a Couple Games a Year, which one do you think those people are going to choose if they can only afford to buy one of them (particularly given that they’re each likely to cost at least $80)? I know which one I’d pick…

Step Up or Back Off?

In fact, what happens to all of Microsoft’s big presumed Fall plans now that Rockstar has planted its flag in the ground for November 19? The short answer is that I’m not sure all five of Xbox’s biggest first-party games can ship in 2026 anymore. Not if Microsoft wants to make any money on them, anyway. The good news is that all of these games have a great chance to be fantastic titles that score big with critics and fans alike. Microsoft just has to make sure they don’t get squashed like bugs under Grand Theft Auto 6’s Godzilla-sized feet. It’s reasonable to expect one or both of Fable and Gears of War: E-Day to push into the first half of 2027, while I’d bet on Call of Duty being moved up as much as possible – mid-October might be as far forward as they can pull it without crunching all of its developers to death. And if Forza Horizon 6 isn’t already planned for the first half of 2026 (and again, I’m confident that it is), I’d guess that somewhere around August is the new plan.

And that’s not even everything. State of Decay 3, Clockwork Revolution, and Hideo Kojima’s OD feel like they’re a little further out than next year, but there’s one lesser-known game that might stand toe-to-toe with anything else Xbox has coming up: promising pixel-art potential masterpiece Replaced. The debut game from Sad Cat Studios will finally land as an Xbox exclusive in 2026. I’ve played it, and it sets off my Spidey Sense as something that could be truly special – a possible generation-defining indie game, like how Limbo and Braid were for the Xbox 360 and Inside was for the Xbox One.

The Cavalry Has Arrived

Regardless of exactly when each of Xbox’s blockbusters finally drop, though, the Xbox’s Big Four couldn’t be lining up to land at a better time, because the Xbox brand image is in tatters. Repeated mass layoffs. Game cancellations. Studio closures. Halo heading to PS5, which was the biggest, clearest white flag Microsoft waved to tell gamers, “It’s fine, you don’t need an Xbox; you can play any and all of our games on other platforms if you want to.” It was a Covenant energy sword through the heart for long-loyal Xbox fans.

All Xbox gamers have ever wanted is a Sony-like pipeline of awesome games on a consistent basis. It would seem we’ve finally got what we’ve wanted – over the past 12 or so months, Xbox has shipped Black Ops 6 and 7, STALKER 2, Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, Avowed, South of Midnight, Flight Simulator 2024, Doom: The Dark Ages, Ninja Gaiden 2 Black and Ninja Gaiden 4, Gears of War Reloaded, The Outer Worlds 2, and The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered — but not without the monkey’s paw curling in the process.

Split Personality

And so as we look ahead to what to expect from Xbox in 2026, software shines brighter than ever. Hardware…well, rumors of the next-gen Xbox/PC hybrid are flying fast and furious, so could that mean an official announcement at the 2026 Xbox Showcase in June followed by a release in Fall 2027? And as for the platform? I’m not sure what, if anything, can be done to revive excitement in that.

So where does that leave Xbox heading into Year 6 of the Series X|S generation? Paradoxically, it is both better and worse off than it’s ever been, for all of the reasons I’ve already gone over. Exclusives are dead, but great games are plentiful. Hardware is more expensive than it was at launch, but there’s a pretty sweet handheld now. Life as an Xbox fan is both awesome and terrible, and I’m not sure I can sum it up any better than that.

Ryan McCaffrey is IGN’s executive editor of previews and host of both IGN’s weekly Xbox show, Podcast Unlocked, as well as our monthly(-ish) interview show, IGN Unfiltered. He’s a North Jersey guy, so it’s “Taylor ham,” not “pork roll.” Debate it with him on Twitter at @DMC_Ryan.